Day of Reckoning

Abstract

The acculturation process’s greatest pitfalls will typically stem from issues of group pride and identity. Although these immigrants were often illiterate, they typically experienced a sense of cultural downfall upon arriving in the United States. How could this be if they had so little culture to begin with and got off the boat smelling of onions and cheese? In the Italians’ case, we must bear in mind that the ancient Roman Empire’s ruins lay virtually everywhere in the old country. The Calabrian shepherd and potential emigrant who may never have set foot inside a school or come within miles of a book had only to pass by an ancient Roman wall, road, or aqueduct to gain an idea of a once mighty civilization. He had only to be in the audience when the local politician, parish priest, or country squire made a speech referring to those ruins to see himself as the descendant of a once great empire. The emigrant may not have known the details of that empire’s history but he had inherited an oral tradition placing his people at the center of their own special universe.