Italian American One Voice Coalition Slams Candidate Romi Herrera for Mob-Inspired Stereotypes

NORTHVALE, NJ, UNITED STATES, February 20, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Italian American One Voice Coalition (“IAOVC”), the nation’s largest independent Italian American anti-bias organization, is calling out New Jersey Assembly District 35 candidate Romi Herrera for using tired, offensive Mafia-related stereotypes in his latest campaign statement.

In a move straight out of a bad mob movie script, Herrera maligns certain individuals as those “…who follow the lead of old white Italian men….” and for “…kissing the ring…” - a phrase unmistakably linked to the portrayal of mob bosses in Hollywood’s countless gangster flicks.

“Here we go again,” said Andre’ DiMino, President of IAOVC. “These comments are not just disgraceful – they are lazy, cliched, and insulting to millions of hard-working Italian Americans. Shame on Mr. Herrera for resorting to these offensive tropes!”

Adding to the irony, IAOVC was informed that Herrera recently attended a bocce fundraiser hosted by Garfield UNICO, the local Italian American organization. “So, let me get this straight - Herrera happily plays bocce with Italian Americans one day, then smears them with Mafia innuendos the next? That’s not just offensive, it’s hypocritical,” DiMino continued.

IAOVC is demanding Herrera issue a public retraction and apology. “Enough is enough,” DiMino added. “Italian Americans are doctors, engineers, teachers, and leaders—not characters in a Scorsese film. It’s time to retire these ridiculous stereotypes for good.”

The Italian American One Voice Coalition is a nationwide coalition of Italian American organizations and individual members whose sole purpose is to defend Italian American heritage and culture. In its 32-year history IAOVC has fought back and defeated repeated attempts to cancel Columbus Day and/or remove Columbus statues around the nation. IAOVC is different from all other Italian American organizations in that its sole focus and objective is to foster education to fight bias, stereotyping and discrimination against Italian Americans. IAOVC is an IRS-Registered 501(c)3 non-profit.

To support IAOVC’s efforts at defending and educating about Columbus and Italian American civil rights visit iaovc.org/donate.

IAOVC membership is open to individuals and all Italian American organizations to join together as a coalition defending and celebrating Italian American heritage and culture. To join visit iaovc.org/membership.

IAOVC issues a regular free email newsletter, “The Alfano Digest,” to individuals and Italian American organizations nationwide. The Digest issues alerts on instances of bias, stereotyping, discrimination, and defamation and activates the IAOVC nationwide network of “Defenders” who respond through calls, emails, faxes, letters and demonstrations, where necessary. The Digest also contains informative Italian American cultural, educational and heritage information. To request the Digest at no charge, email your request to info@iaovc.org or fill out the form on iaovc.org.

Andre DiMino
Italian American ONE VOICE Coalition
andre@iaovc.org
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