>When I lived in Brooklyn I had a chat with this guy on a
>visa, from Italy. Brooklyn has a big Italian American
>community and that's what I knew. This native Italian guy
>made a point to differentiate so-called American Italians
>and himself. He blasted the racist attitudes of the Italian
>Americans. He told me to visit Italy to see the difference.

cuz the Italian I know talks about how racism is openly accepted in Italy. it's pretty much the norm to refer to someone by a racial characteristic.