That would depend on what part of Italy his family originated from. Northern Italians are more European like Hungarians or Austrians, where as southern Italians are more Northern Mediterranean like Greeks, Sicilians, Turks and are more genetically connected to north Africans like Moroccans and Algerians.

He was one of the Seven Blocks of Granite. Obviously, he was Italian American. One day in the showers, a teammate told him to stand next to another guy so he could see which one had darker skin. The fight that ensued was violent enough that both players ended up in the infirmary.

I wonder what Lombardi would think about this.

(Lest anyone get the wrong idea, as a coach Lombardi made it very clear that any man — player or coach — who exhibited racist or homophobic behavior would be gone immediately.)

Immigrants were equated with African Americans (not Latin) and treated with similar hatred, including lynching.

How Italians Became ‘White’
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/10/12/opinion/columbus-day-italian-american-racism.html
... in which the New York Times belatedly expresses its remorse for its relentless racism in the past.

I wouldn't say he "insisted".....

Link to tweet

my husband is half Sicilian and half German. My father called him a "dirty Mexican." This was in the 1968 to 1971 time period, he had a great tan because he used to surf. We still got married, even though my father never believed his ethnic background. He used to call my uncle a "portagee" (Protegees) who married into my mother's family. He said he didn't believe my uncle was Sicilian, just like my husband. And of course all Italians were "wops" (pardon me) people without papers. So to me, 50-60 years later hearing Italians being questioned about their ethnicity makes me sick. We are all Americans, and what a dumb question to be asked during a debate. I was taught at school we were a melting pot, then we became a salad, a little bit different, but still Americans. Ask about the difference in their political party affiliation not their race/ethnicity.

Leopard cannot change his spots. I call bullshit on this.

Italians are truly latin in the sense that they speak a latin based language.