Stereotype is Offensive

Letter to The New Orleans Picayune, February 26, 2007

We can't help but note the sad irony of having James Gandolfini, the star of an adult-themed cable TV show, being selected to lead the Bacchus parade this year with the theme, "Through the Eyes of a Child." If children ever watched Mr. Gandolfini's show, "The Sopranos," what they would see and hear are the following: four-letter words, crude sex acts, thievery, beatings, murders, misogyny, drug-dealing and racism. And, of course, the entire show is wrapped around the racist image of the slobby, degraded Italian-American male, a role which fits Gandolfini to a (cut-off) tee.

The people of New Orleans--adults and children alike--certainly deserve better.

Bill Dal Cerro
National Vice President
Italic Institute of America
Chicago