传统的学术智慧认为，美国的大多数意大利裔美国人在两次世界大战期间都是法西斯主义政策的忠实支持者，但最终拒绝了贝尼托·墨索里尼政权于 1938 年在其祖籍国采取的反犹太主义措施。与这种解释相反, Luconi 认为，许多意大利裔美国人自己持有反犹太主义的态度，因此，在墨索里尼发起反对意大利犹太人的运动后，并没有与法西斯主义保持距离。他还争辩说，这些态度不是源于对法西斯主义的意识形态承诺，而是源于意大利裔美国人和犹太裔美国人之间紧张的关系，以及 1930 年代美国社会的反犹太主义舆论氛围。意大利裔美国人和犹太人是劳工运动和民主党的伙伴。然而，前者对后者不信任意大利裔美国人的劳工斗争以及犹太人在工会和民主党的等级制度中的早期崛起感到不满。此外，意大利裔美国人和犹太人争夺工作、政治赞助、廉价住房和救济福利，尤其是在大萧条时期。这种种族对抗和右翼组织对意大利裔美国人的吸引力促使后者倾向于反犹太主义。结果，很少有意大利血统的美国人站出来反对法西斯政权的种族政策。以及犹太人在工会和民主党的等级制度中的较早崛起。此外，意大利裔美国人和犹太人争夺工作、政治赞助、廉价住房和救济福利，尤其是在大萧条时期。这种种族对抗和右翼组织对意大利裔美国人的吸引力促使后者倾向于反犹太主义。结果，很少有意大利血统的美国人站出来反对法西斯政权的种族政策。以及犹太人在工会和民主党的等级制度中的较早崛起。此外，意大利裔美国人和犹太人争夺工作、政治赞助、廉价住房和救济福利，尤其是在大萧条时期。这种种族对抗和右翼组织对意大利裔美国人的吸引力促使后者倾向于反犹太主义。结果，很少有意大利血统的美国人站出来反对法西斯政权的种族政策。
Conventional scholarly wisdom has it that most Italian Americans in the United States were loyal supporters of the policies of Fascism in the inter-war years but eventually rejected the antisemitic measures that Benito Mussolini's regime adopted in their ancestral country in 1938. Contrary to such an interpretation, Luconi argues that many Italian Americans themselves held antisemitic attitudes and, therefore, did not distance themselves from Fascism after Mussolini launched his campaign against Italian Jews. He also contends that these attitudes resulted less from an ideological commitment to Fascism than from both the strained relations between Italian Americans and Jewish Americans, and the antisemitic climate of opinion that characterized American society in the 1930s. Italian Americans and Jews were partners in the labour movement and the Democratic Party. Yet the former resented the latter's distrust in Italian Americans' labour militancy, as well as the earlier rise of Jews in the hierarchies of the unions and the Democratic Party. Furthermore, Italian Americans and Jews competed for jobs, political patronage, cheap housing and relief benefits, especially during the Depression years. Such ethnic rivalries and the appeal of right-wing organizations to Italian Americans contributed to make the latter prone to antisemitism. As a result, few Americans of Italian descent came out against the racial policy of the Fascist regime.
