Photographer
Jorge Kreimer
Posts: 3716
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
Jewish 
Photographer
Don Garrett
Posts: 4984
Escondido, California, US
Solas wrote:
That's interesting I wonder why that is I don't know, but, (a long time ago), I saw a movie that highlighted the northern vs. the southern Italian rift. I don't remember the name of the movie.
-Don
Photographer
Don Garrett
Posts: 4984
Escondido, California, US
Jorge Kreimer wrote:
Jewish A long time ago, I had a Jewish friend, that INSISTED that Judaism is NOT a race or ethnicity, it is a religion ONLY. (maybe the smiley face in your post tells the story, or sarcasm).
-Don
Model
neve
Posts: 110
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy
Don Garrett wrote:
I can answer that ! Northern Italians are more often blond, and fair skinned, and southern Italians are more often dark. Northern Italians are not often blond and fair skinned . I’ve spent some years in Milan for modeling and I saw that the most part of them had brown hair and brown eyes. It’s true that there are some regions in the north that were conquered by Austrian and where you can find more blonde people, but it’s not true for all the northern regions.
Here in Sicily lots of people have dark hair but there are many (especially in little towns) that are blonde and/or have green or blue eyes (because of the Norman heritage). I am Sicilian and all my ancestors I know were Sicilians (I’m sure that the grandparents of my grandparents were all Sicilians), but I have red hair and turquoise eyes as the most part of my family members has.
Italy in general has been conquered by lots of people (Arabs, Phoenicians, Greeks, Normans, Spanish, French, Austrian…) so nearly everyone is a mixture of different populations.
Don Garrett wrote:
Also, the southern part of Italy tends to lag behind the northern part in literacy, economic advancement, and attracting outside investment. (the last sentence is from google). Also from google : Anti-southern Italy sentiment runs deep, especially in northern Italy.
-Don This is not true. To better understand the question of the north of Italy vs the south we must look at the history. I can’t explain everything in detail because it would take too long , but before the Italian unification (1861) Italy was divided in lots of States. The South was governed by the Bourbons and it extended from Naples to Sicily. This big state was called Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and was rich and well developed (just to give an example the very first railway of Italy was in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies , from Naples to Portici). During the 19th century the king of Piedmont and Sardinia conquered the South but he pretended he was giving freedom to the southern people. In reality he conquered the rich south and brought the riches to the north. Recently there have been lots of studies, books etc. that try to explain what happened for real. Very old Sicilian men who experienced the unification told their grandchildren that they weren’t happy about it and that they considered the northern Italians as invaders.
After that moment the Italian central government put all its effort to develop the north spending money for the industries , for the public transportation, for the infrastructures, etc. and the south became poorer and poorer: they did nothing to develop the agriculture, the infrastructures, and above all they didn’t give value to the extraordinary archeology and monuments that are really immense in the south!
In the past few decades the Italian governments said they gave money to the south, thus making the northern Italians angry and jealous but it was not completely true: they gave money to the corrupt politicians of the south that were friends of them, and they didn’t spend anything to improve the economic condition of the south!
For example the trains we have now in the south, especially in Sicily, are slower than 40 years ago, but in the north they have very modern and fast trains (some of them faster than 300 km/h) .
Recently there have been many scandals that involved both southern and northern politicians (from Venice, Lombardy, etc.) so the most part of northern Italians started to understand that the problems of the south are caused by the wrong politics of the Italian governments and not by the southern people!
Photographer
Don Garrett
Posts: 4984
Escondido, California, US
neve wrote:
Northern Italians are not often blond and fair skinned . I’ve spent some years in Milan for modeling and I saw that the most part of them had brown hair and brown eyes. It’s true that there are some regions in the north that were conquered by Austrian and where you can find more blonde people, but it’s not true for all the northern regions.
Here in Sicily lots of people have dark hair but there are many (especially in little towns) that are blonde and/or have green or blue eyes (because of the Norman heritage). I am Sicilian and all my ancestors I know were Sicilians (I’m sure that the grandparents of my grandparents were all Sicilians), but I have red hair and turquoise eyes as the most part of my family members has.
Italy in general has been conquered by lots of people (Arabs, Phoenicians, Greeks, Normans, Spanish, French, Austrian…) so nearly everyone is a mixture of different populations.
This is not true. To better understand the question of the north of Italy vs the south we must look at the history. I can’t explain everything in detail because it would take too long , but before the Italian unification (1861) Italy was divided in lots of States. The South was governed by the Bourbons and it extended from Naples to Sicily. This big state was called Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and was rich and well developed (just to give an example the very first railway of Italy was in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies , from Naples to Portici). During the 19th century the king of Piedmont and Sardinia conquered the South but he pretended he was giving freedom to the southern people. In reality he conquered the rich south and brought the riches to the north. Recently there have been lots of studies, books etc. that try to explain what happened for real. Very old Sicilian men who experienced the unification told their grandchildren that they weren’t happy about it and that they considered the northern Italians as invaders.
