Chronicles of ordinary racism 2011 - Cronache di ordinario razzismo

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inexperienced intern but by an influential political expert, of considerable renown, gives an idea of how deep‐rooted, almost commonplace, racist discourse has in fact become. Racist nuances It is, in actual fact, doubtful that stigmatizing and racist rhetoric has ever been truly criticised and deconstructed in Italy, except perhaps by a minority consisting of a few scholars, some excellent journalists (some writing for the most important publications), a certain number of anti‐racist activists and some specialised media outlets. Also worthy of note is the space given over to the issues of racism and of the general living conditions of immigrants by Italian cinema in recent years. 5 Even though in some productions we still find traces of the “good‐hearted Italian” myth, this filmography undeniably bears witness to the fact that at last, at least in this department, a more positive portrayal of the events linked to immigration begins to emerge. We also find, contributing to this trend, certain mainstream TV and newspaper formats, for example the enquiries of “Repubblica‐L’Espresso”. 6 In this regard, from the very start of the fourth Berlusconi government, the newspaper edited by Ezio Mauro shows itself to be more scrupulous in reporting racist and discriminatory acts. As with other mainstream newspapers, however, sloppiness and lack of discernement are widespread when the articles are not the work of knowledgeable and informed journalists such as Spinelli, Stefano Rodotà or Chiara Saraceno, to name but a few. Indeed, almost as if immigration were a new phenomenon in Italy, the newspapers, with few exceptions, seem unable to correctly name and distinguish when they are dealing with “aliens” to whom even the generic qualification of nationality is often denied, only to be replaced by the asymmetrical and patronizing “ethnicity”. Thus, even in the most authoritative newspapers, it is not unusual to come accross disgraceful expressions such as “individuals of Latin‐American ethnicity” or “illegal immigrants of Chinese ethnicity”. News reports in major publications also yeild gems such as “three North Africans, or rather two Egyptians and one Ivorian” 7 or “North Africans, that is Nigerians” 8 : proof of the fact that similar inaccuracies do not stem from intentional spite, but from sheer ignorance. Similarly enduring seem to be the euphemistic description of detention centres as “reception centres” and the over‐use of the term “clandestini (illegal or 5 More than ten productions dealing with issues of immigration and racism were presented at the 68th Venice International Film Festival (2011). Among them Terraferma by Emanuele Crialese that was awarded the special jury prize. 6 In this article, by ‘media’ we mean newspapers and online media only (the author, through personal choice, does not watch television). 7 Milano, ucciso 19enne egiziano. Dopo la rissa è rivolta nelle strade (Milan, Egyptian of 19 killed. Riots in the streets after the scuffle), “Corriere della Sera”, 14 February 2010: http://milano.corriere.it/milano/notizie/cronaca/10_febbraio_13/milano-nordafricano-uccisocoltellate1602458972870.shtml 8 Francesco Viviano, Massacrati a bastonate mentre urlavano per uscire, sono morti come topi, (clubbed to death while screaming to be let out: they died like mice) “la Repubblica”, 2 August 2011, p. 13. Before and after writing about the “15 metre-long boat, which set sail from Tripoli and became a tomb for 25 Northern Africans”, the journalist reports, in the same article, the eye-witness accounts of two Nigerian citizens, one, the brother of one of the victims and another, one of the few survivors. 8
clandestine)”, loaded with negative connotations, even when referring to refugees or asylum seekers. 9 Even the derisory phrase “vu’ cumprà” (‘do you want to buy’, a common nickname for street vendors, mostly of Senegalese or Bangladeshi origin, which plays on the grammatically incorrect construction) has made a comeback – if it ever actually fell out of use ‐ repeated by press agencies, newspapers and “progressive” politicians. 10 Indeed, the phrase has taken on an even more insulting meaning, for it has extended its remit from foreign street vendors to become synonymous of immigrants from outside the EU: 11 all of them, even the iron foundry workers. As we have mentioned elsewhere 12 , the persistent bad habit of putting a label on people, of describing “others” in a mocking, disparaging or patronizing tone, reveals how a large proportion of the media and of Italian citizens ‐ even though they themselves are descended from ours, ritals, macaronis, dagos, katzelmacher, babis, cristos, used as nicknames for Italians who emigrated to France, Germany etc. – still perceive immigrants and those belonging to ethnic minorities (especially Roma and Sinti) as an amorphous and homogeneous mass of beggars, individuals at the edge of society or delinquents, belonging to a different “species” compared to other citizens. This is, among other things, a sign that the general public has not yet accepted – or even acknowledged – that our country is, and has been for at least thirty years now, an immigration hub, and as such is characterized by a complex and varied plurality of cultures, faiths, customs and lifestyles. This denial, present in other European countries as well, is furthermore linked to a distorted perception of reality. Let us consider an example. According to the 2010 survey, Transatlantic Trends: Immigration, the general public, almost everywhere in Europe, perceives immigration more as a problem than an opportunity and believes the percentage of migrants residing in their country to