Is an Italian-American Even Italian? 

This is hilarious. I had a friend from Italy visit and we ran into some strangers at a bar. They noticed his accent and asked where is he from. He told them Italy and they said, "we're Italian too!" He then asked what part of Italy did they live and they said, "no, we're American but our grandparents are from Italy, we've never been there." He was kind of offended but tolerated them.

The most diffuse view oitalians have about italo-americans proclaiming, or introducing themselves as "italian" is not about ethnicity, or descent or anything like that. It's about: did you go to school in italy' do you share its cultural values? can you speak italian fluently? if yes than youy are culturally italian, if not, you happen to have parents or grandparents that are/were italian. for most americans you are italian because of descent, for italians you are one because of culture

I'm an Italian who has lived in the US for 30 years. I met many Italian-Americans and this is my assessment about this issue. I do appreciate it when somebody has Italian ancestry. I do see some connections between the cultures. But what as an Italian I do not appreciate is the fact that the Italian Americans in the US assume they are Italians without knowing the culture, the food, or the history. They simply assume almost in an absurd way they are the "real" Italians. I met some Italian-American twins who wanted to know everything about their origin and their family in Italy, they wanted to learn the history and language. I thought this was amazing and I had a great appreciation of this attitude. But this is extremely rare and instead, the prevailing attitude among Italian Americans is that they don't need to speak real Italian, the few distorted words (it is not even the real dialect from their ancestor's region) they remember (when they do) make them Italians or that their horrific lasagna (I cannot stand most Italian-American food because I know the real thing is 1000x better) makes them Italian. In other words we cannot stand that ignorant arrogance. It would have been different if they really kept the language, traditions, food was more authentic and so on. Some other cultures like the Chinese did that.

I would imagine many Italian Americans from NY, visiting Italy would be surprised. Their Italian connection was a snapshot of the regional culture when their grandparents left Italy, combined with contemporary American culture. I’m sure it’s a culture shock. A humorous (and perhaps cringe worthy)take on this was when the Sopranos and the Jersey shore went to Italy.

I recall a buddy of mine explaining it very well. Americans are a strange population, in that, being entirely composed of immigrants that came there a few generations ago, has this cultural melting pot composition that makes their behaviour unique, compared to other populations. Americans are incredibly proud and nationalistic, mainly because they are taught to, but at the same time many of them suffer from a lack of identity and cultural individuality that makes them want to cultivate their own roots. Problem is, they are so detached from those roots, since most of them are several generations away from the country of origin of their ancestors, that they barely have any resemblance to the culture of that country, since isolation made them develop separately. Also, their countries of origins went on in the meantime, and culturally evolved on their own. Therefore what they try to cultivate is basically a distorted version of a culture from another country that is largely no longer in existence. Italo-Americans can consider themselves italians all they want, but the truth is they are very much americans, and have little in common with contemporary italians. On the other hand, the sons of immigrants that came in Italy from other countries and blended in very well are absolutely, beyond any doubt, italians. Especially since here, unlike in the US, that strong desire to maintain your roots to distinguish your community from others isn't that prominent.

I worked with tourists in Rome for 25 years. Italian Americans can't read, understand, talk, write Italian at all. Those l met, about Italy didn't know anything, even the President (does Italy have a president?) , the national holidays , Saint Francis (the Saint patron of the country), the national anthem, the local food, the names of the Regions of italy (what is Lombardy?) , a single frame of the history of italy .... They were not different from a Chinese or a Indian visiting Italy. Really I don't understand why the call themselves "Italians". Another weird stuff I noticed, they don't know the system we use to understand where we are from: we use to say "the province" (territorial district) and not the little village like they use to say when coming here. They say "my family comes from Montezurlo" a location that none knows, of 800 inhabitants. (location is invented).

