Ciao a tutti!

As my second post here I would like to say a warm hello and grettings to all! Great post indeed!

I, myself, am Lucano! That would be the region of Basilicata in between Calabria, Puglia, and Campania. I agree it would be nice to have more Italians here in South Jersey. I live in Collingswood New Jersey close to Philadelpha. I know great Italians heres such as Franco Lombardo(from Lipari Sicilia) who owns I Sapori here in Collingswood. And also Giuseppe Severino(from Calabria) who owns Severino's Pasta here as well! It is great to see the real culture alive here. Because I cannot understand how the Italian culture changed so much! Was it for fear of other ethnic backgrounds(some did give us lots of trouble) or was it the need to confirm? As was posted before, jealousy can set in. Our time is up, and more rather because the Italian Americans gave up. They cannot pronounce there last name right, and cannot even begin to understand the culture! Che peccato! Ma che vuo fa? Just teach them the right way!

Just to let it be known, I did just finish a small book tribute for my grandfather Michele Caffarella, that talks about the traditions of Basilicata: food, wine, coffe, language(lucano) and much more! Check it out on www.lulu.com. (Il mondo di Lucania:un viaggio) My name is Giovanni Caffarella! Mi piacere!
Stamme bene!

A large proportion of Italians (~30%) that went to the US in the late 1800s and early 1900s returned to Italy permanently as in those days remaining in the US meant remaining in the underclass for the most part.

Digital History

In Latin America Italians quickly joined, and in many cases became, the ruling class, making it easier for them to remain in Latin America.