Mural vandalized in Italy | “Italianness” at the heart of the debates

As anti-immigration riots make waves in England, an act of vandalism is bringing racism to the forefront in Italy. In Rome, a mural of Paola Egonu, a volleyball player of Nigerian descent whose prowess won Italy gold at the Paris Games, was vandalized. Her ebony skin was “bleached,” repainted a pale pink.

What happened?

On Monday, Roman artist Laika whipped up a mural in honor of Paola Egonu, who scored a third of her team’s points in the volleyball final against the United States at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.

The words RACISM STOP were written on a balloon and the fresco was named Italianness. This was a reference to comments by a former Italian general, Roberto Vannacci, now a member of parliament for the far-right League party, who said on Sunday that Mr.^me Egonu does not represent “Italianness”.

The mural, located in front of the headquarters of the Italian National Olympic Committee, was immediately vandalized. The anti-racist slogan was covered in white and M’s black skin was^me Egonu, covered in pale pink. The mural was restored on Tuesday.

What was the public reaction?

“No one defended the vandal, neither on the right nor on the left,” says Maurizio Ambrosini, a sociologist of migration at the University of Milan.

Far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has not commented on the case, but her right-hand man Ignazio La Russa, co-founder of their Brothers of Italy party, denounced “sinister and stupid racism”.

Veneto Governor Luca Zaia, a League bonze, condemned the vandalism and declared the region’s “pride” in M^me Egonu, who grew up there.

Even General Vannacci deplored the “outrage to reality” committed by the vandal, before explaining his gesture by those who “modify traditions” by promoting multiculturalism.

Is this an isolated event or a sign that identity riots are also possible in Italy?

“Italians are a people of the least drama,” says Mr. Ambrosini, who has published several books on Italian ambivalence toward immigrants. “For once, a stereotype is true. We don’t have a lot of large-scale organized violence against immigrants, ransacking mosques or stores. Violence against immigrants is the work of individuals or small groups, and it’s pretty rare.”

He cites as a counter-example an event in Calabria in 2009, when African immigrants were beaten up by the ‘Ndrangheta, a mafia. “They were employed in the fields in slave conditions and revolted, the ‘Ndrangheta cracked down.” They were paid 15 euros a day, according to Italian media.

Who is Paola Egonu?

Born in 1998 to immigrant parents from Nigeria, she grew up in Veneto and has been a volleyball star since her teens. This has earned her a certain notoriety. Last year, she co-hosted the famous Sanremo pop festival, where she compared racism to different colored glasses.

“Most people choose clear glass, but in a colored glass the water tastes the same.”

The Meloni government often targets immigration. Why?

“It’s a lack of mathematical knowledge,” says Maurizio Ambrosini. “The number of immigrants in Italy has been stable for ten years, at 5.5 million. There is much talk of refugees, but there are only half a million. Meanwhile, the Meloni government wants to increase the number of temporary immigrants in the industrial and agricultural sectors. There will be 500,000 over three years, as many as the number of refugees.”

There are currently 870,000 children with at least one parent of foreign origin in Italian schools, and 30,000 in universities. “Often, after graduation, they do what educated young Italians do: they go to work abroad because there are no opportunities here,” says Ambrosini.

He notes that some of these children are born to couples formed by an older Italian man and a younger foreign woman, who represent 75% of these unions. “The average age difference is 12 years.”

Is it possible to file a complaint for racial discrimination in Italy?

In theory, yes, but it is very rare, according to Mr. Ambrosini. “There are very few individual lawsuits for discrimination at work or in housing,” although the phenomenon is widespread in Italy. “Unions and municipalities do not support this type of approach because if there are fewer jobs for foreigners, there are more for native Italians,” adds the sociologist.

Immigrant advocacy groups, for their part, focus on combating administrative discrimination, such as municipal regulations limiting access to social housing or daycare to people who have lived in a city for more than ten years.

“The only place where there is an organized fight against racism is in soccer stadiums,” Ambrosini said. “Violent fans are often racist and their activities are tightly controlled.”