--- 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. > Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/