Ok so, let's put it this way. Italians don't have a particular genetic or physical trait that differentiates them from other southern european or middle european ethnicities, italians are a HUGE mix of races from all over the Mediterranean and Europe, even us sicilians who are considered to be a homogenous group of people with certain traits in common, do not look alike at all, you can find lots of people with blond hair and blue eyes that descend from the vikings that invaded the island. So, now that we have understood that italian is not a race nor an ethnicity, what does being italian even mean? This is a question that only has one answer and that is: an italian is an individual who people from modern italy that speak italian and were raised in Italy consider to be a part of their people. Look, italian identity is a very hard topic to talk about, but if you start thinking about it, any identity based on statehood (not race) is hard to talk about and define. In some parts of the world, for example in Japan, for the people who live there being japanese means being racially a japanese and speaking japanese, that's because it's what everyone thinks, you can still be a japanese citizien and be treated as a japanese person by the government, but you can't change what other people see you as. Keep in mind that the definition made by the people of a certain area of the world (that happens to be controlled by the same government) on what it means to be of a certain nationality luckily changes over time, and that luckily the japanese example does not match the situation in modern european societies. In most european countries things are different, let's talk about italy, you define yourself italian nowadays (not in the Italy of 70 years ago but Now) if you speak italian and if you have absorbed the culture of italy up to a point that you share it with people who also consider themselves as italians, this means that these people have had some similar experiences as you (probably during childhood) that are considered part of being italian and living in Italy to which you all can relate, what it also means is that you share the same basic values with other italians. All of this makes it so that when you interact with italian society its members see that you have the characteristics of what defines being italian and consider you as such. So, let's say you define yourself as Italian, but you can't speak italian and that your culture and mindset is american, you consider yourself as an italian because you were raised experiencing italian traditions (most of them are usually traditions from a certain region or traditions that were born in the italian community in the US) and because you were told by american society that you are italian, a society that still classifies people with the same incredibly racist system they created centuries ago based on the concept different nationalities/look=different races. Now, you go to Italy and tell the italian people you meet on the streets "hey I'm Italian", now they will start talking to you in italian and when they see that you can't speak italian nor a dialect (it's kinda acceptable only if you are really old though) you will not be considered an italian. Let's now say that you chat with italian people using google translate, you will be able to connect with them but if you tell them you are italian they will start to want to socialise with you as such, they will see that you don't share almost anything with them culturally, for example when talking about the events going on now in Italy, the countries' problems, some of the things you did as a child, the regional differences in Italy, the real italian food and regional cuisines, the education system, what you celebrate as an italian, the events that created the modern italian society etc... than italians will not consider you as an italian anymore. If we want to add another example, let's consider a swiss from the italian speaking part of Switzerland, he will have a similar culture to a northern italian and he speaks italian, a Lombard without knowing where he is from might consider him as an Italian, but the guy considers himself as a swiss and the rest of Switzerland will agree with him when they know he is a swiss citizien and that he was raised in Switzerland, that's because Swiss have yet another concept for nationality based on the pride of being united in one common future. That's to say that people might be considered as different nationalities depending on who you ask, but if this concept was relative than it wouldn't work, and it also wouldn't work if people decided for themselves, for this reason you have the governments that can make you a citizien of their coutries, but in the reality of everyday what makes you belonging to a people is the fact that you are considered by them as such, and they will consider you a part of them if you match their concept of italian that itself evolved during history from "being born in the italian peninsula and speaking an italian dialect" to "being a citizien of Italy and speaking an italian dialect" to "having an italian culture and speaking italian or an italian dialect". Now, this doesn't mean that you cannot say that you have italian descent (italian people will be extremely curios to learn about that) or that you cannot be proud of your italian heritage or that you canot identify in the american system as an italian since you cannot change every single american mind about the fact that "italian" isn't a race, the downside to this is that it spreads misinformation about what italian culture is today(not in a positive or negative way, just very different from the italian american one). What this all means is just that you will not be considered italian in Italy, but as an italian-american, and you cannot change that because only italians themselves with time will change their view on who is italian.

You're an American of Italian descent. Period.

If you ever watched Jersey Shore when all those guys went to Italy you'd get how they're not Italian at all.

* in general* If an american italian can speak italian at least well yeah we italians can take that about consideration and start from there.. If you don' t know anything about the italian culture, history, cities etc start to learn and travel, visit and live in Italy too. Too easy to say "I m italian bla bla bla" when you are not eventually. it s a heritage you have to earn. Period.

REPEAT AFTER ME ITALIANS AND ITALIANS AMERICANS ARE A WHOLE DIFFERENT POPULATION

Honestly Italian American can be really cringy, they may descent from Italy but developed on their on throughout the centuries in the US. They don't speak the language, don't know Italian cuisine, they don't even have Italian taste in fashion and don't understand the culture, they basically are a different thing and what really upsets me is the fact they tend to celebrate all that is bad and stereotypical like the mafia or the hand gestures.

Italian mother, Jewish father. Italians in America have their own culture. We consider ourselves “Italian Americans” or “Jewish Americans.” Strong family, Sunday dinners, Italian and Yiddish expressions. We are Americans first, and live with Italian and Jewish qualities in our culture

What does being Italian even mean? We need to address this question first and foremost. The Italians who emigrated to America in the late 1800s and early 1900s come from a different Italian culture which isn't representative of the culture of today's Italy. What defines someone is their upbringing, not their ancestry, not their passport and not the color of their skin. I've had a friend in in highschool who emigrated to Italy from Albania and if he didn't tell me I wouldn't even noticed. He moved to Italy 10 years prior and grew up in Italy for most of his life, though he doesn't have an Italian passport, to me and our group, he's Italian. The main factor with Italian Americans is due to how much of a melting pot the US actually is and the people who emigrated to it needed to find a sense of belonging among the people they came along with. Which is fair and completely understandable. But it's also important to take into account that Italian American culture is not only derivative from a "snapshot" of the Italian culture of that specific time but it's also very well mixed and evolved from American culture itself. I moved to Canada from Italy and I've met some Italian Canadians who only knew of their great grand parents and what they think Italy and Italian culture actually is. When I talk to them about Italy, traditions and way of life, they seemed shocked. I have a lot of respect Italian Americans who actually want to come to Italy, maybe study in Italy and live a few years there to fully understand and be a part of the culture/way of life. Italians roll their eyes at Italian Americans when they claimed to be Italian because on a logical level it doesn't make much sense. Someone who grew up in America and only knows bits and pieces of the snapshot of a culture (which is completely different) and are a few generations removed from, won't likely be taken very seriously. The case can be made for any other cultures around the world, not just Italy. Italian American culture is beautiful for what it is and there's absolutely nothing bad or wrong about it. I find it fascinating in its own right and I'm glad I met the people I met. If people want to call themselves Italians they can, we live in a free country where people express themselves how they want. But I believe it's important to rationalize and realize the two cultures despite sharing some similarities, are after all very different. Italians are very welcoming and we do adore when foreigners come to to live, learn about our culture, traditions, food and way of life in general. I find it very empowering when someone goes a long way to reconnect with their roots, leaving everything behind (which is not easy, I've done it myself). It makes me so proud and happy when I see or hear people coming to Italy to learn more about my country.

There IS one definition of Italian: a person who was born and/or raised in Italy. The same as for every country/nationality in the world.

I am an American of Italian descent. Also I’m 90 years old. I still get that look when they try to pronounce my name.

