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TWO PENN PLAZA NEW YORK, NY 10121 212 318-1500 ConTenTs Letters ...... 1 Direcror- Italic Way - Rosario A Iaoonis Ali'Italiana ...... 4 Managing Editor - John L Mancini World Notes ...... 6 Production ~r- Rira L Mancini Editorials ...... 8 Fearure Writers - Alfi:ed G u-done, Bill Dal Cerro Don Fiore, Robert Masullo Forum of The People ...... 9

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Letters [Ed. ~ wiU shy away from th~ smzanria oft.l~t word people with disasrrous results and his comical use of "hard-toll:." Suffice it to say that one jos~h Profari has malaprops had no end - but in the real everyday matk most ofIlK history books on Nnu l0rk ganf!tm. life of thar era we did know many immigrants of all WRONG GUY? Hotvewr. ux can apprrriateyour fond manories ofhim types that did fie his model and, of course, Chico's I recendy rc:~d volume XXVII of Tb, Italic Wly as a monbo ofyour extnuied family. Unforrrmately, piano playing always gave testimony tO the Italian's (my firsr issue) and was both pleased and disrurbed your drftnse ofth~ Mafias origins, as a S!Jmuood Fomt love: of music. As a life-long srudenr of the Marx by your article "Millennium." I was pleased that the ~pic, is no doubt 011e of tlx rrason.s the media nm Bros. I can say this: lnirially when they hie the article exposes the discrimination Italian Americans amuck at our f:Xptnse. The sadfoa thar that viewpoim vaudeville circuit Chico was known as "The Dago." have been, and continue co be. s~1bjeaed to by the i.s popular among many /talilln-Amoicam CllUStS us An agent larcr on had then1 cha ngc his name as thcir entertainment media. As one of Profaci's concern. Thanks for thr imighr.j aa with rhc harp and piano playing had roo much many grandchildren, however, I was distwbed by d~ . your reference ro him as a "hard-core criminal." I BORN AGAIN Walter Santi, Bloomington, IL have never before heard him described in that It is a privilege to be a member of lralic Srudies. manner, nor even by the FBI. By labeling him a T'vc fi nally found an organizarion which expresses HJlTING A UNGUISTIC NERVE "hard-core criminal" as you do, you perpetuate my views complercly. I used to be a member of In your mosr recenr All1ralinna section of The those same stereotypes, and also help perperuare dis­ [another lralia n·American organi1.acion], but found lmlic Wzyyou claim that more U.S. high school sru­ sension among the Italian American community. the organization ro be qu ire lacking in judgemenr, dencs srudy Larin than Italian. While your claim You also do a disservice to his nwnerous hard­ e.g. recogniz.iog and honoring actors who portray may be correct, iris also highly misleading. In U.S. working and law abiding descendants who are in a oegarive way. I wish you the very best. coUeges and universities, according ro dam from crying so hard co casr off the chains of chis &lse Maria Powers, lindenhurst, NY various sowces, ir is Italian that is more smdied than legacy. I hope that in the furure you will be more Latin, being in 5th place among foreign languages, careful. CHICO MARX EXCUSED against Latin's still-popular 7th position. In the You also fail ro recognize that what you call the U.K 's inscirutions of higher education the position "mafia," far from having crime as irs raison d'ttrt, [Regarding the article in rhe November 1997 issue ''Hollywood vs. Ital­ of Italian is ac a respectable 6th place, while Latin was co a large degree a surrogare govern ment and a I rhere, curiously enough, doesn't even figure among sysrem of justice and even an ideal and way of life, ians"] beg ro differ that the top 10 languages studied! for a people who had silently and with dignity the Marx Bros. character 1n my view, the only place where Italian has endured the major portion of the last 2,500 years of Chico was a negative already become a dead language is in Thr Italic "Wzy. under rhe domination of hostile foreign govern­ portrayal of an Italian You use Dante's language only in tidbits here and ments. immigro.nr. Chico came there, more for effccr than our of sincere linguistic That said, all in all, your arcide was wonderful. across as a good-hearted patronage, and you usc rhe language with about the Keep up the good wor:k. but bumbling type thar same frequency as an educated Italian would use Vmcent J. Profaci, Apopka, FL was always crying co help Contim~d on page 3

