CONSUL GENERAL LIBORIO STELLINO: Italians Continue to Shape the World

What does such a ceremony mean to me today?

Secondly, I think that - in a time of new and more complex migrations - celebrating our common heritage is not a nostalgic initiative looking to an ideal past, but a concrete basis for building a spiritual bridge among generations of immigrants of different ages and ethnicities.

The lesson of our heroic ancestors is still full of wisdom and teachings for the unlucky people who today are looking for a better future in the homeland of freedom and tolerance.

There is a striking difference in the perception of the Italian heritage in the USA between some decades ago and now. I give you a simple example: between the US census of 1990 and the following one, in 2000:

• 1 million Americans of Italian descent emerged to the surface
• 1 million American citizens were not anymore ashamed to declare themselves of Italian descent
• 1 million Americans renounced hiding their Italian blood and decided to check the “Italian” square, stressing their roots with a renewed pride and a sense of deserved justice for the tremendous legacy of their fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers.

Certainly, it is not anymore a time to look at Italians with the same eyes of the past. The “ethnic” approach (remember how the Italians were classified at the Ellis Island checkpoint at the beginning of last century…) has faded totally away in favor of a sincere respect and true admiration for my Country, its culture and traditions, the creativity and the hardworking spirit of my people.

Italian language is experiencing a growing success in the American schools and universities. Italy is a synonym for lifestyle, taste, beauty. Our artists, architects, designers (from Raphael to Renzo Piano…heresy?) continue to shape the world, with a humble awareness of being the best manufacturers of emotions ever.

The last wave of Italian migrants in the States - like the thousands of young scholars, scientists and researchers who choose the Charles River banks as the ideal centre of their professional activities - receive daily the highest appreciation their talent deserves, becoming the true ambassadors of a Nation, engaged in the making of a new Renaissance, made of innovation and future.

There is probably a secret, which sometimes I discover in the first Italian “enterprise” in this continent: the Columbus’ “vision,” the capability to see “beyond,” but it has not been an easy path anyway and it’s always worthwhile to celebrate the ancient difficulties and troubles, facing the current success.

Two weeks ago, I was at the Washington Hilton for the annual gala of NIAF (National Italian American Foundation), looking that night at Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, singing “Volare!” together with the other 3,000 guests who gave me the clear, tangible image of the long path carried out and of the extraordinary degree of integration and success achieved by Italians in America! 

Liborio Stellino
Consul General of Italy
Boston

source:  EthnicNEWz.org

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