Why do some italian-americans dislike some black people?

Question

I know it's not all, but i have even experienced it myself from some of them an have observe it toward other black people.

Answer 1

Some prejudice is taught -
Some is developed from personal experience and interaction.
NONE of it is productive to self, or society.

Answer 2

Haha, that's like asking why do some people hate some other people. The first "some" is okay, but the second "some" removes the racism issue that you're trying to put through entirely. Anyway, I'll remove the second "some" and give you the benefit of the doubt.

Haha, that's like asking why does everyone hate black people. Because they're black. They're different. And don't say Italian-Americans. And... I mean... can you name a race that DOESN'T have some of their people hate "some" black people... haha... some black people. What a... forget it. That's all you get.

+2.

Answer 3

My suspicions are that when blacks began to migrate to the cities in droves, and moved into areas traditionally populated by Italian immigrants and their descendants, there was a clash of cultures, especially when it came to economics. There was only a certain percentage of opportunities available and the Italians were not willing to give those up to outsiders. And the blacks may have seen them as foreigners and not Americans quite yet. Just a guess on my part. Any other suggestions?

Answer 4

To put it simply: Italy is very close to Northern Africa.

I think some Italian-Americans inherit racist attitudes about Africans from their Italian ancestors and their homeland.

When I worked in Italy, I often saw graffiti (in Southern Italy) like: "Vai via i negri," which means "Go away, blacks!"

The anti-African thing goes all the way back to Roman times, when Hannibal invaded Italy. Remember that Hannibal was North African, and the most lethal part of his army were the Nubian cavalry, who were black men.

I know, that was a long time ago. To talk about more current events: Remember that Italian immigrants faced discrimination and were shut out of many jobs. They were also forced into the poorer neighborhoods where -- you guessed it -- blacks were also forced to live.

When impoverished people are competing against one another for status and progress, they unfortunately often turn against one another.

Italians, being Europeans, had a lot of advantages over blacks. And, as they say -- racism is the poor man's snobbery. Italians couldn't boast about being richer than blacks, so they boasted about their skin being lighter than blacks.

Well, most Italians are very affluent now and blacks have come a long way except of course in the inner cities.

Today I think a lot of the "racism" you see is actually "classism" among Italian Americans.

Italian culture is very, very, very class conscious. In Italy, poverty is extremely shameful, and the wealthy are loved and copied even more than in the United States -- except among die-hard Italian communists and fascists, but that's another story.

Anyway, some Italians may look down on blacks and adopt negative attitudes toward black culture becaue of the association it has with poverty and crime.

Now, don't get mad at me when I say that: Get mad at Jay-Z, Fifty Cent, or even Eminem. You cannot deny the fact that many blacks -- mostly the black youth -- willfully associate themselves with the lawless and amoral attitudes of hip-hop culture. This degrades the reputation of blacks in the eyes of elites all over the world: Take the "Cristal" incident, for example -- even stuffy French champagne makers know about Jay-Z's gangsta rep.

I hope this helps. BTW: I have both Italian and African ancestry.

Answer 5

In each culture, those who are unaware of all the beauty another culture can offer, tend to have a negative approach. It's unfortunate, but ignorance leads to prejudice. What we don't know causes fear and defensiveness. There are people in all cultures who have issues with others who are not like them, who don't have the same belief system, who don't look the same.

As for black people in America, we stretch across a wide spectrum of beliefs, career decisions, choices we make in life, and quite a bit of self imposed limits. Not all limits are self imposed.

We're are frequently seen as slackers to those who come from a culture of hard working tradition holding families. There are still an abundance of us who are angry and aggressive because of the slavery issues. This also is an example of being limited. There are numerous cultures of people, races of people who were enslaved, no differently than blacks. They have risen above it.

So, because of the popular view of the negative image we have, people of other cultures tend not to like black people, it's not just italian people.

Not a lot of people see the positive impact we make on our society. Not a lot of people see the average professional or blue collar worker, who is black, with the kind words and giving heart. Not a lot of people understand the hopes and dreams of the young black person who strives to do something great for our society as a whole. It's very unfortunate, but it's real.

Answer 6

Why does anybody not like somebody else? And in what context? If you have a black neighborhood next to an Italian one you will have friction from past encounters, some perhaps going back decades. It would be the same if you were to change the races to Chinese, Irish, Mexican, Samoan, ect.., mix and match as you like, and place any of them side by side for an extended period.

Answer 7

Because they are closed-minded and think that the blacks are underneath them, when the truth is many of them may have black genes in them. The Romans had Black slaves, and who knows what happened with them and their slaves. Rome was never just confined to Rome, it went all over the place. The Italians do not understand that there could very well be Black in them. They are blind to the reality of things sometimes.

Answer 8

There are people from ALL groups, not just Italian-Americans that are prejudiced against other groups. Why do some black people dislike whites?

Answer 9

I don't know, it's crazy though, but I think Italian- Amer. dislike every race/ nationality except white Americans.

But mexicans don't really like blacks, blacks don't really like mexicans. It is the same with Asians, Canadians & Europeans.
We have not had to deal with it because here in America it is implicit.

Answer 10

I wouldn't go by watching The Sopranos and get to know some real intelligent Italian-Americans.

Answer 11

Man the Italian-American papis dig me and have a crush on me. They love Black people.