Chronicles of ordinary racism 2011 - Cronache di ordinario razzismo
Chronicles of ordinary racism 2011 - Cronache di ordinario razzismo
Chronicles of ordinary racism 2011 - Cronache di ordinario razzismo
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private organizations against foreigners, but also the countless local decrees issued by<br />
so‐called “creative mayors”.<br />
Among the most frequent cases <strong>of</strong> verbal violence, even if they do not feature<br />
prominently in the inventory, we must bear in mind those that occur in the world <strong>of</strong><br />
sport, reported with relative accuracy by the me<strong>di</strong>a, whether they involve players or<br />
supporters. A special mention must be reserved to the racist incident concerning the<br />
black Italian footballer Mario Balotelli, who was, on several occasions, the butt <strong>of</strong><br />
serious insults, online and on the part <strong>of</strong> supporters <strong>of</strong> opposing teams (“Balotelli is still<br />
African”, “Is he dating a white woman It’s <strong>di</strong>sgusting!”, “If his skin is black, he can’t be<br />
Italian…”, “A nigger in the national squad marks the end <strong>of</strong> the Italian football”, and so<br />
on…). We also come across a fair number <strong>of</strong> xenophobic banners: those <strong>di</strong>rected against<br />
Jewish people 327 are decreasing while those against migrants are becoming more<br />
popular, particularly on the part <strong>of</strong> extreme right‐wing groups. 328 The immigrant<br />
Muslim population is also an easy target <strong>of</strong> <strong>di</strong>scrimination and violence, as well as <strong>of</strong><br />
xenophobic slogans: in particular, we draw attention to the increased number <strong>of</strong> cases<br />
concerning insults and attacks against women wearing the veil. 329 Islamophobia also<br />
inspires the decrees issued by a number <strong>of</strong> mayors belonging to the Northern League,<br />
as well as other parties: for example the Northern League Mayor <strong>of</strong> Azzano Decimo,<br />
Enzo Bortolotti, launched an “Islamic census” in November 2009, effectively keeping<br />
files on all Muslims resident in the municipality; in September 2010 the illustrious<br />
mayor <strong>of</strong> Adro established that the children atten<strong>di</strong>ng the Gianfranco Miglio primary<br />
school will no longer be <strong>of</strong>fered an alternative to pork, unless their families can provide<br />
“a valid doctor’s note”, thus effectively <strong>di</strong>scriminating against all the Muslim children<br />
and exclu<strong>di</strong>ng them from school meals. Conversely, in February <strong>2011</strong>, it is the centreleft<br />
majority <strong>of</strong> the town council <strong>of</strong> Sesto San Giovanni (MI) who approve a motion<br />
proposed by the Northern League banning the wearing <strong>of</strong> burqas in public places. The<br />
violation <strong>of</strong> the human rights <strong>of</strong> Roma and Sinti minorities, already noted in the past,<br />
shows no sign <strong>of</strong> abating: emergency decrees and countless evictions go hand in hand<br />
with racist rulings 330 and xenophobic statements issued by politicians (see the most<br />
famous cases <strong>of</strong> Alipran<strong>di</strong>, 331 Lombar<strong>di</strong>, 332 Maiolo 333 and Lussana 334 ) so as to give rise to<br />
327 We find an increase in the production <strong>of</strong> anti-Semitic graffiti every year in January in the days approaching the Giorno della<br />
Memoria (International Holocaust Remembance Day).<br />
328 Worthy <strong>of</strong> note is the execrable graffiti which appeared on Roman walls the day after the tragic death <strong>of</strong> four Roma children<br />
in the fire in the Tor Fiscale settlement: “Roma -4” and “Roma Raus”, spray-painted and rounded <strong>of</strong>f with swastikas, 13 February<br />
<strong>2011</strong>, “La Repubblica”.<br />
329 For instance: a client complains because a woman is wearing a burqa in a supermarket in Pieve <strong>di</strong> Soligo (TV), 24 September<br />
2009, “La Repubblica”; the case <strong>of</strong> the so-called “black teacher” in a Sonnino (LT) nursery school, 18 September 2010,<br />
vita<strong>di</strong>donna.org; the young Moroccan cultural me<strong>di</strong>ator in Padua whose veil was ripped <strong>of</strong>f by a fifty-year-old lady, 27 May<br />
<strong>2011</strong>, julienews.it; and, lastly, two more veils ripped <strong>of</strong>f Muslim women in Milan, 7 August <strong>2011</strong>, “Corriere della Sera”.<br />
330 Two sentences, one issued some time after the other, are truly shocking because they use stigmatisation <strong>of</strong> the Roma people to<br />
justify the ver<strong>di</strong>cts reached. There's the case <strong>of</strong> Angelica V, a 17-year-old Roma girl, accused <strong>of</strong> having attempted to kidnap an<br />
infant in Ponticelli in May 2008. After a year and a half in prison, she was refused house arrest on the grounds that "she's a<br />
Rom": for the judges prison is the only answer because Roma people refuse to follow rules. The ruling rejecting house arrest<br />
states: "it is clear that the person appealing is fully ensconsed in typical Rom culture. And it's because <strong>of</strong> this total integration in<br />
that lifestyle that someone like her - ie lacking the wherewithal to analyse her own way <strong>of</strong> life - is likely to commit the same<br />
crime again." Apcom, 3 December 2009. Then there's the much-<strong>di</strong>scussed case <strong>of</strong> the sentence from the Bologna appeals court in<br />
July <strong>2011</strong> in which it was decided not to order a 12-year-old Roma girl to attend school and to leave her in her camp because<br />
"this is a normal way <strong>of</strong> life for someone <strong>of</strong> her stan<strong>di</strong>ng and her origins. Her noma<strong>di</strong>c lifestyle and the culture she has grown up<br />
in mean that we can see no possible harm to the child from this decision." La Repubblica, 8 July <strong>2011</strong>.<br />
331 December 2010, a Northern League Town Councillor in Padua, Vittorio Alipran<strong>di</strong>, already infamous for his racist tendencies,<br />
posts some extremely insulting statements against Roma people on his Facebook pr<strong>of</strong>ile, to the point <strong>of</strong> advocating a return to<br />
“concentration camps”. January <strong>2011</strong>, still on his Facebook page, he remarks: “Best Wishes for a <strong>2011</strong> without those <strong>di</strong>sgusting<br />
133