old time racism

Speaking of back in the days, here's an excerpt from a letter I ran across in the archives:

“In establishing their government along the lines of our own, the Brazilians did not reckon upon differences fundamental in the character of the two peoples. Anything like representative government in a country of Latin background, 80 percent illiterate, was and is out of the question.”

“That within appreciable time there will develop cordial social relationships between Brazil and the United States I do not believe. The background of these people is Latin. Their traditions, their language, their social habits all affiliate them with southern Europe. The wealthy among them are frequent visitors to Europe, but rarely go to England. Every man or woman with any pretense of culture speaks French. French fashions, French clothing, French food are universally in evidence. Paris is their spiritual home. We shall be able to establish a large and profitable business intercourse with these people, because the United States is the market for much that they produce, and because we can supply many forms of manufactured goods better and cheaper than they can buy elsewhere. But we shall never be brothers under the skin.”

Ah, the days of 1926, when Southern Europeans (i.e., Italians) were the racial menace to Northern society.