White on Arrival: Italians, Race, Color, and Power in Chicago, 1890-1945

by Thomas A Guglielmo

Taking the mass Italian immigration of the late 19th century as his starting point and drawing on dozens of oral histories and a diverse array of primary sources in English and Italian, Guglielmo focuses on how perceptions of Italians' race and color were shaped in one of America's great centers of immigration and labor, Chicago. His account skillfully weaves together the major events of Chicago immigrant history--the "Chicago Color Riot" of 1919, the rise of Italian organized crime, and the rise of industrial unionism--with national and international events--such as the rise of fascism and the Italian-Ethiopian War of 1935-36--to present the story of how Italians approached, learned, and lived race. By tracking their evolving position in the city's racial hierarchy, Guglielmo reveals the impact of racial classification--both formal and informal--on immigrants' abilities to acquire homes and jobs, start families, and gain opportunities in America.

White on Arrival was the winner of the 2004 Frederick Jackson Turner Award of the Organization of American Historians

Genres: History, American History, Race, Immigration

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Vincent Lombardo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too academic and too dense for me. I also am not that interested in Chicago.

[Stella · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book raised lots of interesting questions, but I felt like overall, it was very problematic.

Guglielmo argues that all Europeans were considered "white" from the moment they got to America. Thus, the Italians were not discriminated against because they were some race other than white, they were discriminated against because they were not very good examples of white.

[Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

With how often I hear people say that Italians used to be considered non-white, I really appreciated the nuance Guglielmo brought to this subject. Italians and Sicilians in particular, as he shows, certainly were seen as racially different and inferior, but Guglielmo painstakingly draws out the crucial distinctions between this form of inter-European racism and the divisions along color lines that marked Asians, many Mexicans, and especially Black people as more fundamentally incompatible subjects. This is a great analysis both of local history in all its granular details and of broader trends and issues in American history. Highly recommend.

[Hotavio · Rating 4 out of 5]

White on Arrival argues that though Italian immigrants were widely seen as being on the bottom of the racial hierarchy, they still were largely accepted as white. This afforded newcomers opportunities that were not available to African Americans. Italian Americans were relatively slow to accept this as America's preoccupation with color was foreign to them, but upon seeing the benefits of being white, Italian immigrants learned to take advantage of this new status.
Gugliemo's book concentrates on racially charged Chicago. It is divided into pertinent arenas that affect both the Italian and African American "race."

[Soobie has fog in her brain · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it for a paper I wrote about the represetation of third-generation Italian immigrants in the US and in Australia. Really interesting. But it should have some more maps because for me it was difficult to picture all the different zones in Chicago, where Italians were living.

Good book, though.