A short, animated video available on YouTube.com labels filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola "the Godfather of Defamation." The dishonor has been bestowed upon him by the Italic Institute of America (IIA), the New York based educational think tank which produced the 2:35 second clip, available on YouTube.

Says Bill Dal Cerro, a Senior Analyst with the Institute: "In an era of cultural sensitivity, it is shocking that Coppola continues to get a pass for what his 1972 film 'The Godfather,' did--and continues to do--to Americans of Italian heritage. He is no hero. With one single movie, Coppola managed to forever associate Italian culture with criminal behavior---not only in America but across the globe. He didn't create art. He created a tribute to thieves and murderers. He should be rebuked, not applauded."

Continues Dal Cerro: "We get it: Millions of people love 'The Godfather.' But, that's irrelevant to our argument. Liking the film doesn't make a viewer insensitive or racist. After all, President Woodrow Wilson loved D.W. Griffiths' 1915 Civil War masterpiece 'Birth of a Nation,' which idealized the Ku Klux Klan and demonized African Americans. In 'The Godfather,' Coppola managed to do both to Italian Americans: He romanticized Italian criminal gangs which, in turn, fully demonized Italian culture, equating criminal behavior with 'being Italian'. Coppola's denigration of Italic culture created a billion-dollar spin-off industry which continues to this day, from the video game 'Mafia III' to the current Ben Affleck film 'The Accountant,' which features Italic criminals gleefully blow-torching a man's face and driving nails into his hands."

Says fellow Institute analyst John Mancini: "People never consider the ultimate damage of Coppola's film---namely, that it has institutionalized anti-Italian prejudice in Hollywood. Italian American actors, male and female, are constantly typecast as thugs or sluts. Italian American filmmakers who want to tell cinematic stories of real Italian Americans---a legacy which stretches from early explorers in North America to current war heroes in Afghanistan like Sgt. Salvatore Giunta---are ignored or scorned. And the constant reshowing of endless mob movies on cable TV on a daily basis merely reinforces this bias."

Mancini notes: "And does no one see the horrific double standard at work even via animated films? In 2004's "Shark Tale" and 2016's "Zootopia," mafia stereotypes are peddled to impressionable young children---this despite Hollywood's enlightened modern attitude of producing animated films with positive ethnic role models: "The Lion King," "Mulan," "Pocohantas," "An American Tail," the upcoming "Moana, etc.. The irony of 'Zootopia' is that it actually preached the concept of 'tolerance' to pre-adolescents!"

The Institute's two minute YouTube clip, titled "Francis Ford Coppola: The Godfather of Defamation," profiles three great Americans of Italian descent: A.P. Giannini, who created the Bank of America in 1906; Dr. Rocco Petrone, who guided the NASA Moon Landing in 1969: and Ella Grasso, the first woman elected governor in her own right (Conneticuit, 1974).

Notes Dal Cerro: "We guarantee you that the average American, let alone average Italian American, knows anything about these amazing people. Why? The answer is simple: Hollywood won't let go of crude Italian stereotypes, thanks to Coppola."

Founded in Floral Park, New York in 1987, the Italic Institute of America promotes the classical Italic heritage both in America and around the world and publishes a national magazine, Italic Way, highlighting serious national issues in the community.