I'm second generation Ecuadorian American, my wife's second generation Italian American, we all go through the same thing as hyphen-americans, people trying to convince us that our heritage means nothing and we should just identify with our nationality, but our nation's recognize us enough to grant us our blood right citizenships what else matters beyond that, we also grew up with the culture at home and that goes for all of us hyphen Americans I grew up with Ecuadorian food and music like my wife grew up with Italian food and music.. our roots matter you're not gonna find ethnic minorities anywhere in the world who don't identify with their roots

I was born and raised in the UK, in the UK i was the "Italian" now in Italy i'm "English" . That wraps it up !!

I can give you a simple answer to your question. I was born and raised in Italy and I came to us when I was 30. Now I’m 45 and I’m an American citizen. In the us I’m considered Italian in Italy I’m considered an Italian-American. For the Italian people being Italian is more than heritage it’s a lifestyle and a deep knowledge of Italy that you don’t have unless you grow up in Italy.

I got my Italian citizenship in adulthood, through marriage (my husband is from Italy), and I speak Italian. If someone were to ask me if I'm Italian, I would say, "I have Italian citizenship" or "I'm an Italian citizen." I love Italy, I read a lot of novels in Italian, watch a lot of shows and movies in Italian, and spend time in Italy every year. I'd venture to say I know much more about Italian and Italy than most Italian-Americans do, but I'd call my nationality American since I was raised in the U.S. I would never say I'm Italian-American because that's an American subculture I have no connection to.

I'm Italian and I think that the issue is not with Italian American living in Italy. It's actually with the Italian Americans who have never been to Italy and didn't even bother to learn the Italian language and call themselves "Italian"... Like, if I come over to America, without knowing a word of English and calling myself "American", would that be ok?

Not all Italians consider Italian Americans as non-Italians. Many like me consider Italian Americans to be Italians. If you have all 4 Italian grandparents how can you not be? You were only born in America.

I am Sicilian (born and raised) and I never met a Sicilian who does not feel Italian or wants independence from Italy. Sicilian independentist are few and considered ‘weird’, they get 1% in regional elections and in the last one they didn’t even partecipate. Yes, there is a lot of regional rivalry (something we call ‘campalinismo’) but nationalist sentiments are basically only present in South Tyrol and Val d’Aosta, which make up a small percentage of the population.

As somebody who is half italian and our family came over around 1910 And I was the first to go back six years ago. I can tell you this and it took about twenty four hours in italy to figure it out - what we in america Who are Italian think is Italy and have not kept in contact with family that world does not exist anymore and italy has evolved in its own direction. I remember saying something to a guy in Rome and he just looked at. Me and said where are you from? No One has spoken like that around here in 50 years. We are basically a time capsule.

As an Italian who has lived in the US: 1)why don’t we identify with Italian Americans in the US? You got the point when you said those Italians who left Italy say at the beginning of 1900s, they brought with them a screenshot of Italy at that time. Then they strongly cherished that image and passed it onto the next generations. That’s why when an Italian like me speaks to an Italian American in 2021 it’s a little bit like if I’m speaking to my grandma, no offense! It just represents a very old image of Italy. 2) in Italy we don’t consider dialects like official Italian languages and in fact they are quickly disappearing in big cities. In school we only teach the official Italian language, but obviously, like you said, with different accents around the country. Ciao 👋

My sense of belonging and culture is with the Italian Americans in America. We made our own culture and frankly I don’t identify with Italy at all. I like Italy but as I mentioned above, my sense of identity is the culture we made here.

" There's nothing worse than listening to Italian people talking about being Italian." - Dan Soder

To be Italian means to speak Italian, to follows cultural rules, and use Italian as a primary language.

When I wen’t to Ibiza and napoles as a Hispanic Colombian I felt so much in Common with Italian and they really enjoy are music and is funny because when you come to the U.S is really hard to see a Italian American vibing to reggeton and they have a more Anglo culture because in Italy they were really Latino like is hard to explain but still very cool both love there motherland.

my grandparents are from Calabria (Italy) and I've realized that my family has acted out these characteristics of American Italians, think Sopranos, as a way of being closer to our heritage. Probably just an American thing. Surely was irritating having people ask me if my family was in the mafia tho.

To be Italian is to have grown up in the infrastructure of Italy, which means having experienced the educational, political, and economic systems of the country (which affects everyone despite regional differences). It also means to speak Italian as your primary language (even if accents vary). If you haven't experienced any of this then you have Italian descent/heritage. Being Italian and having Italian ancestry are two different things.

This is the first video I watch of you and I already love you

THERES A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NATIONALITY AND ETHNICITY! I will always be Sicilian/Italian as it’s my ethnicity. No matter what nation I move to that will NEVER change. I am an American with Sicilian/Italian roots and proud ! 🇺🇸🇮🇲🇮🇹💪🏻

your video is very interesting because it explains the point of view of an "Italian-American". I believe that a lot of confusion is given by the fact that "Italian" has become a kind of brand in the world, for lifestyle, fashion, food, cinema, etc. so many people who have Italian origins around the world rightly nurturing the "Italian" brand and trying to cultivate a lifestyle, while modifying it, identify themselves as "Italians", even as a pride I think hehe. And this is also appreciated by Italians in Italy. But I sincerely believe that what really underlies a cultural / national belonging is the language. In my opinion, in general, even if you cultivate the Italian lifestyle but don't speak Italian, you cannot define yourself as "Italian", in that case I think that defining yourself as "Italian-American" is more correct. Despite this, everyone is free to do what they want. I think the difference between the "Italian brand" and speaking Italian is a great distinction, but that's just my opinion

Interestingly. Perhaps many countries around the world have the same view on this. My friend is Japanese American and had similar conversations with relatives when visiting Japan.

