--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "dfsavgny" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>
I've been called a lot worse.
I think goomba night will atract more people to AP than 200 Blood
Gang Members reside in AP.
Dear Deputy Mayor Bruno and Councilman Loffredo,
>
> I am contacting both of you because I know that you are proud
> Italian-Americans. I have received my weekly email blast from Tom
> Gilmour about upcoming events in Asbury Park this week. I am
> excerpting the section below from that email which I believe you
> will find offensive as Italian-Americans.
>
> The Paramount Theatre presents "Gumba Night" on Saturday with back-
> to-back showings of "The Godfather" and "The Godfather II."
>
> Firstly, Tom spelled GOOMBAH incorrectly. If our heritage is going
> to be insulted the least that could be done is to get the spelling
> of the ethnic slur correct.
>
> Secondly, while the three of us know that GOOMBAH (or alternately
> GOOMBA) originates in our culture as a term of endearment, in
common
> usage by non-Italian-Americans it is considered derogatory. Below I
> have excerpted the listing for GOOMBAH from Wikipedia.
>
> Goombah (sometimes Goomba) is a slang term regional to the New York
> area used to describe an Italian-American. It can be mildly
> derogatory, but not on the same level as dago, guinea or wop.
>
> This slang term probably originates from the Italian word compare
> (or the Sicilian cognate, "cumpari", both akin to Spanish
compadre),
> which was already (and still is) used in south Italy abbreviated
> in "compa'" and literally means "friend" and it is used
colloquially
> mainly to address people living in the same town. This, changed
> through the Italo-American tendency to substitute c's for g's and
> p's for b's in colloquial speech, yields "goombah."
>
> Steve Schirripa, who became famous playing Bobby Baccalieri on the
> HBO TV series The Sopranos, introduced the term to a national
> audience by publishing a series of books starting with A Goomba's
> Guide to Life (ISBN 1-4000-4639-4). It appears in popular fiction
at
> least as early as Mario Puzo's "The Godfather" (1969), in which the
> character Jack Woltz refers to "guinea Mafia goombahs."
>
> Now it may be that "Gumba Night" did not originate with Tom Gilmour
> but was passed on from the people at the Paramount. That would
still
> not excuse the fact that an official communication from the City of
> Asbury Park contains an ethnic slur. I have no idea how many people
> receive Tom's email blast, but I hear rumors that there may be
> rioting in Ocean Township this weekend over this matter. If the
Sons
> of Italy get wind of this the least of our problems will be the
> purported handful of Bloods members in our fair city.
>
> Also, this slap at our heritage comes on the heels of the Columbus
> Day controversy. What is an Italian-American to do? Is there no
safe
> refuge for us? My grandparents Vito and Isabella are probably
> rolling in their graves at this very moment! Jesu Cristo aiuto me!
>
> Both of you fine Italian-Americans vociferously defended out
> collective ancestry last month in the above episode. I expect no
> less in the current matter (although I do not expect anyone to
dress
> up in costumes this time). Please investigate this matter. I look
> forward to an official retraction and apology to all Italian-
> Americans from the City and Asbury Partners if they too are
> responsible for this slur. Someday soon, hopefully, us Italian-
> Americans too will ba able to walk as equals in this community.
>
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