[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 22, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               FOR ITALIANS, ``SOPRANOS'' IS A SOUR NOTE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 22, 2000

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, it is time to end racial and ethnic 
stereotyping in our national media. While many ethnic groups have been 
victimized in this way. Italian-Americans have lately been the target 
of a hit television program about a family of gangsters, titled 
``Sopranos.''
  Frankly, all of the Italian-Americans that I know are honest, 
upstanding citizens who work every day to support their families, to 
educate their children, and to build their communities. They are blue- 
and white-collar workers and professionals. They vote, pay taxes, and 
believe in the American dream that hard work will yield success.
  My dear friend and our former colleague in the House of 
Representatives, the Hon. Frank Guarini, eloquently addressed this 
issue in a letter to the Wall Street Journal on February 15, 2000.

             [From the Wall Street Journal, Feb. 15, 2000]

            For Italians, ``Sopranos'' Hit a Big, Sour Note

                         (By Frank J. Guarini)

       Eric Gibson's Jan. 28 de gustibus column (``Second Thoughts 
     About a Mob Hit on Sunday Night,'' Taste page, Weekend 
     Journal) correctly notes that the HBO series ``The Sopranos'' 
     and others like it have put a slick entertaining face on a 
     subgroup of criminals who rightly deserve society's harshest 
     condemnation. We wish he had taken his criticism one step 
     further, however, and included the harm that programs like 
     ``The Sopranos'' do to the image of an estimate 20 million 
     Americans of Italian descent.
       Thanks to Hollywood and television, Italian Americans see 
     their culture, religion and customs repeatedly used to give 
     ``color'' to stories about organized crime. As a result of 
     such stereotyping, most Americans believe Italian Americans 
     are prone to the same violent, immoral behavior that ``The 
     Sopranos'' offers up as entertainment.
       The National Italian American Foundation would like to see 
     HBO present Italian-Americans as they really are: as 
     scientists, educators, military and political leaders and 
     entrepreneurs. It's time for the entertainment industry to 
     balance the false and harmful stereotypes of organized crime 
     figures like Tony Soprano and his mob crew by creating 
     Italian American characters who are educated, law-abiding and 
     articulate.

     

                          ____________________