Politics / Why I Vote. Italian Elections Through Italian/American Eyes
An Ex-W.O.P. Casts His Vote
(March 25, 2008)
Joseph Sciorra
The ballots papers for the 2003 referendum: the first time Italians voted abroad.
Born in the USA and now an Italian citizen, I’m asked to vote. So, what do I know?
Tools
Email this
Permalink
Print thisOne theory holds that Italian immigrants were dubbed “wops” because all too many arrived in the States With Out Papers. Born and raised in New York City, I reclaimed my Italian citizenship in 2001. I was a wop no more. I have my papers.
My reasons for reclaiming Italian citizenship were varied and shifted over time: Italy was offering; I met the requirements; the imagined mischief of disrupting antiquated notions of “melting pot” Americanism; options in lieu of unforeseen political or economic turmoil; the Italian government’s historical accountability to its immigrant citizenry and its descendants; and because I’m Italian, with or without papers. The only practical benefit to date of being an Italian citizen is breezing through security at Fiumicino and Heathrow.
Requests for reclaimed citizenship are booming. I wasn’t able to find any data on the Web but the day my siblings and I finalized our paperwork at the Italian consulate in New York City, all the staff in the open office where we were sitting were dealing with the very same issue with other Americans. I couldn’t help feeling as if we born-again Italians were members of a new transnational confraternity, giving a 21st century twist to historical immigrant repatriation.
What I never suspected was that I would be called on to vote.
I didn’t know what to do the first time I received ballots for the 2003 referendum. I had been taught you would lose your American citizenship if you voted in a foreign election, so I didn’t. (I saved the ballots because I dug the design.) I was mistaken: one can vote in the Italian election and not lose one’s American citizenship.
I follow Italian politics as best as anyone can, enough to know what the big issues are. There are others, especially whose Italian is not proficient, who aren’t up on the issues or who don’t know Italians vote for a party and not individual candidates. In 2006, one Italian/American friend almost voted for the party that stood in opposition to her professed political beliefs because she was unaware of their platform. She was making a choice based on the attractiveness of the party’s logo.
I wonder how many votes are being lost because materials by the parties and the government are not bilingual (or trilingual in Canada!). I’ve received at least one email hoping that i-italy.org would be that place on the Web where people can get relevant information in both Italian and English.
Why do I vote?
It can be argued that as an American/Italian what happens in Italy doesn’t affect me. But I voted in the 2005 fertility law referendum in a way that was in concert with my political beliefs regardless where I live. The following year I was one of those italiani all'estero who helped sway the parliamentary elections; our vote the political right’s strategic miscalculation. I don’t believe the candidates of any party will represent me in the Italian parliament in the same meaningful ways my American representatives do. That’s one of the many reasons why I’m excited by Stefano Albertini’s proposed candidacy. The voting process has helped me become more Italian.
Call me a wop or chiamami un americano, but in April, I’ll be voting with all the other Italians.
Related Links
-
Inside this special
-
Latest
Editor's Pick
Multimedia
Magazine
I-ITALY.IT
antiquated notions of “melting pot”
I wonder if you might elaborate a little more on one very interesting “reasons for reclaiming Italian citizenship”. Specifically: “the imagined mischief of disrupting antiquated notions of “melting pot” Americanism”. I’m not sure exactly what that means; however, it is an interesting clause.
imagined mischief
i would have replied earlier but this site doesn't always notify me when someone posts a comment. nor does it identify who you are.
regarding that phrase: i was raised in the midst of the cold war and in the aftermath of fear-mongering mccarthyism, in which the anti-immigrant xenophobia of the late 19th/early 20th centuries morphed into a new iteration of Americanism in which notions of the US of A as the "best," the "freest," etc., and being "American" meaning not having "divided loyalties," not being a "hyphenated American," etc., were invigorated with new life. those ideas were challenged during the 1960s and aftwerwards. in some small way, i imagined that reclaiming my Italian citizenship -- sometime that was not an option on either side of the Alantic when I was growing up -- helped disrupted an outmoded sense of idenity.
“melting pot" reality??
Thank you for your reply. I know what you mean about the comment notification system. i-Italy is a very complicated site and the program that controls it must have some bugs. I notice that the title still carries a “beta” note indicating that the program is still in the debugging stage. I hope it improves. I love the site, but as it is, it does not facilitate dialogue. By the way, I hope you know about the comment I posted to your blog on Kerouac. It was a real “eye opener” for me. – More to the point of "hyphenated American", I take your meaning. I am fascinated with what I thought to be the reality of a “melting pot”; increasingly seems to be an illusion. There seems to be a growing sense of ethnicity in the country. I am amazed at the stunning growth in the hyphenated Italian phenomena. I’m not sure how or why it came about; but, it’s definitely a reality. As youth growing up in a “Little Italy” neighborhood, my generation (grandchildren of immigrants) had absolutely no sense of hypheness (so to speak). The fact that the vast majority of the students in our high school were Italian made no impression on us. At a breakfast gathering just this past Saturday, a fellow brought in an old year book and we were genuinely amazed at how many Italians were in our own high school. We were not remotely conscious of our ethnicity at time. Tom Verso
generational & immigrant
Hello Tom,
The site is still buggy &, from my perspective, in need of rethinking/reorganizing. The wonderful thing is that site manager Ottorino is very open to listening to suggestions.
I saw your Kerouc comments but a long time afterwards but didn't feel up to replying. I have to admit, I continue to feel guilty for not doing so and will at some point, I'm sure, long after both of us are any longer interested in the topic.
I read your citzien post. Tthere's clearly a generational component to our perspectives, as well as the fact that my parents are post-WWII immigrants &, in the first 10 years of my childhood, we lived in a white ethnic neighborhood where not only did kids identify themselves when asked "What are you?" with either "Italian," "Irish," Jewish," etc., but also the Ital Ams kids and parents reminded my parents and me almost daily of our "otherness." So when the 60s arrived, with all its challenges to inhereted notions, I was receptive.
Best,
Joe
summing up
Joe – hope you get this note. When I post a note, I feel like a character in those cartoons stranded on an island putting a note in a bottle hoping someone reads it. I agree that the site needs to develop and most especially agree with what you have to say about Ottorino. I get the feeling that he is bumping into obstacles at the top. Once I made a suggestion that he responded to very enthusiastically and dialogued with me about it. He said he was going to send it to “editors” and that was the last I heard about it. Typical of bureaucracies. Nevertheless, it’s a great site. I love being able to post without the editors clearance. I use to post to H-ItAm but the editor was madding. Sometimes he would post and other times not; but, I never knew what his rational was for acceptance/rejections.---Please don’t feel a need to respond to the Kerouc thing. I just wanted you to know how much I appreciated it. I have since read “On the Road” . WOW! Where have I been. And to think that I once was sent home form school for dressing like a Beatnik! – Finally, I agree with the voting/generational thing absolutely. I have a blog listed: “Off the Boat Then and Now” which goes to the generation issue. Ciao for now Tom Verso
got it!
best, Joe