After that moment the Italian central government put all its effort to develop the north spending money for the industries , for the public transportation, for the infrastructures, etc. and the south became poorer and poorer: they did nothing to develop the agriculture, the infrastructures, and above all they didn’t give value to the extraordinary archeology and monuments that are really immense in the south!
In the past few decades the Italian governments said they gave money to the south, thus making the northern Italians angry and jealous but it was not completely true: they gave money to the corrupt politicians of the south that were friends of them, and they didn’t spend anything to improve the economic condition of the south!
For example the trains we have now in the south, especially in Sicily, are slower than 40 years ago, but in the north they have very modern and fast trains (some of them faster than 300 km/h) .
Recently there have been many scandals that involved both southern and northern politicians (from Venice, Lombardy, etc.) so the most part of northern Italians started to understand that the problems of the south are caused by the wrong politics of the Italian governments and not by the southern people! DON GARRETT WROTE:
OK, thanks for this more in depth look at the Italian north vs south issue. All I can get, usually, is what I hear from pretty far away, and a movie, that may, or may not have had any validity.
-Don
Model
neve
Posts: 110
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy
Don Garrett wrote:
DON GARRETT WROTE:
OK, thanks for this more in depth look at the Italian north vs south issue. All I can get, usually, is what I hear from pretty far away, and a movie, that may, or may not have had any validity.
-Don No problem!
Even in Italy we have been told lots of lies about the history of the unification; recently many historians did some research and wrote books about what really happened (but in the south many people already knew it).
Model
Shantellmx
Posts: 1
Alofau, Eastern, American Samoa
African American, White (French) & Panamanian
Model
Julia A Campbell
Posts: 223
DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Florida, US
I've always been interested in ancestry and history, maybe it's because my family is very small and most of them weren't around when I was growing up.
My mother's grandfather was a swedish immigrant that came to the united states in 1880. His wife was a "black swede" with dark hair and eyes. I've traced that line to a man who was knighted after refusing to forfeit his bible after they were being translated to modern english from latin. They were farmers. A distant cousin actually went and visited what remained of them.
My mother's mother's line is a little more complex, 300 years ago they descended from an irish female pirate. What else is know about them was lost in a church fire in ireland. Other than irish, I have been told she was pennsylvanian dutch, and english.
My father's family remains a relative mystery to me, I know they are scott, english, a touch of swede, french and american indian, although I have been trying with a lot of difficulty to know more about them... My father is very depressed. He did tell me about one of my ancestors who is actually google-able, but it's a mixed blessing, the man became renowned for being very religious.
But yea, I'm descended from a wide mix, farmers, pirates, religious guys and a slew of random folks. I've gotten european or estonian before but that's about it, and also that I look like Jennifer Lawrence.
I keep hoping that I can someday find someone that has some distant connection to a royal family or someone famous, if just for an interesting story to tell. The only famous people I'm kin to are people who got it from serious hard work, but even then it was always more of an infamous thing. My mother's father was the "man everyone loved" and worked very hard.... And I've gotten off topic.
In the end, it doesn't really matter where you came from. Sometime's it helps to better understand yourself if you know who the people were before you, but not everyone can do that and sometimes digging can be more trouble than it's worth....
Photographer
Davian J
Posts: 373
Sacramento, California, US
Blacker than a muthaphucka
Photographer
Jorge Kreimer
Posts: 3716
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
Don Garrett wrote:
A long time ago, I had a Jewish friend, that INSISTED that Judaism is NOT a race or ethnicity, it is a religion ONLY. (maybe the smiley face in your post tells the story, or sarcasm).
-Don Judaism is a religion, an ethnicity, a culture, and a nation.
Not a race. Jews come in all shapes and colors.
No sarcasm intended, either.
Smiley face, because I like it.
Photographer
Connor Photography
Posts: 8539
Newark, Delaware, US
Jorge Kreimer wrote:
Not a race. Jews come in all shapes and colors. I know that Jews come in many different shapes, but they are all in one color. I grew up in Brooklyn. 
Photographer
Jorge Kreimer
Posts: 3716
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
Connor Photography wrote:
I know that Jews come in many different shapes, but they are all in one color. I grew up in Brooklyn. Plenty of black Ethiopian Jews in Israel, some Chinese Jews in Kaifeng, Yemeni Jews, I could go on.
Photographer
Keith Moody
Posts: 548
Phoenix, Arizona, US
I'm a little bit country... and a little bit rock and roll...
Model
malefica
Posts: 226
Durham, England, United Kingdom
Model
Weseley Kovarik
Posts: 10
Great Falls, Virginia, US
Jewish
50 percent Russian though from my mother's side.
Model
Abercrombiebr
Posts: 9
Austin, Texas, US
Hello everyone!
I'm very new to the website, so I'm still trying to figure out how it works ;p.
I am Italian, but my mother is an American citizien, even though she is 100% Italian. Aniway I consider myself as half Italian and half American. I've been asked often if I come from many different places like Brazil, Spain, Italy, Usa.
Model
RyanGerson
Posts: 1
San Francisco, California, US
Photographer
Risen Phoenix Photo
Posts: 3779
Minneapolis, Minnesota, US
I am a proud Italian American
Photographer
Risen Phoenix Photo
Posts: 3779
Minneapolis, Minnesota, US
neve wrote:
No problem!
Even in Italy we have been told lots of lies about the history of the unification; recently many historians did some research and wrote books about what really happened (but in the south many people already knew it). I agree the north /south Italian thing has plagued Italian Americans for 140 years. When Italians came to Ellis Island they were put into categories
Two of which were Race = White Complextion - From the north to above Naples = White
From Naples to Sicily = Black
85% of all Italians in the United States are from Naples sSouth to Sicily.
In fact Louis Prima the famed New Orleans based /Sicillian jazz/swing trumpet player who wrote such classics as "Jump Jive and Wail", and Benny Goodman's hit "Sing Sing Sing" the hallmark song of the swing era. Hadt to deal with this sting of bias ... Benny Goodman who was not a fan of Prima's stage antics called him a "black monkey".
My family is from Bari and Messina, we have had to live down the sting of this distiction for generations.
For those interested I suggest you watch the PBS Documentary " The Italian Americans" or read Gay Talesse's "Unto the Sons"
When I started college in 1972 my ethnicity was considered "Latin" (after all Italians are in fact the first Latins) In 1974 my ethnicity was change to Caucasion. So I lost my Equal Opportunity Grant and had significant challenges going to college.
Thanks for listening
Emilio Caruso AKA Risen Phoenix
Photographer
Jim Shibley
Posts: 3309
Phoenix, Arizona, US
I have about 2,300 ancestors in my genealogy database but it may be wrong. I've had DNA testing done thru 23andme.com. My mother's side is correct but I haven't verified any on my father's side. Lots of distant cousins but none with the right names. I'm about 98% European, .02% Ashkenazim & the rest unknown.
Model
HelloBrandy
Posts: 11
Seattle, Washington, US
Hey!
I am Vietnamese/Chinese/Belgian
Model
HelloBrandy
Posts: 11
Seattle, Washington, US
Jim Shibley wrote:
I have about 2,300 ancestors in my genealogy database but it may be wrong. I've had DNA testing done thru 23andme.com. My mother's side is correct but I haven't verified any on my father's side. Lots of distant cousins but none with the right names. I'm about 98% European, .02% Ashkenazim & the rest unknown. Ashkenazim!? That sounds so cool and exotic. Haha!
Model
ShyAng3L
Posts: 15
Seattle, Washington, US
Photographer
Doug Stringham
Posts: 38
Salt Lake City, Utah, US
I'm as white as George Washington's bum...... ok... I'm actually a mix, but nearly 100% European/Scandinavia origins. With just a smattering of native American.
Model
Sienna Luna
Posts: 13
Brooklyn, New York, US
Italian, Irish, and Lithuanian
Model
CamelliaFlower
Posts: 385
New York, New York, US
Ethnically I am full Han Chinese :3
Photographer
martin b
Posts: 2770
Manila, National Capital Region, Philippines
Filipino but I hear my accent is a little all over the place.
Model
malefica
Posts: 226
Durham, England, United Kingdom
English - vaguely aware that our family might have French lineage, but that is based off surname alone.
Photographer
Super Dimension Foto
Posts: 117
Portland, Oregon, US
There's the ethnicity I thought I was and then there's the results from the DNA test I took.
According to my DNA I'm a mostly Jewish & Viking. I need a yarmulke with horns attached to pay tribute to my forefathers.
Photographer
Marcio Faustino
Posts: 2811
Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
I could say I am Portuguese Brazilian. But who knows if I am also native south america, Italian or Arabic?
I am earthing. Just like everybody else.
Model
REMOVED
Posts: 18
Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
Model
Briana_Mae
Posts: 19
Warner Robins, Georgia, US
Model
Divinity82
Posts: 1
Brandon, Florida, US
I am Caucasian and African American
Model
M I K H A I L
Posts: 137
Chicago, Illinois, US
I am part Estonian and part Irish, among other things. For whatever reason, I only vaguely resemble the family members I have left, my metabolism is much faster than that of any close family member, and my build is more slender than my mother's, father's, or grand parents' builds. Genetics can make for some interesting outcomes!
Model
Clearly Clarissa
Posts: 51
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
I am Filipino, born in Canada!
Model
umami___
Posts: 1528
Tacoma, Washington, US
does 'adopted' count? haha
i have always been curious though.
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