The Italian American One Voice Coalition, which is the largest Italian American anti-bias organization in the U.S., announced it has received a formal written apology from Chrysler/Fiat CEO, Sergio Marchionne, for his use of a pejorative term, offensive to Italian Americans, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
You probably remember that, at a press conference at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year, Marchionne commented on the long-delayed introduction of the new generation Alfa Romeos to the U.S. saying: “I cannot come up with a schlock product, I just won’t. I won’t put an American engine into that car. With all due respect to my American friends, it needs to be a wop engine. There are some things that are well-done in Italy.”
Surprisingly for an Italian-Canadian, Marchionne didn’t know that “wop” is a derogatory word that designates Italian Americans. A racial term used for people of Italian heritage, “wop” comes from the Italian word “guappo”, which means ruffian or pimp.
Marchionne said that at the time of the press conference, he was of the opinion that the use of negative and derogatory terms were funny and he added he used the term “in jest.” After reporters reacted to his use of an ethnic slur, Marchionne turned to one of them and asked, “Why are you surprised?”
Following a campaign by One Voice, Sergio Marchionne issued a letter in which he acknowledged his remarks were unacceptable and apologized to “anyone who may have been offended”. Well, we don’t know why he had to wait for an NGO to ask him to apologize, but at least he did.
By Dan Mihalascu
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