Ethnic Resurgence: Politicos Assert Italian Roots

BOSTON--Between the pasta breakfast, the Old World music and the heavy concentration of state politicians, last Sunday's political roast at Joe Tecce's restaurant in the North End of Boston was at the heart of local Italian-American culture.

So it was more than a little ironic that the only remarks delivered in Italian were made by an Irish-American, Thomas F. Birmingham '72, president of the Massachusetts State Senate.

Birmingham's foray into the language of love is just one example of what many see as the changing face of ethnicity in Boston's close-knit neighborhoods.

"I think you'll find a group in the North End that is starting to ethnically assert themselves," said Paul Scapicchio, a North End resident at the breakfast who is now in the midst of a campaign for the Boston City Council.

In addition to Scapicchio, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Governor A. Paul Cellucci and Attorney General L. Scott Harshbarger '64 were also pressing the flesh at the Sunday morning breakfast and roast.

Scapicchio said that while they may not have the pure roots of their forefathers, the young, highly assimilated Italian-Americans are beginning to take pride in their ethnicity.

"The Columbus Day parade has been run by 85-year-old nuns for the past 50 years and now 20-year-olds are starting to step up," he said.

Once an overcrowded enclave for the Hub's newest arrivals, the 20th century has turned the North End into one of the city's hottest restaurant districts.

But despite the infiltration of American culture, Scapicchio said, there is a certain spirit that keeps the population connected to its roots.

"I don't know what it is, but Italians have a real strong sense of identity, a sense that they come from somewhere," he said.

Scapicchio suggested that there may be a simple explanation for the recent resurgence in ethnicity.

"My father came from a generation that had to be American, had to look American and had to act American, because that was what he had to do in order to get a job," Scapicchio said.

"It's not like that any more," he continued. "I mean, my parents don't even speak Italian and I went out and learned to speak it."

And while the event at Joe Tecce's had its fair share of aging North End relics, the meeting was dominated by its youngest members.

The M.C. for the event was new father and Suffolk Country Registrar of Probate, Richard P. Iannella. For Iannella and many others, pure Italian roots weren't required to celebrate Genoa's most famous explorer.

"Father, you did study in Rome, so you can be Italian be the day," Iannella said to an Irish-American reverend from Boston's St. Patrick's Church, who blessed the breakfast.

And the Italian-for-a-day policy extended beyond just the Irish.

"I'm here to publicly proclaim my Italian heritage," said one of the few black men attending the event, Suffolk County District Attorney Ralph Martin.