Italy, it’s time to confront your own rampant racism

In the narrative about the ongoing protests in the US, once again our media has failed to acknowledge Italians of colour who are fighting for local racial justice. If people working in the Italian media perceive American racism as quite distant from Italian society, it is because journalism in Italy is an almost-white industry.

To engage in a conversation about race if one is white and therefore has never endured racism, is pretty ambitious (to put it politely).

Transnational protests were brushed off as demonstrations in solidarity with Black America, #BlackLivesMatter, while Italian people of colour are also protesting for our everyday struggles with endemic racism.

In Milan, a huge crowd gathered in front of the central station. Some people were carrying placards with names: Idy Diene, Emmanuel Chidi Namdi, Assane Diallo, Soumalia Sacko and many others – all victims of home-grown racism.

Some people have asked me if the Italian media’s coverage of George Floyd’s death could have a long-term impact on the way that race is addressed in Italy. I am sceptical.

Of course, I can’t help but hope that this moment and this reaction will encourage a more public and honest conversation about racial issues in Italy. But this is still a country where openly racist politicians are invited by journalists on to TV shows to share their undemocratic views for the sake of “freedom of speech”.

For example, you can’t wipe overnight the memory of Gianluca Buonanno, an Italian MP (from the far-right Northern League), describing Romani people as “the scum of society”, just because a handful of Italian reporters are covering the death of George Floyd and its aftermath in America. Certainly, I can’t.

*Nadeesha Uyangoda’s book, The only black person in the room, comes out in 2021 with the publisher 66thand2nd.

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