Religious and regional friction is often a masquerade for an underlying ethnic conflict. The inability of North and South Italians to get along is based on more than culinary differences--the war of garlic and oil against butter and cheese. North Italians are predominantly Celtic and Germanic, while South Italians are a graceful mixture of Greek, Arabic, and native Italian tribes. I was recently in Caserta near Naples and watched with amusement the consternation caused by a Roman blond walking down the street. The boys slowed their cars, honked and hooted like so many Italo-American construction workers in New York. I do not think the girl was offended, but a similar incident in Bergamo might have caused trouble. In years past, the trickle of South Italians into Lombardia insured the gradual absorption of these meridionali into the more stolid Lombard folkways. In recent years, however, the Southern invasion has meant--in addition to a crime wave--that many meridionali have preferred to live in ghettos and preserve their identity.