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The Italian American One Voice Coalition is a nationwide anti-bias organization that defends Italian American heritage and combats all forms of bigotry through information, education, legislation, and advocacy. Its goal is to project a united front in dealing with defamation, discrimination and negative stereotyping of Italian American culture and heritage. It is the only national Italian American organization of its type. [1]
The 'Italian American One Voice Coalition' was founded by Dr. Manny Alfano, and consists of thousands of activists across the country. [Source needed.]
The mission of the Italian American One Voice Coalition is to protect the rightful representation of Italian Americans in American society and all other peoples whose heritage is damaged by unacceptable and worn out ethnic stereotyping in media, politics, the arts and elsewhere.
Founding Italian American One Voice Coalition President Manny Alfano dedicated himself to defending, promoting and preserving Italian American heritage and culture. He has spoken out against movies like "Don Jon," shows such as "Jersey Shore," various commercials and productions, instances and articles in which Italian Americans are negatively portrayed. He died on June 21, 2022. [2]
After the passing of Dr. Emanuele Alfano, Andre' DiMino became President and continues to represent the organization on TV and radio interviews in furtherance of the mission to defend Italian American heritage, culture and civil rights.
The Italian American One Voice Coalition stands ready to combat negative Italian American stereotyping through informational meetings, functions and protests against media outlets that continue to portray Italian culture in a bad light. It also actively recruits members who are ready and willing to raise awareness of instances of Italian American bias and discrimination. The Italian American One Voice Coalition has also created the first-ever nationwide "rapid response" network of defenders who respond quickly to instances of Italian American bias and stereotyping through emails, letters, phone calls and through social media.
In recent years, the group has made a focus of its activities opposing efforts to eliminate Columbus Day as a federal holiday, [3] [4] [5] and criticizing what it views as Italian-American slurs in popular culture. [6] [7]
The Italian American One Voice Coalition works closely with other major Italian American organizations including UNICO National, NIAF and OSIA and The NJ Italian Heritage Commission . ONE VOICE also issues a regular email newsletter. '"The Alfano Digest”' is delivered to more than five thousand people and Italian American organizations nationwide. It is published by ONE VOICE founder and Chair, Manny Alfano. The Digest issues alerts on instances of bias, stereotyping, discrimination and defamation and activates a network of Italian American ONE VOICE "defenders" who respond with calls, emails, faxes, letters and demonstrations when necessary. The Digest also contains interesting and informative Italian American cultural and heritage news and information.
Some of ONE VOICE's successes have included having companies such as Ally Financial, Muller Insurance and various car dealerships across the country remove commercials defaming Italian Americans. [8] ONE VOICE obtained an apology from Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne for making an insulting remark about Italians. ONE VOICE has worked to have small businesses remove offensive items to Italian Americans. ONE VOICE also fought to re-instate Columbus Day as a holiday in the Paterson, NJ School District; successfully lobbied the New Jersey Governor to revoke state tax credits given to the producers of MTV's Jersey Shore ; joined with the Ancient Order of Hibernians to stop cartoonist Thomas Nast from being inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame because of his overly ethnic cartoons; and helped to prevent Jersey Shore from filming in Hoboken, NJ.
Hillbilly is a term for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in the Appalachian region and Ozarks. As people migrated out of the region during the Great Depression, the term spread northward and westward with them.
Bias is a disproportionate weight in favor of or against an idea or thing, usually in a way that is inaccurate, closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group, or a belief. In science and engineering, a bias is a systematic error. Statistical bias results from an unfair sampling of a population, or from an estimation process that does not give accurate results on average.
The anti-bias curriculum is a curriculum which attempts to challenge prejudices such as racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, weightism, homophobia, classism, colorism, heightism, handism, religious discrimination and other forms of kyriarchy. The approach is favoured by civil rights organisations such as the Anti-Defamation League. Bias refers to violation of equality based on equal opportunities or based on equality of outcomes for different groups, also called substantive equality.
Adultism is a bias or prejudice against children or youth. It has been defined as "the power adults have over children", or the abuse thereof, as well as "prejudice and accompanying systematic discrimination against young people", and "bias towards adults... and the social addiction to adults, including their ideas, activities, and attitudes".
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) states that it is "the largest Arab American grassroots civil rights organization in the United States." According to its webpage it is open to people of all backgrounds, faiths and ethnicities and has a national network of chapters and members in all 50 states. It claims that three million Americans trace their roots to an Arab country.
Racism has been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices, and actions against "racial" or ethnic groups, throughout the history of the United States. Since the early colonial era, White Americans have generally enjoyed legally or socially sanctioned privileges and rights, which have been denied to members of various ethnic or minority groups at various times. European Americans have enjoyed advantages in matters of citizenship, criminal procedure, education, immigration, land acquisition, and voting rights.
