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Italian-American Civil Rights League

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The Italian-American Civil Rights League (IACRL) was originally formed as a political advocacy group created in New York City in April 1970. William Santoro, a defense attorney that represented many Colombo crime family figures, was responsible for the legal work that incorporated the league. Its stated goal was to combat pejorative stereotypes about Italian-Americans, but in actuality, it operated as a public relations firm to deny the existence of the American Mafia and improve the image of mobsters.

History

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In April 1970, Joseph Colombo founded the Italian-American Civil Rights League, the month his son Joseph Colombo Jr. was criminally charged with melting down coins for resale as silver ingots.[1] In response, Joseph Colombo Sr. claimed FBI harassment of Italian Americans and, on April 30, 1970, sent 30 picketers outside FBI headquarters at Third Avenue and 69th Street to protest the federal persecution of all Italians everywhere; this went on for weeks.[1] On June 29, 1970, 50,000 people attended the first Italian Unity Day rally in Columbus Circle in New York City.[2][3][4] Footage of the 1970 rally appeared in the film Days of Fury (1979), directed by Fred Warshofsky and hosted by Vincent Price.[5] In February 1971, Colombo Jr. was acquitted of the charge after the chief witness in the trial had been arrested on perjury charges.[6]

The group then turned its attention to what it perceived as cultural slights and discrimination against Italian-Americans, using boycott threats to force Alka-Seltzer and the Ford Motor Company to withdraw television commercials the league objected to. Another group success was that U.S. Attorney General John Mitchell ordered the U.S. Justice Department to stop using the word "Mafia" in official documents and press releases.[7] The league also secured an agreement from Albert S. Ruddy, the producer of The Godfather, to omit the terms "Mafia" and "cosa nostra" from the film's dialogue,[8] and succeeded in having Macy's stop selling a board game called The Godfather Game.[4] The League strong-armed merchants and residents in Little Italy to purchase and display league decals opposing the film. The League threatened to shut down the Teamsters, which included the truckers, drivers, and crew members who were essential to making the film.[9] The IACRL boycotted the Ford Motor Company because of its sponsorship of the television show The F.B.I. and its negative references to Italian-Americans as gangsters.[1]

On June 28, 1971, at the second Italian Unity Day rally in Columbus Circle in Manhattan, Colombo was shot three times, once in the head, by Jerome A. Johnson; Johnson was immediately killed by Colombo's bodyguards.[10] Colombo survived the shooting, but was paralyzed;[11] Colombo died seven years later from cardiac arrest due to injuries sustained from the shooting.[10]

By the 2000s, the Italian-American Civil Rights League came to offer various youth and other programs.[12]

Politics

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A group using the name of the IACRL endorsed Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection campaign on X, calling him “the modern day Columbus” and “the first Italian president” (despite descending from German and Scottish immigrants).[13]

The group called for Tim Walz to drop out of the 2024 Harris-Walz presidential campaign due to his handling of Minneapolis protesters toppling a statute of Christopher Columbus in 2020 in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. The group’s head Mike Crispi referred to his and the protestors’ actions as “racism” and the IACRL referred to Walz and indigenous activists as “anti-Italian-American sympathizers”.[14]

The Italian American Civil Rights League put out a statement on August 13th, 2024 pointing out that the other group was not affiliated with them in any way, and that the IACRL does not make political endorsements. [15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Small-time mob boss Joe Colombo's great civil rights crusade". nydailnews.com. August 14, 2017. Archived from the original on January 4, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  2. ^ "Thousands of Italians Here Rally Against Ethnic Slurs". The New York Times. June 30, 1970. Archived from the original on January 4, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  3. ^ "Italo-Americans Press Unity Day" (PDF). New York Times. June 18, 1970. Archived from the original on 5 September 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  4. ^ a b Vincenza Scarpaci (2008). The Journey of the Italians in America. Pelican. ISBN 9781455606832. Archived from the original on 2020-09-05. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  5. ^ "Watch Days of Fury (1979) on the Internet Archive". 1979.
  6. ^ "Colombo Acquitted In Conspiracy Case". The New York Times. February 27, 1971. Archived from the original on January 4, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  7. ^ Dreyfuss, Joel (March 27, 1971). "Italian-Americans claim ethnic bias". The Courier-News. Bridgewater, New Jersey.
  8. ^ Pileggi, Nicholas (August 15, 1971). "The Making of 'The Godfather: Sort of a Home Movie". New York Times. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  9. ^ "The Godfather Wars". Vanity Fair. 4 February 2009.
  10. ^ a b "Joseph A. Colombo, Sr,. Paralyzed in Shooting at 1971 Rally, Dies". New York Times. May 24, 1978. Archived from the original on December 11, 2019. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  11. ^ Farrell, William E. (June 29, 1971). "Colombo Shot, Gunman Slain, at Columbus Circle Rally Site". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 21, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  12. ^ "Programs". Archived from the original on 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
  13. ^ https://x.com/TheIACRL/status/1714316543775973637
  14. ^ "'Racism': Walz faces criticism for stance on Columbus statues, called to drop VP bid".
  15. ^ https://www.italianamericanleaguenyc.org/_files/ugd/c19dd3_74828c562e7c45418f092c9bfac1883b.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

Further reading

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  • Capria, Don and Anthony Colombo. Colombo: The Unsolved Murder. New York: Unity Press, 2015, ISBN 978-0692583241
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