Writing assignment # 2 -

The race tension in the southern part of Italy is a very big issue today for Italians. Being an American, I knew that I would somewhat understand the issue simply because of my experience in studying the racial and immigration tension between the US and Mexico border. The issues in Italy are similar and related, but in my opinion, on a different level in terms of the racial tensions. In what I have researched, heard, and read about the racial tensions, Italians seem to have less of a concern to be “politically correct.” Umberto Bossi, who is Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s “Minister of Devolution,” has been known to have strong opinions against immigrants as well as non-Italians in general. He has been quoted saying that the inhabitants of the Italian Po Valley are the “chosen and pure race.” (Steinberg) Bossi has also held protest marches against Islamic beliefs, and immigrants of Arab origin. In his fight against immigrants, Bossi has also been spoken out against, “Muslim invadors and common criminals from the third world.” (Steinberg) This is just one example of a lot of people who are hesitant towards integration in Italy, and encourage racism.
As far as the general feeling of racism goes, I know that it is evident in all parts of the world. I see it firsthand in America, and despise it. However, I recognize that it exists. The problem that I am experiencing here in Italy, and the reason why I feel like it’s on a different level than the US, is because the racial tension is growing. The immigration in the south and all over Italy is increasing, further escalating racist beliefs. Additionally, because of the public racism by political leaders, I feel like it is not as big of a deal to be racist in Italy. This information and interpretation cannot be valid coming from me unless I talked to an Italian person to make sure that what I have heard and studied is actually true. My quest for a friendly Italian who wanted to talk about race issues was not entirely successful. I have a hard time walking up to random strangers and asking if they want to talk, especially in a foreign country where I don’t speak the language. Parli Inglese? This is pretty much all I could say to people. The homeless guy on the corner was not any help, and neither were most of the people I talked to in stores around Campo dei Fiori, because they were either busy or it seemed they did not want to talk to an American student. Regardless, I was able to finally find a great source for firsthand information: Federica Bianchi, my Italian teacher.
We got to talking about the race riots, and at first Fede seemed as if she did not want to discuss the topic. Her first comment was simply that racism does exist in Italy. Perfect, I thought, it is true! Not that that is a good thing, but my thinking from our conversation was that what I heard from the media, and my interpretations that racism was very evident in Italy were entirely true. The scale of racism is hard to determine, or even compare to America, but because of Fede’s first comment, I know it is a very concerning and obvious issue. Fede explained how she did not like the fact that a lot of people she knew and other Italians she sees are openly racist. She recognized that Italians are this way, and does not like that at all. Some issues we discussed that are important in understanding the race tensions are the jobs in the south. Many immigrants are taking jobs in the south that have bad work conditions and very poor pay. Italians are angry that the immigrants are taking these jobs, even though the majority of the complaints come from people that would never work those types of jobs even if they had to. Part of the reason for this problem is the current lack of jobs in Italy.
One of Fede’s comments that especially intrigued me was that she thought differently than a lot of Italians on race issues. While most Italians would get mad at these immigrants for taking their jobs, Fede recognized that they should be thanking the immigrants and be grateful because they are working the jobs that the Italians will not. Her opinion could be very different from those living in the southern part of Italy, however, where immigrants are way more evident. This is because in the south, the working and living conditions are inherently worse than other parts of the country. It is very possible that the Italians would in fact work in the jobs that they are protesting the immigrants work for.
Fede admitted to the fact that she could see racial tension growing in Italy, especially in the last few years. She thinks this is partly due to the increased immigration, but also the results of the increased immigration. This increase has raised security and awareness at the borders, which in the past have not necessarily been that big of an issue. She stated that Italy was never that strict about their immigration and border policy until recent years.
My conversation with Fede was extremely helpful in my understanding of the racial tensions in Italy. I am glad I interviewed someone I could have a good dialogue with, because my communication barrier would most likely have resulted in me not understanding exactly what the interviewee was trying to say. I will end with a quote from musician Kanye West, “Racism still alive they just be concealing it.” It is no secret that racism still exists in our world today. Hearing firsthand accounts from an Italian about racial issues in a “free” foreign county is very interesting to me because it cements in my mind that this is a fight everywhere, maybe even more-so in this country than my own. The first step is recognizing the problem, but even greater than that, the second step is to realize that something needs to be done, and in talking to Fede, I feel that she realizes this too.



Bibliography.
Steinberg, Stefan. “Racist Vomit from Italy’s PM Berlusconi.” World Socialist Web Site. 29 Septem 2001. < http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/sep2001/ital-s29.shtml>