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This is the story of how the colour olive, first linked to Italian immigrant workers in the later part of the nineteenth century, has changed from being a derogatory label to an ethnicity marker for those Australian Italians who do not want to be assimilated. Those seeking to assimilate have repackaged their Italianness to present themselves as 'White' or at the very least as Italians from what are seen to be the more prestigious parts of central and northern Italy. Those not wanting to assimilate have used the olive label to challenge the society of which they are a part. This article will look at how Italians came to be labelled as the 'Dago Menace', the 'Olive Peril', the 'Greasy Wog' and the 'Olive Trash', and will consider also the reactions of Italians and Australian Italians to these stereotypes. It is still confronting today to read the vitriolic comments and see the cartoons which have targeted Italians in Australia for over a century. From 1891, when 355 Italians were given assisted passage to work in the sugar plantations in north Queensland,1 patterns of abuse and negative imagery used against Italians can be identified. Figure 1 is an example from 1891 where the Italian is presented as an impoverished organ grinder with a monkey on his back. The sun beating down links the Italian and the South Sea Islander in the context of their capacity to provide cheap labour. Both were migrant groups competing for the bottom rung of the employment ladder. |
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