Sons
of Italy Condems A&E
for Growing Up Gotti
Press
Contact: Kylie Cafiero, (202) 547-2900 kcafiero@osia.org
WASHINGTON, August
6, 2004 The
Order Sons of Italy
in America (OSIA),
through its anti-defamation
arm, the Commission
for Social Justice
(CSJ), has strongly
criticized the
Arts and Entertainment
(A&E) cable network
for producing the
new television series Growing
Up Gotti, which
premiered nationally
Monday, Aug. 2. The
Sons of Italy is
the largest and oldest
national organization
for Italian American
men and women in
the United States.
“A&E would
like us to think
that it has produced
a documentary series
about a struggling
single mother, who
is raising three
sons while balancing
the demands of a
career, family and
a social life," says
CSJ President Albert
De Napoli, Esq.,
who practices law
in Boston.
"That is ingenuous
at best," De
Napoli said. "If
Ms. Gotti had a different
last name, A&E
would not have given
a second thought
to a series about
her life."
"What we have
here is a network
pandering to the
seemingly insatiable
appetite for Mafia
stories that the
U.S. entertainment
industry has cultivated
in the American public. As
a result, Americans
will know more about
Victoria Gotti and
her infamous father
than such genuine
Italian American
heroines as Mother
Cabrini, the first
American saint; Ella
Grasso, the first
woman elected governor
in her own right;
or Betty Della Corte,
a crusader for the
rights of battered
women."
“Clearly,
A&E is cashing
in on the nation’s
fascination with The
Sopranos. What's
worse, this series
undermines the only
positive stereotype
identified with Italian
Americans: their
love for each other
and loyalty to the
family."
"If A&E had
really wanted to show
how a single mother
today copes with work,
family and finances,
there are millions
of better role models
than Victoria Gotti," De
Napoli said.
OSIA
is the largest and longest-established national
organization for men and women of Italian descent
in the United States. Established in 1905, OSIA
has more than 600,000 members and supporters
and a network of more than 700 chapters coast
to coast. OSIA works at the community, national
and international levels to promote the heritage
and culture of an estimated 26 million Italian
Americans, the nation's fifth largest ethnic
group, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. To
learn more, visit OSIA on the Web at www.osia.org.
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