While the US has had its share of race-related social issues in recent days, nothing compares to Italy where not only was the country's first black minister (of integration!) of Congolese origin, Cecile Kyenge, compared to an orangutan [7]two days ago by Roberto Calderoli, vice president of Italy's Senate and a senior parliamentarian in the anti-immigration Northern League, but following a visit to the city of Pescara she was met with a "protest" where nooses were hung from lammposts.
And just so the message was not lost, "he nooses appeared on lampposts with posters signed by far-right group Forza Nuova: "Immigration, the noose of the people!" read one of the slogans on the posters. Another said: "Everyone should live in their own country." Nothing like Italy, whose economy has been ravaged by the worst depression in decades, developing its own Golden Dawn movement to really help with integration issues and globalized worker mobility.
From AFP [8]:
Kyenge, who is of Congolese origin, has called for a reform of Italian law to make it easier for children born to immigrant parents to acquire citizenship.
Prime Minister Enrico Letta called for an end to the insults against Kyenge, saying this was a "shameful chapter" for Italy and could lead to a "major clash".
Ever since being named to the cabinet in April, Kyenge has faced a barrage of abuse - particularly from members of the anti-immigration Northern League party.
Northern League MEP Mario Borghezio said her nomination was "bloody stupid" and that she had "a face like a housewife", while one local party activist said the minister should be raped in a vicious Facebook rant about crimes committed by immigrants.
Northern League senator Roberto Calderoli, who has courted controversy for years with a series of racist, sexist and Islamophobic jibes, on Saturday said: "When I see pictures of Kyenge, I cannot help thinking of similarities with an orangutan".
In an interview with La Repubblica daily out on Monday, Calderoli then claimed that he had animalistic comparisons for all the ministers, including ones who looked like a frog, a peacock and a St Bernard's dog.
Letta on Monday said Calderoli's remarks were "unacceptable" and called on Northern League leader Roberto Maroni to put an end to the attacks by his party members "as quickly as possible".
Calderoli is deputy speaker of the Senate and there have been calls for his resignation from centre-left lawmakers and anti-racism campaigners.
Ah, zee political stabeeleetee. Then again, with the "untouchable Don" Mario Draghi, whose own past is checkered beyond comaprison in charge of Europe, courtesy of the Goldman Sachs immunity, not even race war breaking out in Europe will make a dent on the ECB's intentions to centrally plan the future of the continent using peripheral bond yields for the long to very long term future.
And not surprisingly, courtesy of precisely such social distractions, it is the "Mario Draghis" of the world, not to mention Italy's far more "deserving" politicians, that have so far completely avoided even one noose on even one lammpost in all their Gulfstream-chartered, taxpayer-funded jaunts around the world.