Italian Immigration and Its Effects on American Culture

In this video, I learned a lot about Italian American culture. For example, I used to just go with the notion that all Italian American's are somehow connected to the mafia, and after viewing this film I have realized that this idea is pretty ignorant. I like how the sopranos were sued because of the picture they were painting of Italian Americans. I also liked how many Italian Americans left Italy during Musolini's reign in order to be free from these type of politics. Italy than declared war on the U.S. And a lot of the italians proved their worth by joining forces and fighting against their ex-oppressor . One vivid image I have in my mind from this video is when they talk about the culture shock they went through when they got to chicago and witnessed all of the neon signs. For a person to endure something like this it is very significant due to the fact that you are used to a certain way of life and now that you have finally reached the destination in which will serve as a catalyst to your future and goals you look at life differently and even people since a lot of these Italian immigrants were discriminated against in terms of housing and employment. Little Italy neighborhoods were just popping up in many cities. These cities were usually very overcrowded and substandard living conditions. Many had chosen to go to the united states and come right back, but since World War I happened it prevented many of them from returning. The jobs that they had were very difficult, but the italians were very proud people and not even the difficulty of the labor would discourage them from coming out ahead, and succeeding. When Italy declared War on America, more than half a million italian Americans served in various branches in the military. And even due to there involvement many of them were sent to detention camps in order to keep potential threats away from the country. Many italians were awarded the medal of honor for their very honorable service to our