RIT Italian American Initiative Lecture with Jessica Barbata Jackson Dixie’s Italians Sicilians, Race, and Citizenship in the Jim Crow Gulf South

Jessica Barbata Jackson's Dixie’s Italians offers a compelling examination of Sicilian and Italian immigrants in the Gulf South during the Jim Crow era. The book explores the complicated racial and civic status of Italian immigrants and the ways in which questions of race, citizenship, ethnicity, and belonging shaped their experiences in the United States. The subject is particularly appropriate for an interdisciplinary RIT audience because it raises fundamental questions that extend well beyond Italian American history:

How have race and ethnicity shaped access to citizenship and political participation?
How have immigrant communities negotiated changing definitions of American identity?
What does equality before the law mean in practice?
How can historical experience inform contemporary discussions of immigration and democratic citizenship?
These questions create a natural bridge between the mission of the RITalian Studies Program, the RIT Italian American Initiative, and the intellectual mission of the Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty. RIT's Center for Statesmanship, Law, and Liberty seeks to promote understanding of statesmanship, liberty, constitutionalism, responsible citizenship, and the political culture of the Us republic. Its programming engages students, scholars, teachers, citizens, and public officials. The proposed event therefore represents a meaningful collaboration rather than simply a guest lecture.

Support Italian and Italian American Students at RIT!
Gifts to this designation would be used to support students participating in the documentary film creation and archiving of Italian American genealogy stories. Story participants would be from the Italian diaspora in the Western and Central NY. Additionally, areas of funding can be used to support day conference, students' research, and other needs determined by the RIT Italian Studies Program. www.rit.edu/giving/ItalianAmericanGenealogyProject

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