Robert Harney's "Little Italies In North America": Italians In Toronto And New York

Abstract: 9 pages in length. The existence of the urban immigrant was not particularly well received by North America's growing middle class at the turn of the century. The gulf that existed between the two groups was primarily born from a sense of ethnic privilege that had been established early on. It can readily be argued that this developing rift, which defined the self-imposed status, proved to be a serious threat to the overall social fabric of Canada and the United States. For nearly as long as man has existed, social intolerance has been driving a wedge between groups of people whose ambition is the same: to better their existence through upward social movement. This attitude has been carried down through the centuries in spite of much effort on all sides to abolish such prejudicial practices. While New York eventually grew to somewhat embrace its growing Italian population, Toronto was not as amenable as its neighbor, which is visible in the cultural divide illustrated by Robert F. Harney's Little Italies in North America. No additional sources cited.

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Catagory:

Subcatagory: Urban Studies

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