This is such complex phenomenon. It has a lot to do with Italians being very prideful, which is fine. There are many Italians that don’t even consider other Italians living in a certain region to be Italian. My parents were both born and raised in Italy. My Barese father (who never even became an American citizen) is sometimes branded as not being “Italian enough,” which I find so strange. As a first generation Italian-American (and I’ve adopted all of the cultural aspects passed down from my parents), I find myself in a weird place because of this phenomenon. I am supposedly not American enough for some Americans nor am I Italian enough for some Italians.

I agree with what has been said already regarding what it means to be "Italian" - or being from any culture: it's having common touchstones. An Italian American who grew up in the states watched the same TV shows as other kids in America, had a similar high school experience (like going to prom, etc), can sing certain jingles from TV commercials, etc. Likewise someone who grew up in Italy has the same, even if they are from different regions and have different dialects. My husband, who was born and raised in Italy but recently naturalized as a US citizen is now an American, of course, but he and I have different cultural touchstones from having grown up in different places. I am currently in the process of applying for Italian citizenship through marriage, and even though I have no Italian heritage (my ancestors were Northern European), I have been studying Italian since I was a teenager, speak the language fluently, have studied abroad in Italy more than once, and now not only do I speak Italian, but I understand my husband's dialect and speak it a little bit. Am I "Italian"? Well, someday I hope to be on paper, but I also know the culture quite well, and even though I didn't grow up here, I have familiarized myself with many cultural touchstones, even though I can't go back in time and go to an Italian high school etc. Anyway, a simpler way to state this is that being Italian, or being whatever nationality, is complex: you can be bureaucratically a citizen of that country, you can have ancestors from that country - and thus grow up with a flavor of that culture - but none of those things gives you what growing up in a culture gives you: having a common experience with others who grew. up watching the same media, playing the same games, going through the same school system, singing along to the same commercial jingles, etc.

If you happen to be a second generation American who grew up on the East Coast in a city and particularly a certain section of that city that accommodated nearly half the population of the inhabitants of Abruzzo when they were Italian immigrants and all four of your grand-parents were born and raised in the same town in Abruzzo and when you returned to Italy you made your home in that same town in Abruzzo, then most definitely YES, Italians from Abruzzo consider you one of them because most of them also have relatives who were Italian immigrants and went to live in that same city on the East Coast so they could be with their paesani. I mean how could they not consider someone like me to be an Italian? Now, Italians in other regions of Italy, possibly NO, they might not consider me to be Italian but why should I care? I'm never going to live with them anyway. I'm happy living with my own people and that's why I moved back to Abruzzo. It's where I come from and it's where I belong and it's where I would have been born had my grand-parents not gone to America.

I am an American immigrant in Italy. I moved to Italy permanently 20 years ago to be with my Italian husband. In the beginning we had thought about moving to an English speaking country, but those plans fell thru for various reason. At that time I considered myself an expat, thinking we would be in Italy temporarily. But as time passed, I changed my mindset and started to consider myself an immigrant. Since when one thinks of an expat, a move is only temporary, never permanent. So a person never really fully integrates into the local culture/society. Expats tend to, but not always, stay with other expats and avoid the locals. I never sought out other North Americans in the area, preferring to be with Italians or other immigrants that have chosen to permanently live in Italy.

Io ho perso le speranze. Sentitevi come volete ma la cosa non cambia: non sapete parlare la nostra lingua, la vostra ipotetica cultura italiana è distorta e modificata dalle abitudini americane che non esistono da noi, e per ultimo, non avete mai vissuto abbastanza tempo o non vivete in italia per conoscere lo stile di vita e le abitudini attuali. Sembra che ci sia una moda nel dimostrare il sangue italiano.. quasi tutto il mondo avrà origini italiane grazie alle innumerevoli emigrazioni. Per di più ci sono persone nate in italia o arrivate in età giovanile che non vengono riconosciute italiane nonostante siano cresciute in italia studiando la storia italiana e vivendo la cultura italiana.. rendendoli di fatto più italiani degli italoamericani. PS non avevo sbatti di scrivere in inglese, tanto sei italiano e capisci giusto? Al massimo c'è Google che funzia bene

This is such a complicated question im 💯%🇮🇹 born and raised in Bensonhurst Brooklyn my moms side is from Trapani in Sicily and my dads side is Neapolitan I've had Italian citizenship since i was 18 im 33 now but I'll never forget the time I went to Italy when i was 11 and members of my family got into a argument about wether or not we are "Italian" it really depends because Italy does have so many different cultures up and down the country that are distinct from each other but many Italian immigrants who came to America i feel like put aside their regional identity and kinda united as Italians living in America i believe thats a major difference and something Italians in Italy don't really understand about Italian Americans and vice versa i know that many people in Italy just see me as a madigan but to me im Italian also because certain traditional were brought to American from the homeland and im a second generation Italian American and attempting to keep the traditions alive is important its part of who we are as Italian Americans but do understand why certain people in Italy will never view me a true "Italian" but honestly there opinion doesn't bother me im confident and happy in who i am and absolutely proud to be Italian FORZA ITALIA 🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹

I could say the same thing for Filipino Americans, they ain't Filipinos but simply Americans of Filipino descent. So to any Filipino Americans reading this comment, I don't mean to be offensive but you ain't Filipino in our eyes unless you could proficiently speak Tagalog or Bisaya or at least hold a Philippine passport.

Omg my childhood was like the introduction to the different characters at the bar in Goodfellas. I’m half Irish and I learned that my Irish cousins thought it was ridiculous that the family born in America still call themselves Irish even though we only know Ireland through the stories of our parents and grandparents and for me great grand parents.

