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Italian Americans Charge Sen. Harry Reid with Ethnic Stereotyping, Demand Apology
Press
Contact: Kylie Cafiero, (202) 547-2900 kcafiero@osia.org
WASHINGTON,
D.C. - January 19, 2006 Senate
Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
is guilty of "egregious poor
judgment and bad taste" and needs
to apologize to Senator Rick
Santorum and the nation's estimated
26 million other Americans of
Italian heritage, according to
the Sons of Italy Commission
for Social Justice (CSJ), the
anti-defamation arm of the Order
Sons of Italy in America (OSIA),
the oldest and largest Italian
American organization in the
United States.
The charges followed
a comment Sen. Reid made during
the January 18 telecast of the
nationally televised PBS news
program, The NewsHour with
Jim Lehrer. Part of the interview
dealt with current scandals involving
lobbyists bribing members of
Congress with gifts, money and
trips.
When newscaster Lehrer
noted that Senator Rick Santorum
(R-PA) has been among those calling
for reforms, Sen. Reid said:
"Having Sen. Santorum talk about
reform is like having John Gotti
talk about doing something about
organized crime."
The CSJ is "stunned"
by the inappropriateness of such
an analogy, according to CSJ
national president, Albert DeNapoli,
Esq. "We can only surmise that
Senator Reid's remark was triggered
by Senator Santorum's Italian
heritage and we are stunned by
the egregious poor judgment and
bad taste that comment reveals."
De Napoli said.
"For the Senate minority leader
to associate the highest ranking
Italian American in the Senate
with a criminal like John Gotti
is beyond any political issues
that may exist between the two parties. Instead it shows a profound lack of respect
for a Senate colleague as well as the nation's estimated 26 million law-abiding
Italian-Americans. We therefore ask Senator Reid to issue an immediate public
apology."
Senator Santorum is the son of an Italian immigrant. After earning
a B.A., an MBA and a law degree,
he was elected to Congress in
1990 at the age of 32. He served
in the U.S. House of Representatives
until his election to the Senate
in 1995.
The Commission for Social Justice is the anti-defamation arm of the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), the largest and oldest national organization in the U.S. for men and women of Italian heritage. Founded in 1905, today OSIA has 600,000 members and supporters and a network of more than 700 lodges or chapters coast to coast.
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