One of my favorite television commentators is Dana Perino of FOX News. You may recall her from the W. Bush Administration when she was the White House Press Secretary, the second female to have the job.
Clearly, Perino is an Italian surname but in the all the time I’ve watched her the subject never came up. That is, until last week during some banter with a co-host on The Five. It was a quick comment in which she said that a recent DNA analysis revealed she was 2% Italian. She sounded surprised, either because she thought she had a higher percentage or was just feigning surprise as a “Perino”. She actually looks more Swedish than Italian, except that she’s short.
A Wikipedia search describes her as having two Italian great-grandparents on her father’s side. Going down the genetic line, her paternal grandfather would be 1/2-Italian, her father 1/4-Italian, and Dana 1/8-Italian or 12%. Perhaps this is why she was surprised at 2%. Hopefully, she is proud to have an Italian surname; she retained it when she married an Englishman named McMahon.
Such are the little games our Institute team plays while pursuing Italic Studies – how “Italian” are celebrities? America may be a melting pot, but ethnic and racial guessing games are a fun sport for lots of people – nothing malicious. Recently football great Franco Harris died with nary an obit mentioning that his first name came from his Italian mother. Clearly a hero in the Black community, Franco Harris’s Italian heritage was no secret to our major organizations during his career. I believe both the National Italian American Foundation and the Order, Sons and Daughters of Italy honored him at galas. Franco’s mother was Gina Parenti, a war bride from WW II who married his Black father while he was serving in the Army in Italy.
As we continue to intermarry (or just interbreed), finding a “100%” Italian is not so easy anymore. One of the reasons is that Catholicism is no barrier in limiting our choice of a mate. Unlike Jews, Hindus, or the various Christian Orthodoxies, we can find German, Polish, Irish, Scottish, French, Hispanic, even Ukrainian Catholics to marry without debating how to raise the kids. Our “universal” religion has made America a real buffet of love.
One Irish-Italian match that is relevant to this subject is the new Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), or should we name him Kevin Palladino McCarthy? As my colleague Bill Dal Cerro found out a few weeks ago, McCarthy’s mom is a Palladino. He follows a Pelosi as House Speaker – a Italic tradition that began with Robert Taliaferro Hunter (1839) and Sam Taliaferro Rayburn (1940). As an extra added attraction, McCarthy’s second in command is Steve Scalise (R-LA), whose mom is Italic (Schilleci) as are all his grandparents – the elusive 100%-er!
As we have discovered over the past few decades, having Italian Americans in such important positions does not translate into any special benefits for our community, except bragging rights. In some cases, our legacy has been eroded by our own politicians – Columbus fared poorly during Pelosi’s reign.
But hope springs eternal, and there may a politician somewhere who bears our heritage with a deeper pride than others we have seen. He doesn’t have to be “pure” and he certainly can’t depend on an Italic voting “bloc”- that ship sailed long ago. But he/she should earn his/her way to the top by merit and carry our traditional values to make this nation prosper.
Who knows, we may get lucky. -JLM
I have seen a lot lately on You Tube about Franco Harris and his very loving and dedicated fans (“Franco’s Italian Army”). His Italian identity must certainly have been very apparent during the years he played for the Steelers. Another cable personality, who is widely respected for his legal opinions, is Jonathan Turley (half Italian).
I hope that [mystery] someone will come and be like African Americans who on the whole have done
a great job for their community. We sure could use their help as we try to preserve our Italian heritage.
Italian Americans have achieved greatness in virtually all fields of endeavor. A recent example is Carolyn Bertozzi, who shared the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The only help we need is to be fairly portrayed in the entertainment media.
I’m reading Dana Perino’s book, And the Good News Is… In it she talks about her great-grandparents on her father’s side (Perino) that they were both from Piemonte and married in 1904 and worked the land (farming and cattle) in Wyoming. She spoke of a very nice relationship with her great grandmother who lived to be 100 years old. Her grandfather Leo Perino was born in 1921 and while growing up he spoke Italian at home and English at school. If her grandfather was 100% Italian that would make her 25% Italian unless I am making a mistake?
Using Ancestry, I was initially told that I was 100% Italian. Months later I was sent “updated” results showing that I was 67% Italian. Finally I was sent info saying I am 80% Italian. I know Perino used 23 and Me. Is it possible she’s only citing the first number and not any updated result?
We need more people to stand up for Italians. to often we are shown as being in the MOB and uneducated. Remember all the good things that Italians have done. At its height the mob, according to the FBI, only 4000 had mob ties.