A New Language, A New World: Italian Immigrants in the United States, 1890-1945

6. Language, Italian American Identity, and the Limits of Cultural Pluralism in the World War II Years

six Language, Italian American Identity, and the Limits of Cultural Pluralism in the World War II Years No Italian spoken for the duration of the war. (Typical sign posted in Italian storefronts.) In 1940, while America was nervously watching events unfold in Europe, an Italian American trumpeter from New Orleans was creating a sensation over the airwaves. Along with the big band sounds of Glen Miller and Benny Goodman’s swing, Americans listened to Louis Prima sing the praises of “Angelina , the waitress at the local pizzeria.” “Angelina” sold millions of copies and with it, Prima formally began his career as a performer of lighthearted depictions of Italian American life.1 This song, like many of Prima’s so-called novelty hits performed during the war years and beyond, was distinguished by its use of Italian, dialect, and his characterization of Italian American speaking styles. He incorporated a kind of Italian American scat into some of his songs, stringing together Italian-sounding nonsense with familiar Italian words, using food names like “zucchini” and “macaroni” along with lesser known Italian words without forming any clear meaning. Song titles such as “Bacia Galupe Made Love on the Stoop,” “Josephine, Please No Lean on the Bell,” and “Please No Squeeza da Banana” incorporated playful references to Italian American speech and stereotypes. While Prima’s distinctively Italian American lyrics and persona were captivating American audiences, the U.S. government was scrutinizing Italian Americans for signs of disloyalty beginning with Italy’s entry into the Language, Identity, and Cultural Pluralism • 159 war in June of 1940. The Italian language was a particular focus of government concern. The records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), for example, reveal that the use of the Italian language was a marker of potential disloyalty during the World War II era. While the war generated suspicion against Italian Americans and the Italian language, it also gave rise to new opportunities for Italian Americans to use their knowledge of Italian, albeit under very controlled circumstances. As part of the war effort, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) recruited Italian American men to join a Special Intelligence (SI) unit and to form military Operational Groups (OGs) for missions behind enemy lines in Italy. These were elite units whose members were carefully screened. The ability to speak Italian like a native was a major requirement for selection. Within this context, Italian became a vehicle for individual Italian Americans to express their patriotism. What is the significance of the mixed reactions to the Italian language during the World War II years that these three examples suggest? How can we reconcile the widespread popularity of Prima’s Italian language songs and the military’s willingness to use the language skills of Italian American soldiers with government suspicion directed against Italian language speakers by the FBI and others? Looking at the position of the Italian language during the war years provides insight into the importance of this period both for Italian Americans and as part of the larger history of America’s relationship to its ethnic minorities. Highlighting the single issue of language within a specific historical context allows us to see how the formation of ethnic identity occurs in the interplay between host society and immigrants/ethnics. The contests surrounding the Italian language reveal that the wartime situation created specific parameters that limited the development and expression of Italian American identity, but the war also created new opportunities for its expression. It reminds us of the power the host society can wield in shaping ethnic identity, in this case through the historically determined meanings attached to the Italian language. In the context of the Second World War, an examination of language and ethnic identity also offers insight into the changing nature of American cultural pluralism. Some have seen the war as a pivotal moment in the history of white ethnics in the United States, the time when they entered the American mainstream. The Nazi threat caused Americans to grapple with their own forms of intolerance and to ultimately embrace white ethnics while excluding blacks and other racial minorities. American film, fiction, advertising, and government propaganda aggressively promoted a multicultural vision of America designed to unite the disparate elements of U.S. 160 • part two society behind the war and reflected a genuine reappraisal of the national values. In Gary Gerstle’s words, “For ethnic workers the war was the historic moment when...