Sport and the Italian American Quest for Whiteness

Abstract

More than 4,000,000 Italians migrated to the United States in search of better opportunities; but their poverty, lack of education, Catholic religion and ethnic lifestyles denied them full inclusion in the mainstream American society dominated by middle class, white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants. This study examines the Italians' development of an Italian national identity in the United States, the transition to an American identity and the Italians' quest for inclusion within the mainstream society. Disdainful of education as contrary to the peasant familial value system, the Italian reliance on physicality marked a particular working-class habitus that transferred well to the labour gangs that built the American infrastructure, but their physical prowess allowed for greater recognition as Italian youth adopted American sport forms. Physical prominence led to university athletic scholarships and participation on US Olympic teams; while others pursued fame and fortune as professional boxers and in the American national game of baseball. In the inter-war years sport provided a primary vehicle for assimilation, acceptance and recognition as athletes such as Joe DiMaggio and Rocky Marciano became American icons of popular culture and fostered a golden age for Italian assimilation in the 1950s. A third generation, however, experienced a resurgence of ethnicity that resulted in a segmented assimilation in which Italians selectively adopted to the mainstream culture while retaining particular ancestral values and practices. Stereotypical depictions of Italians as gangsters and an adherence to past lifestyles suggest that full assimilation is not yet complete.