I'm italian. Born in Italy, raised in Italy. I know Americans who say they have "Italian blood", but on balance they know nothing of Italy, if not perhaps the chaotic tales handed down by their grandmothers, or everything that Hollywood cinema gives them in their daily imagination. To say that you love a country, a culture, its roots, one should also demonstrate it: really knowing the habits, the food, the fashion, the lifestyle, the language, the history (and this speech, we could do it from any European and non-European country - Slavs, Arabs, Asians, Africa etc.). I think in the U.S.A. you have to learn to simply accept what you are: Americans. Cheers. An European Italian.

I am American of Italian decent. First and foremost I am an American and I am proud. However I am also part of an ethic/subcultural group that is unique and identifiable within the framework of American culture.

Thanks for the video. I am working on getting my Italian citizenship recognized. I'm also a software engineer who has taught tech skills at the college level for over ten years. I think I would have a lot to contribute to Italy.

To find Italian culture at or near its purest form here are the countries: Italy, San Marino, the Vatican, Monaco, Southern Switzerland, Argentina, Uruguay, and I guess you could also add Corsica.

You might as well call yourself Italian American any way, since the entire continent is named after an Italian explorer.

My family is italian american came through ellis island settled in nyc and later on when I was born I was born right outside nyc... sooo im a barber and two young italian kids walked in from naples I gave him a great cut but durring this hair cut he asked where I was from and said originally ny im american... he said whats your name I told him then he asked whats your surname and I told him...... he couldnt understand why my last name was italian because i only speak words and am understanding not fluent. Long story short him and his friend thought my co worker and I were like dummies ...... I literally said hey man you asked why my last name is italian and im literally explaining the history of the millions of italians that came in the boats to ny haha they had to have been the rudest cockiest kids ive ever met. 😂 I was raised american and am very proud of that I did grow up eating my nonnas fresh pasta, fish , and italian americanized food I think i love my italian ameicans more than thes new stuck up new generational kids from italy. Smh

The point Is that Italo-americans and Italians are not the same

They are not the same thing. But they are something born of the same root and possess the same DNA. Italian Americans have been in America for almost 150 years. They lived a common history and in some ways parallel to the Italian one. Suffice it to say that in the Second World War the Italian Americans "clashed" with the Italians fighting in two different armies. The Italian Americans have simply reproduced their Italy beyond the ocean and I was surprised to see how still today they feel a strong belonging to the origins. At the same time, almost every Italian family of medium-low social extraction has had relatives who emigrated to America. In the US mainly Italians come from the regions of Southern Italy. In Latin America, especially Argentina and Brazil, many have origins in Northern Italy (the current Pope has origins in Piedmont and Liguria). Certainly the history of Italians and Italian Americans has many features in common and it is nice that after more than a century there are still strong links between these two worlds.

Thank you for this explanation, so I guess I am of Sicilian decent,. Dragotta and diStefano on my dad's side and Neapolitan on my mom's...I always grew up being very proud of our Italian heritage as well, my grandmother was full-blooded sicilian and that's all we knew. She came over from Sicily with her parents and siblings.

Italian American is American. An American with Italian influences, values, traits, characteristics, etc... but American. Doesn't mean you can't be proud as heck of your heritage and can't have a deep connection to Italy because of how you grew up at home. It's absolutely part of your identity in so many ways. But it's not the same as living and breathing your days in current Italian culture, participating actively in Italian society, and familiarizing yourself with customs, traditions, and the language dialects that have modern day relevance. You can become Italian by doing so, just like Rafi is/was doing. But I do agree with most of the pointed comments of irritation at American based commenters who staunchly assume blood and a passport is enough.

Argentinians and Uruguayans use the hand gestures as Italians, eat mostly Italian food, kiss each other on the cheek to say hello and goodbye regardless of gender.

Great video! What would you say is a big challenge Italian Americans face today?

italian american, where italian is the adjective that defines the noun, i.e. american

Italian Americans, take note: everyday Italians don’t care that you’re grandmother’s grandfather’s next door neighbor’s dog food was once boxed in Italy; you are American to them, and that should be enough for your short encounter with them. Celebrate your Italian heritage in America but don’t expect a warm Italian long lost welcome when you get to Italy because it’ll be sadly lacking!

Hey bro you got a really good voice. You should work as a sports anchors or as a baseball commentator

Just because people in different areas of Italy have slightly diverse identities doesn't mean that Italian identity isn't real. Just because Texans and New Yorkers differ in the way they speak etc doesn't mean that American identity isn't real either. Communities that live on the border of other nations all share common traits (S. California for example). Does it make them less American? I'm sure there are places in the US too that charge tourist prices (this has more to do with fleecing those who don't know any better and it happens all over the world not just in Italy). When American speak you tend to include a lot of slang and will have to speak standard English to be understood by a non English native speaker (outsider). You probably feel more comfortable too when speaking with people where there is no language barrier and so can use colloquialisms freely without being misunderstood or not understood at all. Also different parts of the US have their own slang words which aren't understood by people not from the area. In fact all these points can also be said of the UK (where I currently live). It's the same with any country anywhere in the world. It's not news! Italy is not monolithic and neither is any other country in the world. To use this argument to question the validity of Italian identity (as perceived by Italians within Italy) is absurd! Anyway, this video has proved one point: you think like an American!

This is also happens for Hispanic-Americans. As a Hispanic myself, I wouldn’t consider someone from Latin American descent as Hispanic, if they don’t even speak Spanish. I mean, they are indeed from Hispanic descent but they are not Hispanic. This happens specially for third generation children from Hispanic descent. At that point they don’t speak Spanish, because their parents barely learned Spanish. But, to me they could reclaim that title if they learned the language and learn about the culture. that’s why language is so important, because through language you learn and share cultures and traditions which makes up the identity of any country. That’s my opinion, though.

As an American, I am Irish-italian, to my family in County Cork and Naples, I’m full blood American. Not even third generation, I’m just American. Even with my Gucci belt and four leaf clover tattoo 🤣.

