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SELECTIONS FRO\,{ THE ITALIA\ PRESS77HOW ABOUT SECRECATION ?(The editorial that lollows w.as contairted in the luly77th issue ol 'oThe ltalian Echo" ol Rhode Island., pub.lished in Prouidence. lt was toritten by Alexand,er Bctilacqud,its editor.)T T \ Ot'Llr be irrteresting arrd.I possibil . illuminatirrg 1o haveI a debatc belween representativeso{ the trvo streams of thoughtr,vhich now pervade the Itaiian-American communities. There existnon, turo schools, each with its staluartchampion: the segregationistsand the anti-segregationists. Atevery opportunitl' we are haranguedh1' one or another of those u ho professto represent one or another ofthe schools. "Belr,are of too muchsegregation" cries one. "Let usband together as Italians !" sat-s another.Between the tw-o, thousandsare shunted back and forth notknorving rvhich u,ay to turn to finda real leader, one r,vho sha1l inspirethem w-ith the rvil1 to go on alongthe road to ultimate triumphantassertion.Segregation in the sense thatforeigners establish a closed colonyrvhich forbids entirelv- traffic r,vitholher racial elements is hardly possiblein a countrl' u,'l-rere settlemintschange with so Luch rapidity. Inorder actually to have segregationother races \\nllld have to be bor--cotted and othenvise ignored.There has to be a consciously directedeflort to have seglegeiion.If this condition obtained-unconsciously-inAmerica during thehalcl'on dal-s of immigration it r-asbrought about entirely by the hostileenvironment, accentuated by theclash of strange tongues and customs.What would have become ofthose gror,rps if they had not settledtogether in settlements as did theearly Pilgrims in stockades ?It is not entirely fair to brandeverl'ltalian organization as an efforttor,vard segregation. Organizationis a means to an end. Theend is acceptance, without reservation,on an equal basis r'vith all otherraces. Italians organize not forthe sake of maintaining a closedracial entity, but because thel u'ouldhasten their assimiiation and Americamzatton.A rvarning againstsuch a thing is realiy an irrevelantgesture because the danger simplydoesn't exist.The oniy persons who make evena feeble attempt to preserve the customsand traditions of the Fatheriand--so-ca11ed-arethose of theolder generation w-ho still think thatreligious fervor can be displayedthrough brass bands and fireworks.lf ou'ever, rather than condemnthem or otherw-ise heap ridiculeupon them it is better to 1et thempeacefully go on their r,a1-. Thatgeneration is fast disappearing andtheir virtues of sobrietv, honesty,thrift and love of labor far outr,veighanv smail grudge we mighthold against them.The debate \ve suggested r'vouldprobably simmer dou,n to a contestof llag-r'aving. The pros u'ouidhave the American flag and theantis would have the Italian flag.Intelligent people have long agorvorkecl out a rational compromiseon this question. Of course lvemust not drau, ourselves into a shelland keep out everything "American."Of course we should carryout our civic obligations r'r,ith asmuch loyalty and devotion as possible.But surely no group can becondemned if it organizes becauseit rn. ants more opportunitl- tcy,contributeto social progress. l*theltalian organizatiorrs incidentalll'rvant to keep alive some of thosetraditions rvhich fortunately havecome dorvn to them thror-rgh theages, it certainly isn't an act of treason.Real segregation r'vou1d obtainif they selfishly u.ithheld allthose fine spiritual things r,r'hichday by day, are ennobling Americanlife and giving neu' color andforce to the emerging character.toWE ARE HALF A MILLION'oLa l{uoaa Capitale" ol Trentono in its lu.ly 37 issue,contained. the tollowing editorial by "Olmurr' in whichthe writer comments on the disparity between the numericalstrength ol the ltalians ,and their political ,strength.E are half a million.Even, as a matter of fact,a little more. The exactsr-atistics issued by the Census Bureauaclmit that, up to 1930, we hadieached the figure of 507,000. Add:,1 these, ail the Italians who, forirr many different reasons, lvere not:nclr-rded in the census, and those:,,-rm since the census, and you rvil1s-e that the Italians of Nen Jerseycan. on the basis of the statistics.:,,-,ast of comprising a full eighth of::.- State's population.Eut this is a boast that stops at::aiistics, for it does not extend intoai"' other field.With one-eighth of the popr_rlationwe ought to possess one-eighthof everything else, if not in housesand lands (rn'hich it rvould be toobold to pretend to), at least inpolitical representation. We f allbehind even in that. According tothe nr"rmerical criterion prevalent,the electors constitute 50/o oi theinhabitants of this nation. Notbeing able to apply this criterion toour element, for obvious reasons,rve will restrict the percentage to40%. On this basis, we have inthe State of Nerv Jersel- 200,000Ttalian-American electors. that is,one-ninth of the 1,800.000 voters inthe u'hole State. Thus, u-e constituteone-eighth of the people andbut one-ninth of the electors.Now how do these figures differf rom that which we possess ? It isnot possible to draw up a table ofcomparisons, but everybody knowsthat our social, industrial, economicand poiitical strength is in inverseratio to our numbers.A bitter statement, but true. Asto rvealth, .we are so-so. There aremany poor people among us, butthe War and prohibition gave Italiansthe opportunity to exploit fieldsrvhich, though illegitimate in somecases, have provided them with acertain amount of economic wealth.Quite a few are the bankers, thebuilders, the industrialists and themerchants lvho have seen theirpatrimony increase through activity,ability and speculation. Theyare but a scant minority. The rest(Continued. on Page 90)