CNN anchor Chris Cuomo was caught on video screaming expletives when someone made the mistake of calling him "Fredo," referring to the fictional character Fredo Corleone from The Godfather films. Fredo is portrayed as the gentle but dim-witted brother, incompetent in the family's business but desperate for respect from his father.
Until I heard Cuomo's expletive-laden attack on a fan who wanted his autograph and, perhaps good-naturedly, used the Godfather reference, I had no idea that calling an Italian man Fredo was an attack on his masculinity, his heritage, and his dignity.
The CNN anchor's famous family includes his father, former New York governor Mario Cuomo, and his brother, current New York governor Andrew Cuomo. Perhaps the comparison hit a little close to home?
I know all about the names they used to call Italians. My grandfather was a trash collector for the city of Philadelphia and regularly got called "goombah" and any number of other pejoratives. He didn't respond, did his job quietly, and exhibited the dignity that his harassers lacked. My mother would tell me about some of the things that she would hear when she ventured outside of her West Philly neighborhood, and "greaser" was one of the kindest.
That was the way it was in those days. It's no use pretending that we all got along in Philadelphia, living shoulder to shoulder in this rich stew of ethnicities, religions, and races. We didn't. People were mean, and we dealt with it the way we dealt with everything else: quickly with our fists, loudly with our mouths, and at a distance in our segregated neighborhoods.
Still, the Italians survived and flourished, and became the backbone of this city. And our ancestors learned to let the slurs roll off their backs, because it didn't stop them from earning a living wage, putting their kids through school, or sitting in the pews to worship. They managed.
Today, we don't manage. We fight back against the real racism and bigotry that exists, or at least we try, and that is a good thing. We march against white nationalism and pass laws to codify justice. We try harder. I know this because I have protested at the History of Italian Immigration Museum when slurs against Italians were graffitied on the sidewalk last Columbus Day.
But as a society, we have also become far too preoccupied with the minutiae of offensive speech, gazing at our navels and wondering if this comment is an insult or that reference is a slur.
For Chris Cuomo, son of a legendary governor, brother of the heir to his father's legacy, and a media star in his own right, life has been very good. He should thank the stars and his ancestors that he doesn't have to sling trash for a living like my grandfather, and that he is respected.
He shouldn't be whining like a child at being called Fredo, simply because he's convinced himself it's an ethnic slur. It's not.
Editorial on 08/15/2019