White on Arrival: Italians, Race, Color, and Power in Chicago, 1890-1945

ISBN-13: 9780195178029 / Angielski / Miękka / 2004 / 296 str.

Thomas A. Guglielmo

Opis

Taking the mass Italian immigration of the late 19th century as his starting point and drawing on dozens of oral histories and a diverse array of primary sources in English and Italian, Guglielmo focuses on how perceptions of Italians' race and color were shaped in one of America's great centers of immigration and labor, Chicago. His account skillfully weaves together the major events of Chicago immigrant history--the "Chicago Color Riot" of 1919, the rise of Italian organized crime, and the rise of industrial unionism--with national and international events--such as the rise of fascism and the Italian-Ethiopian War of 1935-36--to present the story of how Italians approached, learned, and lived race. By tracking their evolving position in the city's racial hierarchy, Guglielmo reveals the impact of racial classification--both formal and informal--on immigrants' abilities to acquire homes and jobs, start families, and gain opportunities in America.

White on Arrival was the winner of the 2004 Frederick Jackson Turner Award of the Organization of American Historians

Recenzje

"an important advance in our understanding of the racila dynamics involving early twentieth-century immigrants. A major contribution that deserves to exercise a major influence on the discussion of race in the US."- American Historical Review

O autorze

Thomas A. Guglielmo is an Assistant Professor of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame.