Tragedies due to violence

What is it like to arrive in a new country and feel the hatred and contempt of its inhabitants on your skin?

Partly due to stereotypes, partly due to the fact that some people really did succumb to the seduction of the underworld, many became victims of a system of racism and intolerance.

Tens of thousands of Italians emigrated to the United States at the end of the 19^th century and filled those menial jobs that had been historically performed by the black population, recently freed from the oppression of slavery. Many Sicilians left for Louisiana in 1899. These included the Defatta family, who opened a business in Tallulah. After a goat belonging to them strayed into a neighbouring garden for the umpteenth time, Dr Ford Hodge, the town's health officer, shot the animal, drawing a reaction from the Italians who then shot him. During the night, the people of Tallulah burst into the prison, dragging out the men who had been arrested, hanging them and riddling them with bullets.

In 1891, in New Orleans, almost 30,000 out of a population of 274,000 were Italians, some belonging to MAFIA FAMILIES. On 15 October, the police superintendent was shot dead and on his deathbed he uttered the words “Dagoes did it”. Lots of Italians, mainly Sicilians, were arrested and the angry mob attacked the prison where they were held, killing 11 people.

Italians were not well liked in Europe either. Lots of Italians were employed as seasonal workers in the Camargue salt mines in summer, working in dreadful conditions. Following an argument in Aigues Mortes, in 1893, the French launched a real manhunt. The Italians were chased into the salt mines by a mob armed with sticks, stones and tools. About a dozen of them died and several hundred were wounded.