Book

A great conspiracy against our race : Italian immigrant newspapers and the construction of whiteness in the early twentieth century

Vellon, Peter G

Overview

\"Racial history has always been the thorn in America's side, with a swath of injustices--slavery, lynching, segregation, and many other ills--perpetrated against Black people. This very history is complicated by, and also dependent on, what constitutes a white person in this country. Many of the European immigrant groups now considered white have also had to struggle with their own racial consciousness. In A Great Conspiracy against Our Race, Peter Vellon explores how Italian immigrants, a once undesirable and 'swarthy' race, assimilated into dominant white culture through the influential national and radical Italian language press in New York City. Examining the press as a cultural production of the Italian immigrant community, this book investigates how this immigrant press constructed race, class, and identity from 1886 through 1920. Their frequent coverage of racially charged events of the time, as well as other topics such as capitalism and religion, reveals how these papers constructed a racial identity as Italian, American, and white. A Great Conspiracy against Our Race vividly illustrates how the immigrant press was a site where socially constructed categories of race, color, civilization, and identity were reworked, created, contested, and negotiated. Vellon also uncovers how Italian immigrants filtered societal pressures and redefined the parameters of whiteness, constructing their own identity. This work is an important contribution to not only Italian American history, but America's history of immigration and race\"-- Provided by publisher.

• Publisher: New York University Press
• Subject: Italian American newspapers History 20th century. / Italian Americans Race identity History 20th century. / Whites United States Race identity History 20th century. / Immigrants United States History 20th century. / Italian Americans Cultural assimilation History 20th century. / Italian Americans Social conditions 20th century. / HISTORY / General. / SOCIAL SCIENCE / Discrimination & Race Relations. / HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century. / United States Race relations History 20th century.
• ISBN: 9780814788486, 0814788483

Item info:

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Holdings :

Call Number	Copies	Material	Location
PN4885.I8 V45 2014	1	BOOK	AUTOSTORE