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CALL 1-800-654-FLAG =:_::_: WATERPROOFING & RESTORATION 769 Elmont Road • Elmont, NY 11 003 ---___ _..___------__ .__ - ---1&1- (516) 285-8899 me criminals he was prosecuring. medical researchers, arrisrs, and jurisrs rhat are not Letters Hismrians have considered Dewey, who died in being made? 1971, an honesr, strait-laced, somber figure. Surely, l don't lose my right ro complain just Dewey's son, Thomas E. Dewey, Jr, in a lerrer because Hollywood people with Italian-American Latin! Indeed, I'm afraid rhar one mighr hear more published in Tht Ntw I'Ork 71mLS. said mar "no v-alid name!> w.tm ro h~-de bucks at rhc experue of rhe Italian on Radio Japan, than read ir in Till: Italic claim of artistic license can be invoked ro jlL~rify community's good nan1e. I don't recall ddegaring \Wty... such a malicious reinvention of a h isrorical figure, my conscience, my intelligence and my good name Cesidio Tallini, S. Aoral Park, NY particularly when a fictional character could have ro !heir mercies. [Ed. That pitct was a wak~up caU for ludimr km­ been created rl) fill me role." One rhing is absolutely clear. We shall never solve guagt promotion but also Ollt' ofpridt (str the fii'WJ In recent weeks, Mr. Dewey senr alerrer ro Frank me problem by pretending ir will go av... ay without fXUrpr thru folknvs). Latin is, nfur ali, an italic lon­ Mancuso, rhe MGM chairman, abour the depiction our doing anydling abour ir. We've done mac ever guagt! As for dropping our l~nlian section, it may of his F.nher. 'rlte response. from Mr. Mancuso's since The Godfotbtrcame our. mum ifmougb roukn art really inumttd} lawyers, said: "This film was a work of fiction, and Where has it gotten us? While African Americans ir was presented as such ro rhe public. MGM has and Hi$panics have made significant strides by FlASH.. * (Chicago 1nburr~. Octobn- 6. 1997) nor violated any legally cogni2.1ble right<; of cirher sranding up for their rights. we aU too ofren pretend A srudcm named Gail Bremner was among 240 your futher or your fumily. ~ me world will leave us alone if we just hide in our shdls. It hasn't and ir won't. Only me courage ro acr srudenrs of Larin from twelve Chicago-area schoob [ED. Manmso ruas tht Paramount Studios c!JUfwho will win us me respect rhar our rich culrure so richly and one in Springfield ... rhey countered rhe myth produced 1ht GodfoJ!Jl'r Sllga. Dtfomation, rllmic or deserves. d1ar Latin is a dc:1d language. Teachers ar me Roman personal, t'omrs wir!J t!Jt profirs.} festival estimated chat 7,000 Ulinois high school sru­ Polelle, Professor of Law, John Marshall Law School denrs are studying latin. Classes arc even held for NO R£LIEF IN SIGHT 6rh, 7rh and 8th graders at Barrington Middle {MEDIA TIDBITS. 77Jr Nm' ~rk 77mn. \Vrdnnday. School, where 110 youngsters have d1osen Latin BREAKTHROUGH Nor>tmbn- 19. 1997} / This tuns the mponst to nlettrr stl/1 by o11r Midwesr rrp. over languages such as French and Spanish. Others Mr. Moonves ofCBS-lV said, uwe even have an Bi/J Oaf Cerro roncerni11g thf polirica/Jy incon-ea RICO believe ir will help rhem wirh language arrs ques­ idea in dt'Vclopmenr wirh Francis Ford Coppola. He STDtllte: /Wkm fnspirrd Crimi1111l Organivztilm.} tions on the American College 'lesr and Scholastic has a grt:at idea for a kind of Mafia soap opera." Aprimde Test. Until rhe ticle of the law is cl1anged by Congress. CBS h:~d an enormous success l'ISt SC!lSOn with every issue of rhe wc:ckly "Advance Sheers" for rhc Bremner, who may pur..uc a career in medicine. anomer Mafia miniseries, Tht Last Do11, and ir will is looking for a way ro get the edge on other students Fedeml Reporter and me Federal Supplement will bring our Tht LAst Do11ll thi~ May. contain cases discussing "RJCO,ft perperuaring in SAT scores. Mr. Moonves said he was especially pleas«! with (perhaps at a subconscious level) a link berween "I wanr ro be a veterinarian, and Larin will help rhe perfom1a11ce of &/Ia Mafia because me show's ltalo-Amerieans and organized crime. me understand medical terms, ~ he said. raring dwarfed th.1r of rhe hugely ocpensivt: rhe­ What might have ~urred as an ~inside joke" for :mic:tl movie, &mum Fo1'1!1Jl'r, on NBC, dmving a Congressional staffers has been enshrined as a con­ PRO-ASSIMILATION 14.8 raring to &ttMan's 8.3. (Each raring point rep­ tinuing insult ro kalo-Americans. In the future I will l wish <..--very Italian-American could read your re~nlS 980,000 homes). try ro use a more neutral phrase, such as "civil rack­ article, "Mi.Uenniwn; Will we Survive?" uwe had dte cheapest movie, and we won, n Mr. eteering law." However, iris "rhe American way" to discard our Moonves said. Steve P. Garmisa, Chicago, lL immigrant past. As lralians, we have much ro be Actor Roben Admiral-De Niro (he is only one­ proud oF, bur our Jralian-ness is only a small part of quarter lralian) claims rhar if rhe script is right - (Ed. nou: Mr. Gamtisa wrius a wukfy lAw column for what we are. lr is seldom in me forefronrofourcon­ he