Italian Americans Charge
“Protect Our Constitution” Group
With Ethnic Stereotyping
Washington, DC--
November 2, 2006
The Protect Our Constitution (POC), a political
campaign committee in Tallahassee, Florida, is guilty
of “egregious stereotyping” of Italian Americans,
charges the Commission for Social Justice (CSJ), the
anti-defamation arm of the Order Sons of Italy in
America (OSIA), the largest Italian American
organization in the United States.
The CSJ action was triggered by the airing of a POC
TV commercial in favor of an amendment to the
Florida constitution that would require broader public
support of changes to the state constitution. The
commercial can be seen at the POC’s Website:
http://www.protectourconstitution.org/mx/hm.asp?
id=MediaCenter
and click on Constitution For Sale.
In the 30-second political spot, a group of swarthy,
olive-skinned men in black sit around a table in a dark
room, drinking and smoking cigars. As the theme
from The Godfather plays in the background,
they mock how easy it is to get the state
constitution changed to favor illegal activities and
preferential tax treatment.
“The CSJ is non-partisan and has no opinion of the
merits of this amendment,” says CSJ National
President Albert DeNapoli, Esq. “However, we take
very strong objection to this commercial which is
disrespectful and offensive to Florida’s one million
Italian Americans.
This ad also underscores how Hollywood’s
stereotyping of Italian Americans as gangsters has
permeated all levels of our society and contaminated
even the democratic political process,” he says.
Florida ranks fifth among the states with the most
Italian Americans, according to the U.S. Census
Bureau.
On Nov. 1, the CSJ faxed a letter to the POC
registered agent, Mark Wilson, Sr. Vice President of
the Florida Chamber of Commerce, a major POC
backer, demanding that this offensive commercial be
immediately and permanently removed and that the
POC issue a public apology for its “egregious lack of
respect to Italian Americans in Florida and the rest of
the nation.”
The Commission for Social Justice is the anti-
defamation arm of the Order Sons of Italy in America
(OSIA), the largest and oldest national organization
in the U.S. for men and women of Italian heritage.
Founded in 1905, today OSIA has 600,000 members
and supporters and a network of more than 700
lodges or chapters coast to coast.
Contact:
Kylie Cafiero
Director of Communications
phone:
202/547-2900
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