Controversy erupted in New York City over the weekend as Italian-Americans fought to keep New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg from bringing a couple of friends along to Manhattan’s Columbus Day Parade. According to the Associated Press and The Daily News, the mayor had said he’d attend Monday’s procession along Fifth Avenue, as long as he could march with Dominic Chianese and Lorraine Bracco, cast members of the hit show “The Sopranos.”
The Columbus Citizens Foundation, organizers of the annual celebration, complained that the HBO show features negative portrayals of Italian-Americans and sought a federal court order to prevent the actors from coming to the parade. In the end, both sides agreed to disagree and the parade went on without Bloomberg or the Sopranos stars in attendance. Bloomberg was instead welcomed at a separate Columbus Day parade in the Bronx on Sunday and spent Monday afternoon having lunch with Chianese and Bracco.
From a public relations perspective, Bloomberg might have been wise to abandon his friends and support the city’s Italian population. He insisted though that the actors were friends of the city and deserved a spot in the parade. Regardless of the characters they play on TV, the Italian-American actors have committed their time to city causes in the past. Bracco is a spokeswoman for the city on environmental issues and Chianese recorded a public service announcement for city tourism.
The CCF, however, ignored the personal achievements of these actors, and focused only on the fact that they work for a show which features Mafioso characters. The foundation seems to contend that most Americans are too stupid to appreciate “The Sopranos” without assuming that all people of Italian heritage are gangsters.
What’s really curious here, however, is that while the CCF felt the mere presence of the Sopranos actors at the parade would be a crippling blow to the public’s perception of Italian-Americans, they continue to organize an annual celebration marking the achievements of Christopher Columbus, a famous Italian who many would argue is little more than a murderer in his own right.
Apparently the CCF feels Italians should celebrate their contributions to the murder, degradation and enslavement of the Native Americans, while shunning the drug dealing, gambling and leg-breaking ways of the Mafia.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of both “The Sopranos” and Columbus. Most of us probably wouldn’t be in America today without Columbus’ achievements and I cringe at the thought of a Sunday night without the Sopranos, but why should Italians celebrate one murderer while ignoring so many others? If I were a Mafioso, I’d be insulted by this lack of acknowledgement from my own people. After all, folks like John Gotti and Al Capone were hard-working Italians just like Columbus. Just because they didn’t sail half way around the world to do their murdering and plundering doesn’t mean they don’t deserve some recognition from the community.
The fact is that Americans don’t believe that all Italians go around leading the life of Tony Soprano any more than they think that Italians are still sailing across the Atlantic on the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. There is a long history of Italian gangsters in this country and their lives make for compelling movies and television series, but that doesn’t mean that the public believes all Italians are in the Mafia.
The CCF has the right to invite or un-invite whomever it desires to its Columbus Day Parade, and Mayor Bloomberg can certainly choose to attend whichever events he feels comfortable participating in. But I believe there’s a degree of irony present when the Italian community seeks to protect itself from one negative stereotype while saluting another.
Columbus supporters allege that the explorer’s practices were acceptable because they occurred during a time of war. Supposedly, in efforts to defend themselves from Native American attackers, Columbus’ troops had no choice but to maim, kill and enslave the natives. By this logic though, the Mafia dons are equally justified in their violent acts.
The Mafioso soldiers are actively engaged in acts of war — a war on the banks of the East River instead of the shores of Hispaniola, but a war nonetheless — to protect territory, finances and character. When the Mafia engages in violence and intimidation it is for the purpose of the protection of the family and its interests, much as Columbus was protecting his troops and the interests of the Spanish royal family.
I can appreciate the Italians’ desire to condone the acts of Columbus and be proud of their history, and perhaps there is some merit in their argument that his actions were conducted as a line of defense. But if one Italian killer is to be condoned, I do not believe distinctions can be made from modern day Italians who make similar claims as to the necessity of their acts. Shall we overlook the atrocities committed by individuals, simply because they lead to our own success and well being?
I’m not particularly opposed to Columbus Day, nor the parades held in the explorer’s honor, but I think it is absurd to ban television actors from attending such an event on the grounds that their presence would damage the integrity of the paraders. Ms. Bracco and Mr. Chianese are not murderers, and the characters they play on “The Sopranos” are not any more damaging to Italian culture than the heinous acts of Christopher Columbus.
If New Yorkers are going to march in celebration of a murderer, they should be cognizant of all of his actions and not so quick to assign Columbus a righteousness that he does not deserve. Celebrate your culture, but don’t be ignorant of its true history.