City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 5-2019 Italian/Americans and the American Racial System: Contadini to Settler Colonists? Stephen J. Cerulli The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3178 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact:
[email protected] ITALIAN/AMERICANS AND THE AMERICAN RACIAL SYSTEM: CONTADINI TO SETTLER COLONISTS? by Stephen J. Cerulli A master’s thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Liberal Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, The City University of New York 2019 i Italian/Americans and the American Racial System: Contadini to Settler Colonists? by Stephen J. Cerulli This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Liberal Studies in satisfaction of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Arts. Date George Fragopoulos Thesis Advisor Date Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis Executive Officer THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK ii ABSTRACT Italian/Americans and the American Racial System: Contadini to Settler Colonists? by Stephen J. Cerulli Advisor: George Fragopoulos This thesis explores the relationship between ethnicity and race, “whiteness,” in the American racial system through the lens of Italian/Americans. Firstly, it overviews the current scholarship on Italian/Americans and whiteness. Secondly, it analyzes methodologies that are useful for understanding race in an American context.