Il Grido della Stirpe and Mussolini's 1938 Racial Legislation

Many Italian Americans turned a deaf ear to Fascism after the enactment of Italy's 1938 antisemitic measures. Others, however, did not. The latter included Domenico Trombetta, the editor and publisher of the New York City-based Italian-language weekly Il Grido della Stirpe. This article examines the editorial stand of Il Grido della Stirpe on Mussolini's racial legislation. This newspaper not only embraced the Fascist laws against Jews. It also endeavored to exploit the ethnic antipathies between Jews and Italian Americans in New York City to elicit support for the Duce's policies among Italian immigrants and their offspring. Furthermore, Trombetta's weekly showed an ideological commitment to antisemitism that even the Italian Americans who had anti-Jewish feelings usually lacked.