We are the CULTURE we grew up in. Because you've been shaped by the culture you lived in, you learned and navigated the good and the bad of that specific society, and that's what made you who you are. Same with your parents if they lived long enough in a different country. The aspects belonging to their culture of origin that can influence you are only echoes of something that is now very distant and has been diluted over time.

The unifier of Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi, fought a war in Uruguay and there is a center Garibaldi in Montevideo.

By law, if you're ancesters we're italian you may have the right to citizenship and I agree with that,but it doesn't make "Italian". But once acquired you're citizenship and decide to live here,learn the language and decide to participate in Italy's growth and assimilate our culture;well then benvenuto Fratello.

Thanks for this video about Italian Americans. Here’s my contribution to the discussion. All of my grandparents immigrated from Italy and my Dad even tagged along as a young boy. My parents spoke Italian with my grandparents. But my siblings and I grew up speaking only English at home. Italian (i.e. my parents’ respective dialects-Dad, a village in the province of Salerno; Mom, a village in the province of Crotone) was the secret language my parents spoke to one another in front of the kids. I had a knack for languages and learned French in high school and later Italian at university. I was so excited to try speaking with my grandparents and was shocked when I realized that they could understand everything I said in my textbook standard Italian, but I was totally lost when trying to understand their dialects. I now speak quite fluently in Italian and when I’m in Italy, people often cannot tell where I am from. It’s kind of weird because I speak clear, Standard Italian with no regional accent. In Rome someone asked me if I was Milanese. I replied, “No, a little west of there.” He said, “Ah! Torino!” And I said, “Actually a lot more west - the U.S.” Although I was born in Long Island, NY, in a very Italian-American neighborhood, we moved to the DC suburbs of Maryland when I was small. The “Snooky” Italian-Americans I would meet in NY would use a strange mixture of Italian words with a hodgepodge of distorted dialectal pronunciations. “Muzzadell” instead of mozzarella. “Basilicò” instead of basilico. I guess since I worked so hard to learn proper Italian, I’m a bit put off by these altered pronunciations. One time in my Dad’s village, Sant’Arsenio (SA), there was a young man about my age (in my 20s at that time). He could speak santarsenese dialect quite comfortably, but he couldn’t speak standard Italian. All of the young people in the village were amazed at his anachronistic speech. They also wondered why an italo-americano kid like me spoke Italian so properly. Di nuovo, grazie di questo video. Mi è piacciuto e spero di aver contribuito qualcosa alla discussione.

I’m Italian by origin but was raised in the Uk and I know Italians talk a lot about if a person has an Italian passport but dont speak the language then why do they even have an Italian passport? And i have to say that I agree with this massively because even if a person grandparents where Italian and somehow didn’t pass the language on to their children it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t learn it and of course everyone has their own opinion on this but I personally think that it is of respect to the country that your claiming to be from to speak the language and especially if you hold a passport but again everyone has their own opinion and his is only what I think.

As a proud Italian American my ethnicity is Italian. We in the states have a strong identity especially in the northeast. I don’t understand the resistance in acknowledgment of our heritage. Being American is not an ethnicity

My ex is from Bari. He would always told me that Italian Americans are Americans but they are genetically Italian.And a lot of American Italians try to hard to be Italian & most can’t even speak the language.

I'm was born in Colombia (South America) but I moved on to Spain when I was 6 years old, and my parents are from Spain as well. I don't care about what my passport says, I feel like another normal citizen from Spain because that's my culture identity. So, I don't judge this guy if he's Italian-American; what it really matters if he's more familiar with Italian or American Culture. When you realized which country makes your heart beating faster, you will understand which is your identity.

Sono d'accordo con quello che dici, bel video e bella spiegazione delle differenze tra gli italoamericani e gli italiani.

It's like the same difference between Anglo Saxon American's and English people, we're even similar as we all speak the same language yet we're not the same whatsoever and haven't been for hundreds of years. The issue for Italians, Irish, Scottish and to a lesser extent English with US communities of their culture is that in the US what they think is the culture of their "home country" looks like a caricature and makes them cringe.

The same can be said to African americans, they aren't African at all, their ancestors were African.

My grandma was born in Italy so I am an Italian citizen and visited many times but I can't say I am Italian. I think if you move there with an open mind and learn as much as you can you can eventually you become Italian just like immigrants to America eventually become American. It is a process. If you have citizenship by decent you don't need a visa to move to Italy but you still have to live there long enough to become Italian. My plan is to move there. I've lived abroad before and traveled internationally a lot so not brainwashed by "America is the greatest country" propaganda.

One of the problems about ethnic identity is that in part someone's ethnicity is linked to the country in which he or she was raised, not so much ancestry. For example, I have ancestors that came from Ireland, but I do not consider myself Irish. Having been to Ireland on numerous occasions and studying their culture, I can confidently make that statement about myself. To be Irish is to have grown up in the infrastructure of Ireland, which means having experienced the education, political, and economic systems of the country. Even if you are an immigrant to Ireland and have worked toward earning your Irish citizenship, like this Nigerian taxi driver that I meant and had a meaningful conversation with about this topic, that man is Irish, and not me. In other words, ethnic identity is geographical, political, and economic, not just language or a narrow definition of culture. So, I get why some Italians from Italy feel that Italian-Americans are not really Italian. However, like Rafael points out, you feel the way you need to about the situation, but I would finish by saying that if you go to the country of your ancestors, be prepared to accept and adapt to the difference that you experience.

