He is of Italian heritage and could claim to be Sicilian, therefor is of African heritage. After all what do the Northern Italians say? Sicilians are Africans who could swim?.
Of course with a name like Salerno, the 'Sicilian' heritage might be a tough sell. Too bad his name is not Corleone.
With a name like Salerno, he could have ancestors from Salerno.
Salerno is a coastal city south of Naples.