Do Sicilians like to be recognized as their own culture?

I don't know if its just me, but it annoys me when people ask me my hereditary background and when I say Sicilian, people say, oh so your Italian.In my opinion,all the history I have studied on both places tells me they originated from different countries and the people look and act different.Ive also heard Italian people refer to them as poor or low class.I'm proud of my Sicilian background and prefer to be recognized as Sicilian.Id like to know what Sicilian people think.