An Italian-American is just an American that has Italian descendance, assuming he doesn't have anything to do with Italy else than part of his blood and maybe vacation. You may have an "Italian-American" culture, but that is different from what Italian culture is, or to be more precise (as you rightly said) cultures. It goes past the language, it's how you behave and how you view some things and it varies based on the region you live in. If you live in Italy for a while, obtaining those traits, at a certain point you'll be able to properly consider yourself an Italian, at least for me. It's not enough to have the blood and for me blood is not even required to "be Italian", it goes past that. It's a culture. And you don't get to say you're part of that culture just because your great-grandfather or other relative was from there.

So everything my grandparents went through to come here and settle with nothing means nothing? As a child growing up in NYC we all (meaning friends) identified ourselves based on our ETHNICITY. Hey I’m Italian, hi I’m Puerto Rican, hi I’m Chinese! That’s how we described ourselves. I really think they look down on us. I really don’t understand this.

It's funny cause as an Indian American who's never been abroad im 100 percent still considered a foreigner in the US and people still consider me from India. I speak only English, dont really like the food but im still a foreigner. It's funny cause this scenario would never happen in my case. I love Italy and Italian food though

Being a Sicilan Californian, I totally agree with you about East Coast Italians

Rafael la prossima volta che qualcuno ti dirà che non sei italiano mandalo affanculo, vedrai che la smetterà :) Alcune note: 1) Cittadinanza: formalmente decide se sei italiano o meno ma de facto non è fondamentale. Infatti io resterei italiano anche se domani perdessi la mia cittadinanza per acquisirne un altra. 2) Ci son 3 cose importanti per potersi dire italiano: --- La lingua. È necessario saper parlare l'italiano fluentemente. Questo si può acquisire con la pratica anche se richiede molti anni. ---Una base di esperienze comuni a tutti gli italiani. La scuola, il cibo, il calcio la musica, la televisione, la religione (e con religione intendo il cibo)... Tutte cose che chi cresce in Italia possiede, ma penso che passando molto tempo con italiani anche qui si possa fare molto. ---L'attaccamento per la propria terra. Questo a molti italiani purtroppo manca, ma lasciatelo dire, meglio uno come te che ama l'Italia piuttosto che uno nato e cresciuto in Italia che la disprezza. 3)Gli italiani reputano gli italo-americani speciali. Anche se molti non li chiamerebbero italiani, quello che hanno creato gli emigrati italiani in America è degno di nota e giustamente inorgoglisce ogni italiano. Basti pensare al cinema, alla musica, allo sport... Sentire un cognome italiano fa sempre piacere. Se gli emigrati decidessero di tornare all'Italia farebbe solo bene e non sarebbe assolutamente vista come una invasione, come invece è accaduto recentemente con i famosi "migranti". Ricordati: un italo-americano che si trasferisce in Italia non viene ma ritorna!

I'm from Milan and I think that Italian Americans are Italians. They belong to our people and nation because their blood and roots.

I have a good idea why Italians resent Italian-Americans claiming the Italian part of the identity. It’s the same reason that us nyc natives resent people who called themselves New Yorkers without being born and raised there. By no means is this solely based on a pride to be of the place, but in some ways the opposite. Growing up in nyc isn’t easy, it’s a place that can make you hard and numb. Everyone is a character, has a story that most only see on TV, but for us it’s life. Having lived in Italy almost 9 years now, I see a resemblance. Here are these Americans claiming to be one of ‘us,’ but they have no idea who ‘we’ really are. They claim the best parts without living through the difficulties. Also, while the foundation is related, the two are completely different cultures. Can the average Italian-American name a current hit tv program, musician, pop culture reference, or prevalent jokes? I venture to say no, but yet these references are understood throughout the peninsula. But, I feel it is possible to ‘become’ Italian through integration. That’s my take.

It depends

Argentinians are more Italian than italian americans

An American of Italian ancestry, like an American of British ancestry.

A very complex topic for sure; I'm an old Italian-American man whose grandparents all came from Southern Italy. When I was in my early 20s (1968-1969) I had an opportunity to study at an American University in Rome. As an "Italian" I was excited to go to the old country but I soon learned that I was "American" and while it was somewhat of an advantage to have an Italian last name, it didn't make me Italian. I paid a visit to the village of my paternal grandparents where I was welcomed but also felt the resentment of some of the townsfolk for being privileged (even though my family was working class). I have a sense that many Italians do not appreciate the significance of the Italian diaspora and the descendants of those who fled the poverty of Southern Italy. (My understanding is that many Northern Italians went to South America, but I have little knowledge of the circumstances that entailed). You mentioned the stereotypical traits of East coast Italian Americans - a group to which I belong, but my large extended family was anything but stereotypical. More recently I've befriended an Italian couple from Northern Italy who have moved to the US more than 10 years ago and who have an appreciation for the States and a somewhat negative view of modern Italy that surprises me. As to keeping or not keeping the language, it was a matter of survival. Italian immigrants were often hated and discriminated against and/or victims of violence. I remember my parents who were both born in the US of parents who came from Italy, telling me why they never spoke Italian. They were forbidden by their parents to speak Italian in an effort to both protect them from discrimination and violence and to demonstrate their rightfully being American. And while I regret the loss of the language, I respect and admire my grandparents for having the integrity and courage to sacrifice a part of their own identity for the well being of their children. Personally, I have studied Italian on and off for many years but without the opportunity to converse with native speakers, I have never mastered the language more than "abbastanza bene" and I still struggle with the many verb tenses!

I am an Italian American. No one can tell me that I am not Italian. Stupid. My ancestors are from Littly Italy in Chicago. I grew up eating Italian food with all my Italian relatives, and enjoyng my Italian relatives. My grandmother and her mother made Spaghetti the old fashion way, placing the flat dough on a table and cutting out the noodles one by one. I have two Italian uncles who were in WWII. My uncle Matte flew 31 missions over Germany as a bomber gunner. He is an American hero. Today, I do not identify with America because the government is so corrupt and the cities are so crime ridden. I am currently researching moving to either Northern Italy, The Netherlands, or the South of France. Forgot, my ancestors are from Florence. Still have relatives there.

