About the changelessness in this country

Almost three years ago when I arrived to Italy as an incoming Erasmus student I was astonished by Verona’s charming beauty and the multiculturalism of its certain districts. I never expected that those five months would become such a decisive period of my life and honestly, I never thought that I would learn that much from people from other cultural backgrounds. Sharing a flat with some Arabian students at the university residence was a turning point which opened my eyes for a diverse understanding of the world. Driven by the experience gained in Verona, I wrote my thesis on Italy’s Muslim community and their struggle for recognition. In that paper I strived to depict the new Italian reality, the recent changes of its society but also the difficulties of the so called new Italians, their social exclusion and the discriminatory acts against them. 

As I ever wanted to return to Italy I capitalized on the chance given by the European Voluntary Sevice (EVS) and two years later I re-entered to the Italian soil. This time I found myself in the financial and industrial capital of Lombardy, the rainy-greyish, multicultural Milan where I am assisting the work of a sport-related association primarily dealing with immigrants. Nevertheless, two years passed since my first Italian experience, many of the things did not change in this country and there are even some which seemingly worsened. The manifestations of racism and excluding attitudes did not vanish from the political/public discourse and after the first black Italian minister, Cècile Kyenge, stepped into the scene these seem to became even more explicit and common.

These days the case of Calderoli and Kyenge gets the main attention in the Italian media, as the vice-president of the Italian Senate, the Lega Nord member Roberto Calderoli  paralleled Mrs. Kyenge to an orang-utan. According to the vice-president his statement was only a little joke and it does not have to do anything with racism. Though many public figures called him to step back from his position, sticking to his opinion he did not even thought of resigning. In relation to this case, up to this date nothing happened apart from a dishonest apologise. No resignation, no sanctions from the Senate, no real consequences. And this is what represents the best the changelessness of the things in this country. Despite of the slow progress in the field of social inclusion the general attitudes towards the new Italians continue to be based on the same old prejudices. In this changelessness the role of leading politicians is unquestionable: it would be a mistake to think that they are not in position to shape the general attitudes towards ethnic/religious minorities. Unfortunately, it’s always those with less intellectual capacity and sense of responsibility whose words can attract bigger public attention.

Looking at the happenings from a broader prospect, there’s one thing that every European has to keep in his/her mind. This is the fact that the world around us is changing way too fast and it’s never enough to emphasize that this century will pose some serious challenges for the old continent and those ones who are unable to adopt will face serious difficulties. While some European countries with opened societies of an inclusive attitude (some say they are even too opened) are on the way to easily adopt to these new challenges, others unfortunately are lagging behind. In this regard the Southern and Eastern part of the continent can be paralleled where many of the citizens are still inclined to prejudices or even racially discriminatory attitudes. In the dawn of the 21th century, neglecting the progress of a rapdily changing world, not being able to accept the new realties and sticking to eroded, conservative attitudes are just as backward as completely forgetting about the tradition and the roots of a culture. And in the roots of the European tradition the concept of 'Libertè, Egalitè, Fraternitè' prevails, just in the contrary to the recent manifestations of racism and exclusion.