Chronicles of ordinary racism 2011 - Cronache di ordinario razzismo

obstructing a law enforcement officer, issuing threats when armed, illegal possession of
weapons, refusal to disclose his generalities and grievous bodily harm. Proto claims
that he was threatened with a knife. The police report of the arrest also includes the
hospital visit made by one of the policemen who states that he was attacked during a
confrontation with the young immigrant. But the owner of the bakery, Alessandra
Latartara, who witnessed the whole incident, tells her version of the story: there were
no threats and definitely no knife. The public prosecutor concludes that Friday Osas is
innocent and asks for his instant acquittal with apologies on behalf of the entire citizen
body, after nine days of enprisonment.
Source: La Repubblica
27 August 2010 Rome (RM), Lazio
At 1.30 AM, a fire breaks out in the illegal settlement on Via Ettore Morselli, in the
Magliana district: four shanties are burnt to the ground before firemen manage to
contain the flames. In one of the hovels, the charred body of Mario, a three year‐old
boy, is found. His younger brother, Marco Giovanni, three months old, is rushed to the
pediatric intensive care unit of the Gemelli hospital with second‐ and third‐degree
burns on over 40% of his body. His parents are kept for 25 days with second‐degree
burns in the emergency unit of Sant’Eugenio hospital. The prosecutor’s office in Rome
opens a inquiry into persons unknown for arson and voluntary manslaughter. The
theory that the flames might have been triggered by candles placed “on the floor in
order to prevent,” Mario’s parents explain, “mice from eating our clothes”, has yet to be
examined.
Source: Corriere della Sera
28 August 2010 Gonnesa (CI), Sardinia
A young Senegalese man finds a free seat on the ARST company bus that connects the
Gonnesa seaside resort and Iglesias, but an Italian boy prevents him from sitting by
stretching out his leg. Another boy says to him:”What do you expect, you nigger You
stink of elephant.” The reaction of some of the other passengers attracts the attention of
the bus driver who, having heard the raised tones, stops the vehicle and asks the boys
to cut it out. The African boy finds another place at the back of the bus.
Source: Unione Sarda
2 September 2010 Prato (PO), Tuscany
A decree introduced by Mayor Roberto Cenni (centre‐right) establishes obligatory early
closing time for buisnesses licenced to serve food and drink social clubs, ice cream
shops, delicatessens, kebab stalls and take away pizzerias in the so‐called Chinatown
neighbourhood. “This measure,” the mayor explains, “attempts to find a solution to the
discomfort expressed by citizens at smoke, noises and bad smells late into the night.”
The Democratic Party secretary retorts: “the decree is discriminatory”, while for Italia
dei Valori (Idv) Secretary Salvo Ardita, “obscurantism and the persecution of
immigrants go hand in hand: the ghost of the worst kind of fascism comes back again to
haunt these lands.”
Source: Corriere Fiorentino
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