Were Italians always white in America?

 

No, I grew up with stories from family when they were not, they were hated by the white Protestant, and especially the Mormon majority in my town. They, the Italians, were called dark, dirty and not trustworthy. I caught the tail end of that and was bullied in my neighborhood growing up. The is why I always say I was born a socialist and a "Red": not white.

 

Being white seemed the white for most immigrant group was important. Blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans were openly denied that. Thus, most European immigrants' descendants embraced white supremacy as proof of their whiteness.