As a complete non-Italian, it’s quite unfortunate that Italians don’t see the diaspora as fellow Italians, shows that the self identity of the nation isn’t as strong. If you actually only determine nationhood through pieces of paper or where you’re particularly born, then there’s not strong relations that make up a people.

This topic, as we all know too well, is a can of worms. It's super complicated and the main problem, I think, is the fact that the two cultures define ethnicity (or what you call it) from opposite standpoints: "race" on the one side, language and culture on the other. There's no middle ground. Just to give you an example: there are people in the South of Italy (and nowadays in the North as well) whose family name is Albanese, a clear hint to the fact their ancestors came from Albania. And yet, no one in this country would ever think of calling them Albanian-Italians. They're Italian, period.

Being third generation Italian you can just say I was raised on my grand parent's Italian "values". 🇺🇸

Like with many other ethnic groups in the United States, Italian-Americans end up with a fossilized Italian culture from years ago. Not only that, they end up with more of American culture, that the fossilized Italian culture ends up being a shell of who someone is.

I can understand why many Italians would not want to be associated with that Jersey Shore type of person.

Tanti attori e cantanti americani hanno fondato la loro carriera sulla presunta italianità. Al Pacino non è in grado di dire mezza parola in italiano, forse "ciao" e "grazie" ovviamente con un atroce accento inglese. Gli italoamericani sono americani al 100%, non italiani. Altrimenti la componente anglosassone degli Usa cosa sarebbe, angloamericana?

My father was italian and raised italian from Jersey and we didn't get along lol I love my father RIP but being italian and American my father son we are different and he didn't teach me a lock of italian

I hope this will add some clarity for people who are offended by not being considered Italian by Italians. Americans have some funny notions about heritage that to a European are considered fascist ideology. A typical American will say "I am such and such percentage this and such and such percentage that" and then base those percentages off of borders that did not exist when their ancestors came here. There was no such thing as Italy or Germany before the 20th century and Italian wasn't widely spoken in Italy until the government promoted it through a tv campaign in the 1960's. Similarly, Parisian French was only spoken by the upper classes of France and England while the most widely spoken language in France sounds more like a combination of Spanish and Italian. In fact, the idea of countries is relatively recent in itself. Cultures were much smaller and more regional with even towns and villages having their own languages and cultures. The "percentages" are not only problematic because of this, but also because basing one's identity off of blood quantum and genetics is the basis of Nazi race science which caused a recent world war and is still the cause of war and genocide in much of Europe. The truth is that there is no significant genetic difference between Europeans as a whole. Also, Americans tend to bring very strong opinions on conflicts that have nothing to do with them. An example is people with Irish heritage talking about hating the British even though Ireland is one of the most peaceful and wealthy nations on earth now and do not want to be reminded of the Troubles or for Americans to re-open those wounds and stir up old animosities. Similarly, they do not want mafia obsessed Americans stirring up trouble in Italy where the mafia is a very real problem in politics. Europeans on a whole identify as the country they live in and the culture they are actively a part of and do not have strong nationalistic ideas about their countries like Americans, who hang flags on their houses and trucks, do. Nationalistic pride on an American "patriotic" level like this comes off as very shocking and dangerous to Europeans, so when you go to Europe and wear tshirts with Italian, British or whatever kind of flag on them, people will usually assume you are a racist.

Just because you have Italian ancestors, doesn't mean you automatically are an Italian. Italian-Americans are just Americans who are appropriating Italian culture

According to the law of blood in Italy, Italians in America are still considered Italian. If no one believes me, look up the law of blood in Italy.

Honestly, I think this question is absolutely ridiculous. Firstly, most Italian-Americans aren't anything like the characters on Jersey shore. Secondly, Italian-Americans say they are Italian when in America because the fact that they are American is already implied and they are merely making a statement about their ethnic roots. I'm 100% Italian-American (all of my grandparents are from Italy) and have been to Italy multiple times. When I'm in Italy and I'm asked, I state that I am Italo-Americana, which is a simple fact whether anyone likes it or not. In Italy, all but one person treated this information enthusiastically and often mentioned their own relatives who had emigrated to the US. Thirdly (but perhaps most importantly), there are plenty of people in the US whose grandparents (or other ancestors) came from Italy, but they have no clue about where their ancestors came from, how to speak Italian (or even what their own surname means), how to cook Italian, or know about other facts or traditions, etc. When speaking to native Italians or watching Italian documentaries or movies, I am familiar with around 90% of things they mention or other aspects of Italian culture because I grew up with it and took an interest in it. I was also raised with Italian values regarding family, honor, friendship, work, religion, warmth and generosity, representing your family, how to treat people, etc. Perhaps it's legitimate to question whether Americans who are 1/8th Italian, and have no connection or interest in Italian culture. are Italian. However, there is absolutely no reason to question the claim of someone like myself to Italian heritage. My genetics and blood are 100% Italian and frankly culturally, I feel far more Italian than I do American .

Im first Generation. both parents born and raised in Italy, I speak Napolitan dialect… but am American first, Italian second. BUT, in the US everyone introduces their cultural background First…because its a melting pot. And yes Being Italian American is its own thing, very different than the 100 other cultures in this country. For example my neighbor is Polish-American…we are not the same at all lol. We have held onto older italian traditions, we make our own Capicole, Sausage, Wine, annual sauce production lol

As an italian Canadian we feel more italian than our American counterparts but it will slip away within the next generation or two