Family Background

My family history is rather complex. I lack a relationship with my biological father, so pretty much half of my heritage is a mystery. Although he may be gone, I still have a good handle on where he came from also. He was of Italian decent, but had Israeli citizenship. My mother is all Italian. We stem from Ionnica, and Palermo, and also al little bit from Naples. My great grandparents, and my grandparents came to America for a better life. They came right into to ellis island much like the movie we watched in class.

When they came to New York they had nothing physical. Their assets was their hope for a better life. Back in Italy life was very hard. My family worked endlessly and still was not able to be where they wanted to be in life. Their dreams were in America. It was America where many other people took refuge, and were able to take advantage of the widespread land and opportunity. Mussolini, and the fascist regime took a lot of freedom away from my family. Although it was anti communism, Italian fascism still used propaganda and censorship of its citizens.

When my relatives arrived here they split up. Like 90% of Italians half went to Brooklyn, and the other half when all the way to Massachusetts. They lived in the ghetto and learned English. I spoke a little bit of Italian but not enough to say I am fluent. When my relatives came here they wanted the future generations to be American, and not Italian. Therefore non of us were formally taught Italian.

Watching the Ellis Island video I was proud to be where I am. It took 3 generations in my family to go to college, and watching the video made me proud to be an Italian American. They struggled on a boat, and decided to move their entire lives all for me. Like masons, my family laid the brickwork for my generation, and I am very thankful.