Follow Your Passion: A Seamless Tumblr Journey
I promised a part two so here it goes. My letter to America and racism culture within Italian American culture.
50 years ago I wouldn’t be white. I mean, I’m not white. But I wouldn’t have had white on my passport (don’t ask me why it’s white on my passport) because I’m Italian. I’m not even Italian I’m Sicilian but to most Americans that’s the same thing. They think I’m being pompous and obnoxious about where I’m from. Like I’m more special than other Italian Americans. But like.. no? The opposite in fact??
Back in Italy, Sicilians aren’t white. Sicilians are dirty. They’re mixed and disgusting and their skin is too dark and they’re too poor. Back in Italy, my accent alone tells people what they need to know. So how does that relate to me, here in America?
In America, existing is confusing. My mother (the whitewashed Tsalagi woman) thinks I’m white on my dad’s side. “But Tala why the fuck does this matter?” I hear someone asking. Because you need to understand the difference between being Italian and Sicilian. It boils down to the fact that Sicily was colonized a trillion times. We had to do genetic testing for medical reasons, here’s what I found out. I’m Arab, black, unspecified Asian (dunno why they couldn’t specify), Greek, Italian, and ofc white and Native American. Those last two are from mummy dearest. Everything else is from my dad. Sicily is a mixed race culture. That’s why Sicilians look so different from each other. Because it’s not a genetic set, it’s mixing races. It’s a beautiful thing and a beautiful culture, but being Sicilian doesn’t make you white. You can be a white Sicilian the same way I’m Arab-Greek Sicilian, but it’s not an automatic designation.
If you’re sitting here wondering why the hell that matters, dw so did my friends before I explained it. Imma give you some examples of things that happened to me.
In meetings at the balboa park house of Italy, saying I’m Sicilian got me a ticket to having change my shirt bc a 40 year old woman purposely spilled her wine on me.
In 2023 I got called a Dago (a slur I haven’t heard used as one since my incredibly fucking Sicilian history teacher explained its use in America back in the day) because I had a Sicilian flag on the back of my jacket.
So yeah racism against Sicilians is still a thing and I’m tired of some of y’all acting like it isn’t.