The United States is a country of immigrants. Ironically, anti-immigration views have a long history. We can site John Adams's signing of the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts, Millard Fillmore's run for the Presidency on the Know Nothing/American Party ticket of the 1856 opposing Irish-Catholics immigration. A Wisconsin and an Illinois governor were defeated for promoting anti-German immigrant laws in 1890. The Chinese Exclusion Act was enacted in 1882, and a 1907 unofficial agreement between governments stopped Japanese immigration to the United States. The Immigration Restriction League out of Boston, New York, Chicago and San Francisco in the 1890s believed southern and eastern Europeans were racially inferior and threatened the American way of life. The Dillingham Commission consisting of both Senate and House members agreed with the Immigration League and in 1911 recommended reducing southern and eastern European immigration. United States immigration laws were tightened after World War I.
Jacob Riis in How the Other Half Lives, an 1890 exposé
on the deplorable conditions of tenement life, labeled Italians as the worst of
the new immigrants and “dirtier than the Negro.” Italian immigrant labors were
given the worst jobs, and while they were instrumental in building New York’s
subways and skyscrapers, were often used like human steam shovels. In Birds of Passage, An Italian Immigrant Coming of Age Story, small asides by Americans
are used to recall these biases against Italian immigrants.
Today, there are
many valid concerns relating to illegal immigration. However, some opponents of
Hispanic immigrants echo similar themes from the past. Ironic, for a country of
immigrants.
Book Blurb
Leonardo Robustelli leaves Naples in 1905 to seek his fortune. Carlo Mazzi committed murder and escaped. Azzura Medina is an American of Italian parents. She’s ambitious but strictly controlled by her mother. Leonardo and Carlo vie for her affection.
Azzura, Leonardo, and Carlo confront con men, Tammany Hall politicians, the longshoreman’s union, Camorra clans, Black Hand extortion, and the Tombs prison.
Joe Giordano was born in Brooklyn. His father and grandparents immigrated to New York from Naples. Joe and his wife, Jane have lived in Greece, Brazil, Belgium and the Netherlands. They now live in Texas with their shih tzu Sophia. Joe's stories have appeared in more than sixty magazines including Bartleby Snopes, The Newfound Journal, and The Summerset Review.
About the author
Joe Giordano was born in Brooklyn. His father and grandparents immigrated to New York from Naples. Joe and his wife, Jane have lived in Greece, Brazil, Belgium and the Netherlands. They now live in Texas with their shih tzu Sophia. Joe's stories have appeared in more than sixty magazines including Bartleby Snopes, The Newfound Journal, and The Summerset Review.
Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook
Tour Schedule:
Oct 19 - Working Mommy Journal - review / author interview / giveaway
Oct 20 - FLY HIGH! - book spotlight - guest post / giveaway
Oct 20 - Room With Books - book spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Oct 21 - Jayne's Books - review
Oct 21 - Notes from Verona - review
Oct 22 - Jaquo Lifestyle Magazine - review / guest post
Oct 23 - The Autistic Gamer - review
Oct 26 - Library of Clean Reads - review / giveaway
Oct 26 - Readers' Muse - review / guest post
Oct 27 - The World As I See It - review / giveaway
Oct 27 - Kimberly's Bookshelf - review / guest post / giveaway
Oct 28 - 3 Partners in Shopping - book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Oct 28 - A Bit Bookish - review / giveaway
Oct 29 - The Cubicle Escapee - review / giveaway
Oct 29 - Cassidy Salem Reads & Writes - review / giveaway
Oct 30 - Deal Sharing Aunt - book spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Oct 30 - Puddletown Reviews - book spotlight / author interview
Nov 2 - Life as Leels - review
Nov 2 - Worth Getting in Bed For - review
Nov 3 - Bound 4 Escape - review / giveaway
Nov 4 - Studentessa Matta - review
Nov 4 - Writer With Wanderlust - review / giveaway
Nov 5 - Singing Librarian Books - review / author interview / giveaway
Nov 6 - Essentially Italian - review / author interview / giveaway
Nov 6 - #redhead.with.book - review
Thanks for supporting my book, Birds of Passage, An Italian Immigrant Coming of Age Story.
ReplyDeleteJoe Giordano
Hello from Italy, Joe! It's always a pleasure for me to let my readers meet passionate authors and discover new interesting books :-) Buona fortuna!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this captivating and fascinating novel which interests me greatly. Family sagas, and family history is what is important and meaningful. Reading about the trials and tribulations with which they lived through is profound and unforgettable. Being from Italy this is even more memorable and special. Best wishes. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com
ReplyDeleteThanks for your strong support.
ReplyDeleteJoe Giordano