In this section focused on socio-cultural representations, we will see how the Italian-American community navigated the 20th century, divided between their native country and the United States. While discussing the stereotypes related to the mafia that emerged at the dawn of World War II, the first waves of Italian immigration to the new world in the mid-19th century helped bolster the American workforce.
The new immigrants hardly had the skills required to lead and command. Within New York, they worked in the ports, mainly in construction. Italians, like many others, are among those who built the Big Apple as we know it. In 150 years, since the first arrivals at Staten Island, 5.6% of the U.S. population claims Italian origins or nationality. About 4.5 million migrants came to the United States between 1860 and 1924.
The cultural clash between Italians and Americans led to the formation of a new identity within the United States: Italian-Americanness. This identity is now an integral part of the country’s multiculturalism. It is a source of pride for Italian-Americans. Their identity is to be found not in their country of origin, but indeed in the United States.
Their experience as migrants is accompanied by the construction of a sense of belonging to the same group, sharing a nationalism that only took shape at the beginning of the 20th century.