Anti-Italianism or Italophobia is a negative attitude regarding Italian people or people with Italian ancestry, often expressed through the use of prejudice, discrimination or stereotypes. Often stemming from xenophobia, anti-Catholic sentiment and job security issues, it manifested itself in varying degrees in a number of countries to which Italians had immigrated in large numbers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and after WWII. Its opposite is Italophilia, which is admiration of Italy, its people, and its culture.
The Hindu American Foundation is an American Hindu non-profit advocacy group founded in 2003. The organisation has its roots in the Hindu nationalist organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad America and its student wing Hindu Students Council.
Guido is a North American subculture, slang term, and ethnic slur referring to working-class urban Italian-Americans. The guido stereotype is multi-faceted. At one point, the term was used more generally as a disparaging term for Italians and people of Italian descent. More recently, it has come to refer to working-class urban Italian-Americans who conduct themselves in an overtly macho manner or belong to a particular working-class urban Italian-American subculture. The time period in which it obtained the later meaning is not clear, but some sources date it to the 1970s or 1980s. The term is not used in Italy.
The Arab American Institute (AAI) is a non-profit membership organization that advocates for the interests of Arab-Americans. Founded in 1985 by James Zogby, the brother of pollster John Zogby, the organization is based in Washington, D.C.
UNICO National is a service organization of Italian Americans established in Waterbury, Connecticut, in 1922 to "engage in charitable works, support higher education, and perform patriotic deeds". According to its website, it is the "largest Italian American service organization in the USA". At that time of its founding, the trial of anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti was in the news, and many stories fostered a belief that Italian Americans were loyal primarily to their homeland. UNICO was founded by Italians who were denied membership in the local Rotary Club because they were Italian and to show that Italian Americans were loyal to America first and held no allegiance to Italy except through cultural traditions.
Antisemitism has long existed in the United States. Most Jewish community relations agencies in the United States draw distinctions between antisemitism, which is measured in terms of attitudes and behaviors, and the security and status of American Jews, which are both measured by the occurrence of specific incidents.
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example, an expectation about the group's personality, preferences, appearance or ability. Stereotypes are often overgeneralized, inaccurate, and resistant to new information. A stereotype does not necessarily need to be a negative assumption. They may be positive, neutral, or negative.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. state of New Jersey have the same legal rights as non-LGBT people. LGBT individuals in New Jersey enjoy strong protections from discrimination, and have had the same marriage rights as heterosexual people since October 21, 2013.
Jersey Shore is an American reality television series that ran on MTV from December 3, 2009, to December 20, 2012. The series follows the lives of eight housemates at a vacation home in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, on the Jersey Shore in seasons one, three, five, and six; South Beach, Florida, in season two; and Florence, Italy, in season four.
Jerseylicious is an American reality television show that premiered on March 21, 2010, on the now defunct Style Network. It chronicles the lives of six stylists who work at salons located in Green Brook Township, New Jersey. The Gatsby Salon, where the series is based upon, relaunched with a multimillion-dollar renovation and began hiring new employees in 2009, which included two of the main cast members: Tracy "Dimarco" Maloney and Olivia Blois Sharpe. Reruns of the series also air on Food Network.
Jersey Shore is a reality television series that aired on MTV. It follows eight housemates while they live, work and party at the Jersey Shore. The show made its debut amid large amounts of controversy regarding the use of the words "guido/guidette", portrayals of Italian-American stereotypes as well as perpetuating stereotypes of New Jerseyans, especially because the cast members are not residents from the area. It premiered in December 2009 and ran through 2012.
Racism is a concern for many in the Western lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities, with members of racial, ethnic, and national minorities reporting having faced discrimination from other LGBT people.
Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month is celebrated by proclamation of the President and Congress in the United States to honor the achievements and contributions of Italian immigrants and their descendants living in the United States, particularly in the arts, science, and culture. This proclamation was led by the Italian senator Tate Downs. Events are held throughout the month to celebrate and educate the public about Italian-American history and culture. It was first celebrated in 1989. The heritage month is in October to coincide with Columbus Day, the American national holiday traditionally celebrated on October 12, now celebrated on the second Monday in October, and Leif Erikson day on October 9. Heritage Months are usually proclaimed by nations to celebrate centuries of contributions by a group to a country.
Evan R. Bernstein is an American public figure and community leader, known for his work with Jewish NGOs. He worked for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) from 2013 and became the inaugural CEO and National Director of Community Security Service (CSS) in May 2020. Since November 2023, Bernstein has been the vice president of community relations at the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA).