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Two "paesani" to duke it out...

Two "paesani" to duke it out...

Anthony Julian Tamburri (June 3, 2010)
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Italian America's Dynamic Duo

We have two Italian Americans up for the governorship! What's a "paesano" to do? Let us please have your thoughts!

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 So, Cari Amici, I guess the general question would be, "How does one's Italian Americanness come into play with regard to one's choice in an election?" This is a question that is often posed, and the response seems to be, initially, "Very little to none!" Okay, so if that is the answer, then if we do not vote into office Italian Americans, do we have the right to complain that "mainstream

" (the hegemonic structure of the ruling class, as someone like Gramsci might say) ignores us?


This year, fortunately, the ethnic question is moot (unless, of course, a third-party "'medigan" throws his/her hat into the ring). Both candidates from the traditional parties are "paesani" who have surely demonstrated their hard-core Italian-ness. All of this, so it seems, allows us to truly vote our ideological conscious. All of this, we might also say, shows us that there is indeed an Italian/American body politic, we just need to examine it further. This is especially true for the New York State Assembly and Senate, as the Calandra Institute's Oral History Project is beginning to demonstrate (the project is about 50% complete).

So, precisely because the question is moot, let us hear from you as to whether one's ethnicity, in our case  Italian Americanness, should come into play with regard to one's choice in an election, be that election local, regional, state-wide, or national.

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