Italy's first black minister is target of racist attacks

Started by Syt, July 15, 2013, 03:46:22 PM

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Syt

July 15, 2013, 03:46:22 PM
Keep it classy, Italy. :rolleyes:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23310837

QuoteItaly racism row: Cecile Kyenge compared to orangutan

An Italian senator has been pressured into apologising after he said the country's first black cabinet minister reminded him of an orangutan.

Roberto Calderoli, from the anti-immigration Northern League, told a rally that the success of Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge encouraged "illegal immigrants" to come to Italy.

Ms Kyenge is an Italian citizen born in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It is the latest in a series of rows over racism in Italy.

"I love animals - bears and wolves, as everyone knows - but when I see the pictures of Kyenge I cannot but think of, even if I'm not saying she is one, the features of an orangutan," Mr Calderoli said in a speech to a rally in the northern city of Treviso on Saturday.

He also said Ms Kyenge should be a minister "in her own country".

'Beyond all limits'
Mr Calderoli's words ignited a storm of criticism on social media and from political leaders.

Prime Minister Enrico Letta said the comments went "beyond all limits" and he offered "full solidarity and support to Cecile".

At first Mr Calderoli offered only a qualified apology, saying his words were part of a larger debate about immigration.

But by Sunday evening, he told the Italian news agency Ansa that he had called Ms Kyenge himself to apologise.

Ms Kyenge is a Congolese-born doctor who has lived in Italy since 1983.

The Northern League has expelled a local politician who suggested on Facebook that someone should rape Ms Kyenge so that she "can understand what victims of atrocious crimes feel".

And a Northern League member of the European Parliament was expelled from his party grouping after he said Ms Kyenge wanted to impose "tribal traditions" in Italy.



And:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Noose-protest-against-Italys-first-black-minister-Cecile-Kyenge/articleshow/21087304.cms

QuoteItalian police on Monday were investigating far-right militants suspected of hanging nooses to protest Italy's first black minister Cecile Kyenge, two days after a senator compared her to an orangutan.

The nooses appeared on lampposts with posters signed by far-right group Forza Nuova in the city of Pescara, where the minister for integration was visiting for a conference on immigration and citizenship.

"Immigration, the noose of the people!" read one of the slogans on the posters. Another said: "Everyone should live in their own country".
I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops.
—Stephen Jay Gould

Proud owner of 42 Zoupa Points.

citizen k

#1
July 15, 2013, 05:16:53 PM
Quote from: Syt on July 15, 2013, 03:46:22 PM
Keep it classy, Italy. :rolleyes:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23310837

And:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Noose-protest-against-Italys-first-black-minister-Cecile-Kyenge/articleshow/21087304.cms

Quote

"Immigration, the noose of the people!" read one of the slogans on the posters. Another said: "Everyone should live in their own country".

That's rich considering all the WOPs that have moved to the New World.

The Larch

#2
July 15, 2013, 05:31:10 PM
It's the Lega Nord, the trollest of all troll political parties. Their utter rudeness and lack of any tact whatsoever is like a badge of honour for them.

derspiess

#3
July 15, 2013, 05:58:51 PM
Well, he said he was sorry.  Jeez...
"If you can play a guitar and harmonica at the same time, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, you're a genius. But make that extra bit of effort and strap some cymbals to your knees, suddenly people want to get the hell away from you."  --Rich Hall

The Larch

#4
July 15, 2013, 06:15:52 PM
Quote from: derspiess on July 15, 2013, 05:58:51 PM
Well, he said he was sorry.  Jeez...

It was a BS apology.

derspiess

#6
July 15, 2013, 06:35:29 PM
Quote from: The Larch on July 15, 2013, 06:15:52 PM
Quote from: derspiess on July 15, 2013, 05:58:51 PM
Well, he said he was sorry.  Jeez...

It was a BS apology.

And mine was a BS post ;)
"If you can play a guitar and harmonica at the same time, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, you're a genius. But make that extra bit of effort and strap some cymbals to your knees, suddenly people want to get the hell away from you."  --Rich Hall

Phillip V

#7
July 15, 2013, 06:45:39 PM
What is the job description/purpose of a "minister for integration"?

Sheilbh

#8
July 15, 2013, 06:50:08 PM
Quote from: Phillip V on July 15, 2013, 06:45:39 PM
What is the job description/purpose of a "minister for integration"?
I imagine they're responsible for the various programs to support integrating immigrants.
Let's bomb Russia!

Phillip V

#9
July 15, 2013, 06:55:10 PM
Are her mixed-race daughters attractive?

katmai

#10
July 15, 2013, 08:17:09 PM
Quote from: derspiess on July 15, 2013, 06:35:29 PM
Quote from: The Larch on July 15, 2013, 06:15:52 PM
Quote from: derspiess on July 15, 2013, 05:58:51 PM
Well, he said he was sorry.  Jeez...

It was a BS apology.

And mine was a BS post ;)

Uh aren't all your posts BS, so no need to clarify.
Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son

The Larch

#11
July 15, 2013, 08:28:56 PM
Quote from: Sheilbh on July 15, 2013, 06:50:08 PM
Quote from: Phillip V on July 15, 2013, 06:45:39 PM
What is the job description/purpose of a "minister for integration"?
I imagine they're responsible for the various programs to support integrating immigrants.

IIRC her main activity is drafting a new citizenship law that would automatically give Italian citizenship to Italian born children of inmigrant parents, which the Lega Nord is die hard against. For instance Mario Balotelli, born in Palermo to two Ghanaian (IIRC) inmigrants was only allowed to get Italian nationality when he turned 18.

derspiess

#12
July 15, 2013, 08:31:17 PM
Quote from: katmai on July 15, 2013, 08:17:09 PM
Quote from: derspiess on July 15, 2013, 06:35:29 PM
Quote from: The Larch on July 15, 2013, 06:15:52 PM
Quote from: derspiess on July 15, 2013, 05:58:51 PM
Well, he said he was sorry.  Jeez...

It was a BS apology.

And mine was a BS post ;)

Uh aren't all your posts BS, so no need to clarify.

Words hurt :(
"If you can play a guitar and harmonica at the same time, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, you're a genius. But make that extra bit of effort and strap some cymbals to your knees, suddenly people want to get the hell away from you."  --Rich Hall

Admiral Yi

#13
July 15, 2013, 08:37:57 PM
Quote from: The Larch on July 15, 2013, 08:28:56 PM
IIRC her main activity is drafting a new citizenship law that would automatically give Italian citizenship to Italian born children of inmigrant parents, which the Lega Nord is die hard against. For instance Mario Balotelli, born in Palermo to two Ghanaian (IIRC) inmigrants was only allowed to get Italian nationality when he turned 18.

After she's done do they abolish the position?

The Larch

#14
July 15, 2013, 08:59:21 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 15, 2013, 08:37:57 PM
Quote from: The Larch on July 15, 2013, 08:28:56 PM
IIRC her main activity is drafting a new citizenship law that would automatically give Italian citizenship to Italian born children of inmigrant parents, which the Lega Nord is die hard against. For instance Mario Balotelli, born in Palermo to two Ghanaian (IIRC) inmigrants was only allowed to get Italian nationality when he turned 18.

After she's done do they abolish the position?

Why should they? It's not as if integration is magically achieved once citizenship is awarded. I only said that was currently her main project and the one from which she's drawing so much heat from reactionary racist bastards like the Lega Nord.
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