be much higher than the official statistics would have them believe. In Italy, however, this twisted perception seems to 9 Both are present, for example, in the article of Alberto Custodero and Corrado Zunino Guerriglia nei Cie, è strategia della violenza, (Warfare in the Cie centers: strategy of violence) “la Repubblica”, 3 August 2011, p. 15. As well as the alarmist title, hypocritically placed in inverted commas, the article yeilds other peearls of wisdom: Cie centers are designated more than once as “reception centers” and even the asylum seekers who live in the Cara (Reception center for asylum seekers) are described as “clandestine” The following day, Salvatore Aloise reports synthetically and impeccably in “Le Monde” about the rioting: he never uses the word “clandestine” (the headline mentions “migrants”) and correctly distinguishes between “centres de retention” and “centres d’accueil pour demandeurs d’asile”. 10 An Ansa bullettin dated 18 April 2011 went under this heading: Protesta venditori souvenir contro vu’ cumprà (souvenir dealers’ protest against vu’ cumprà). On the same day “Il Gazzettino” reports that Massimo Cacciari interviewed on the issue has just been heard to state: “they do not bother me: every Italian city is full of vu’ cumprà”. For its part, repubblica.it in an article of 28 August 2011 used “vu’ cumprà” in reporting about a praiseworthy act performed by some migrants: the voluntary cleaning of some streets in Naples: http://tv.repubblica.it/edizione/napoli/napoli-i-vu-cumpra-diventano-spazzini/74899/73261ref=HREV-5 11 An Ansa bullettin dated 7 September 2011 reports that Prosecutor of Savona, Francantonio Granero, signs a ruling inviting judiciary police officers to refrain from using the word “extracomunitario” (non-EU citizen) in crime notifications and substituting it with the term “cittadino straniero” (foreign citizen)”. Who knows if journalists will ever conform to this wise suggestion. 12 Cf. among the latest works: A. Rivera, Regole e roghi. Metamorfosi del razzismo, (rules and pyres. The metamorphosis of racism) Dedalo 2009; id., La Bella, la Bestia e l’Umano. Sessismo e razzismo, senza escludere lo specismo, (The beauty, the Beast and the Human. Sexism and racism, not to mention specism) Ediesse 2010; id., Razzismo di lotta e di governo, (Militant and government Racism) in “MicroMega”, 1/2011: Berlusconismo e fascismo (1). 9
Page 1 and 2: Chronicles of Ordinary Racism Secon
Page 3 and 4: Introduction The global economic cr
Page 5 and 6: vote in administrative elections to
Page 7: aforementioned article, and in two
Page 11 and 12: platitude, which Beppe Grillo 17 al
Page 13 and 14: petrol from his employer. We are no
Page 15 and 16: By contrast, this trend makes it al
Page 17 and 18: By riding this wave of emergency, t
Page 19 and 20: at dawn, the workforce marketplace
Page 21 and 22: substandard schools which offered f
Page 23 and 24: account only those immigrants regul
Page 25 and 26: Institutional racism in the welfare
Page 27 and 28: esponding to discriminatory behavio
Page 29 and 30: For example, the Caritas Dossier es
Page 31 and 32: Reception buckles under the weight
Page 33 and 34: eception process and to allocate fu
Page 35 and 36: with no access to public transporta
Page 37 and 38: The plan pursues three main aims -
Page 39 and 40: extend do people realise that recep
Page 41 and 42: The country of forced evictions (an
Page 43 and 44: Corato explained his rate of evicti
Page 45 and 46: Lazio. 104 With three Protezione Ci
Page 47 and 48: The second innovation is contained
Page 49 and 50: special fund for initiatives to imp
Page 51 and 52: and on the eradication of the princ
Page 53 and 54: hapless native who feels like a str
Page 55 and 56: The assessment of oral production a
Page 57 and 58: (a) It is not reliable because crea
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(e) points out that there is no emp
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The future of citizenship and parti
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However, some of the events of the
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To begin with the familiar, with co
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you look at it, against) foreigners
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3. Law 94/2009 The following year a
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words, this law introduces a new ta
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declaring a domestic relationship t
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The European Court of Justice 189 ,
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Discrimination and access to the we
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The municipality of Brescia, not we
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would not be viable, if we agree th
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enefits, as established by art 12 o
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The Court in Brescia declared, in f
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SECTION 3 IMMIGRANTS AND THE MEDIA
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Public safety remains the main fram
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than a half of the immigrants detai
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and children die and cause indignat
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immigrants, particularly Muslims, i
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law. A boom in honour killings (16
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The Rosarno riots Grazia Naletto Ro
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Many immigrants chose to leave imme
