Italian American is NOT Italian. No offense meant to anyone. It’s just a fact.
Mmm...I get the argument, but it's more complicated than that.
There are Albanian and Greek communities in southern Italy that have been there for hundreds of years and they are still referred to as such regardless of how those communities are perceived in Albania or Greece. Everyone knows they are Italianized...but there are still strong ethnic links to their homelands.
I'm not sure by what logic Italians in the US are considered not Italian while the Arberesh in Italy are considered Albanian.
One can almost think of Italian Americans as a regional variation of Italians. Piemontesi, Abruzzesi, Siciliani, and Italo-Americani. We are even allowed to vote in Italian elections.
Honestly, I think Italians are ticked because our "regional" Italian-American cuisine is all over the world now, and everyone mistakenly thinks it's from Italy proper.