I spoke with Lawrence DiStasi in July 2004 about his book, “Una Storia Segreta: The Secret History of Italian American Evacuation and Internment during World War II.” I was simply amazed that the United States Government was so distrustful of the Italian American community during this period. It’s true that Mussolini and his black-shirted fascists did not help matters but nevertheless, designating over 600,000 Italian nationals and Italian Americans as enemy aliens was a bit much. It was from the efforts of DiStasi and other Italian Americans that the Wartime Violation of Italian American Civil Liberties Act of 2000 was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. The Act essentially apologized to the Italian American community for the way that it had been unfairly treated during the war.
I found my conversation with Lawrence DiStasi to be very inspirational and eye-opening. I believe that it was through this interview that I became more interested in exploring my own Italian heritage more deeply than I ever had before.
Take some time to watch this interview and hopefully you will learn a few things. At least it will make you reflect upon some ideas that you might not had considered before.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: American Italian Historical Association, Lawrence DiStasi, Una Storia Segreta, Wartime Violation of Italian American Civil Liberties A
