Posted on NJ.com
Once again, the Italian American One Voice Coalition finds it necessary to bring the perpetuation of negative stereotypes and defamation of Italian Americans to the public’s attention. A&E-TV’s latest and most disgraceful “reality” series to date, “The Godfather of Pittsburgh,” is a meritless, crass and apparently heavily scripted show that glorifies criminality and the exploitation of women. It is an insult to all Italian Americans and perpetuates a negative stereotype to the worst degree possible.
The cast does not represent the millions of law-abiding, decent Americans of Italian descent, who have every right to be proud of a rich cultural heritage and the many contributions their families have made to this country through hard work, education and perseverance.
IAOVC is calling on Italian Americans offended by this “reality” series to contact the show’s sponsors and send them an email message that perpetuating negative images of Italian Americans should not be encouraged and will not be tolerated. The stature of corporations that have their names associated with such a show is surprising. I wonder why these corporations feel it is OK to promote the denigration of Italian Americans. The A&E cable channel has hit a new low in search of ratings relevance.
We ask those who are offended to click on iaovc.org to get the contact information for A&E and the list of the show’s sponsors.
— Manny Alfano,
Bloomfield
The writer is president of the Italian American One Voice Coalition.
The cast does not represent the millions of law-abiding, decent Americans of Italian descent, who have every right to be proud of a rich cultural heritage and the many contributions their families have made to this country through hard work, education and perseverance.
IAOVC is calling on Italian Americans offended by this “reality” series to contact the show’s sponsors and send them an email message that perpetuating negative images of Italian Americans should not be encouraged and will not be tolerated. The stature of corporations that have their names associated with such a show is surprising. I wonder why these corporations feel it is OK to promote the denigration of Italian Americans. The A&E cable channel has hit a new low in search of ratings relevance.
We ask those who are offended to click on iaovc.org to get the contact information for A&E and the list of the show’s sponsors.
— Manny Alfano,
Bloomfield
The writer is president of the Italian American One Voice Coalition.