Italian American - Communities

Communities

Little Italies were, to a considerable extent, the product of Italophobia by the English-speaking, WASP society. Ethnocentrism and anti-Catholicism by Protestant English-speakers helped to create an ideological foundation for fixing foreignness on urban spaces occupied by immigrants, who seemed racially different from the earlier Anglo-Celtic and northern European settlers. Communities of Italian Americans were established in most major industrial cities of the early 20th century, such as Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts (the "North End"); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Providence, Rhode Island; St. Louis, Missouri; Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; Buffalo, New York; and Kansas City, Missouri. New Orleans, Louisiana was the first site of immigration of Italians and Sicilians into America in the 19th century, before Italy was a unified nation-state. This was before New York Harbor and Baltimore became the preferred destinations for Italian immigrants. In sharp contrast to the Northeast, most of the Southern states (exceptions being the Atlantic coast of Florida, New Orleans, and a fast-growing community in Atlanta) have very few Italian-American residents. During the labor shortage in the 19th and early 20th centuries, planters in the Deep South did attract some Italian immigrants to work as sharecroppers, but they soon left the extreme anti-Italian discrimination and strict regimen of the plantations for towns or other states. The state of California has had Italian-American residents since the 1850s. By the 1970s gentrification of inner city neighborhoods and the arrival of new immigrant groups caused a sharp decline in the old Italian-American and other ethnic enclaves. Many Italian Americans moved to the rapidly growing Western states, including Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and California. Today, New York and New Jersey have the largest numbers of Italian Americans in the U.S. while smaller Northeastern cities such as Pittsburgh, Providence and Hartford have the highest percentage of Italian Americans in their metropolitan areas.