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document the living conditions that
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ensuring equal opportunities for al
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(applause); she lashes out against
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The death of Maricica Hahaianu Graz
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when the Romanian women’s husband
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in the same settlement witnessed th
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of the national press, member of a
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each of maritime law. The case is e
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19 August 2011 A boat with 111 Tuni
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echoes, in the headlines themselves
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to waive the guarantees placed on f
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discrimination. 315 In 41.1% of cas
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Instances of racist discrimination
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Perpetrators of acts of discriminat
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An 360° view Paola Andrisani This
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private organizations against forei
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were, proved inadequate in the vast
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Roma community, Jewish or Muslim in
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Unfortunately, this is not an isola
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Facebook: racism on the web Paola A
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“gypsy”. Yet another example is
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although the theory that his death
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national press did not grant these
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children die in the fire that consu
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inevitable. Immediately after the e
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“Gypsyville” and the other new
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Pisapia become mayor of Milan. The
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“Forced overboard” in Montagnan
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the deceased”. The words of the v
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21 July 2009 Naples (NA), Campania
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30 July 2009 Mantua (MN), Lombardy
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Ali Shadadi (37) is a Congolese cit
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10 September 2009 Milan (MI), Lomba
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dei Sardi. “We were resting in ou
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concussion, while his three friends
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3 December 2009 Teramo (TE), Abruzz
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Among the housing requirements, the
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long standing in Villa d’Ogna”.
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The EveryOne group reports an assau
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8 March 2010 Ventimiglia (IM), Ligu
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countrymen. After two days, this ho
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The A Buon Diritto association publ
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After an animated discussion at a c
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As the flames start to spread the t
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Niang Boubacar, 42, a Senegalese tr
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3 September 2010 Zelo Surrigone (MI
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contracts have already been signed
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questioning, the young man confesse
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A young north African woman arrives
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the needy is a good deed, discrimin
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2011 1 January 2011 Mestre (VE), Ve
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22 January 2011 Naples (NA), Campan
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council Danilo Narduzzi, Italian wo
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two youths approach her, grab hold
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house immigrants in northern region
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with whistles, shouts and racist in
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23 April 2011 Rome (RM), Lazio The
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a minaret. ‘We’ve gone for a st
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Islamic centre, at a rally held by
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that’s left for the two Senegales
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20 June 2011 Casarano (LE), Puglia
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houses, belonging to simple people,
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A few days after the Constitutional
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shouting ‘nigger, bl‐‐dy nigg
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Chronicles of ordinary racism 2011 - Cronache di ordinario razzismo

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