As an Italian born and raised in a family with liberal ideas of total respect no matter what color, religion, gender or sexual orientation, when I moved to NYC (specifically Brooklyn) 20 years ago, I was very surprised to see that most Italian American families are quite racist and with very conservative values. I am not saying that these people do not exist in Italy (there are MANY!), but I wasn't expecting to see so many in the "Italian" community here! Also, before coming here I had never heard of the "black face" issue, which has never been an issue in Italy, and even if I do understand the background and the reasons, to me it's still bizarre to see people shocked and offended by an actor who is asked to put dark make up to portray a black person...Last year an American opera singer was invited to sing in a famous Opera House in Italy in Aida, an opera where the main character is an Egyptian princess. She refused to wear dark make up, and it became a case because nobody could really get all her justifications behind it!