Why are there so many racists in Italy? In Germany, where racism is severe, immigrants use a lot of racist expressions. But in Italy, many Italian locals use it. Is it a matter of education? Young children, middle-aged people, grandfathers, all of them are racist. Is there a problem with the Italian xy chromosome?

Question

francescoghg · Accepted Answer

@seemt the topic of generalisation is dear to me, so I'm sorry if I sounded "triggered" :) Not necessarily towards men, but in general (ironically). Once again, sorry this was your experience and I hope you'll find a better place to live, or stay in Italy.

Anywho, Italian racism/xenophobia is a difficult topic, because there is no point in trying to hide it. Italy is a deeply conservative country with many cultural issues. We're a gate between regions (Africa and the Balcans), we've experienced several invasions during our history, which could point in the direction of the "fear of the different". I'm not at all trying to justify any sh*tty behaviour, just trying to understand it from a historical/cultural point of view. And in any case, I wouldn't have the answer neither the means to fix anything (reason why I just left Italy because I didn't vibe that well with the culture).

francescoghg · Answer

I'm really sorry this has been your experience, but as an Italian man I can't help but feel like asking you not to generalise so much. It really depends on the people you hang out with or spend time with, I hope you'll manage to find good friends with whom you can start changing your mind.

It is unfortunately true that Italy doesn't shine for it's education in terms or racism and xenophobia. Hopefully things will change, but it'll take generations (just look at the current racist government). I'm curious though: what do you mean with the comparison with Germany ? It sounds like you're saying it's ok for foreigners to be racist but not for the locals ?

PS. it's definitely not an issue of XY chromosomes and what not. Culture affects and intoxicates everyone regardless of sex. I'm sure there are toxic behaviours in your culture just like anywhere else.

francescoghg · Answer

@Studioilcoreano complimenti per il benaltrismo.

francescoghg · Answer

@Studioilcoreano ma non è necessariamente ipocrisia. Ora, non sappiamo se l'autrice del post sia la peggio razzista in Corea, ma il punto è che, a detta sua, ha subito degli episodi di razzismo in Italia e ne è rimasta turbata. Che senso ha dirle che esiste il razzismo anche in Corea ? Sarebbe come rispondere alla ragazza di cui hai postato tu con un "eh però anche in Italia menate i neri / stuprate gli Asiatici, quindi non fare l'ipocrita e accetta un po' di razzismo Coreano". Il benaltrismo è parlare di altri problemi ma non risolverne nessuno (con o senza malizia).

Studioilcoreano · Answer

How about your people towards caucasians?

Studioilcoreano · Answer

@francescoghg Scusami, non sopporto l'ipocrisia

Studioilcoreano · Answer

@francescoghg No, quello che voglio dire è che pensi ai suoi problemi prima di criticare gli altri, che di razzismo ce n'è dappertutto. E a dirla tutta, con questo suo post è lei quella razzista visto che sta generalizzando su un intero Paese. In più sembra che abbia un problema specialmente con gli uomini

Kureij_Inoshishi · Answer

It's hard to say that Italians are really racist. The concept of "race" is already difficult to understand. Perhaps better to think of "ethnicity". However, there is no Italian "race". As mentioned by @francescoghg  , Italy has been invaded numerous times in its history. The Roman Empire consisted of North Africa, part of the Middle East and almost all of Europe, everyone could go to Rome. Even today the oldest community in Rome is the Jewish one. In the Middle Ages, people from Scandinavia arrived in Italy. Southern Italy has been under French control for centuries. Sicily and Sardinia under Spanish control. Northern Italy was invaded by the Austrian Empire until 1850. There is no "Italian face", yes we still have a 98% "caucasian" appearance and some stereotypes still exist (see actor Franco Arca). We have light or dark skin, we have dark or blond hair, blue or black eyes, we are 185cm or 155cm tall. I have grey/green eyes and I'm 178cm with white skin. My cousin is 168cm tall and he has darker skin than me but he has blue eyes. My aunt has brown eyes like my grandparents. My grandfather was taller than me. However, in the last two centuries Italy has been a country of emigrants (typically we went to Germany! Belgium, USA, England), so we are not used to immigrants as Germany is used to. Furthermore, the phenomenon of immigration in Italy is relatively new, just the last 20 years. During these 20 years people arrived from North Africa, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Pakistan, India and China. Foreigners in Italy are about 9% of the population, but looking at the population under 40 foreigners become almost 15%. Furthermore, foreigners are not equally divided on our territory, about 80% live in Northern Italy (the richest). My opinion is that in Italy there is a lot of "stress". We are like a "pressure cooker". My country is not as rich as some believe. There is a strong "polarization" of wealth. There are too few rich people and too many who are too poor. So there is FEAR and fear brings IGNORANCE and ignorance brings BIAS. Some foreigners in Italy behave badly, obviously not all. We are very welcoming people but we also love that our culture is respected. Chinese are famous for working illegally and bringing other Chinese illegally. Often police arrest chinese for exploiting Pakistanis and Africans. In my city prostitutes are almost all asian women (probably chinese, maybe Filipino). My two japanese friends are often mistaken for prostitutes at late night if they walk alone. Groups of Africans control drugs (imported by Italians). Eastern European people are sometimes very violent. Those who come from the Middle East can be orthodox Muslims and this is not compatible with our culture (Catholic and liberal). Obviously in Italy we already had many problems, we have never been like Germany (rich and industrious); today's problems with immigrants have been added to yesterday's problems. It would be nice if we could all live holding hands singing and dancing but unfortunately the nature of people is also this. There are people who prefer to blame others. The path of hate is the easiest to take. I've recently noticed that sons of immigrants in Italy tend to be more "racist", perhaps it's due to the lack of integration, I don't know. Maybe it's just because they want to feel different or because they don't accept the society they live in.. i mean it's a typical youth problem.

Kureij_Inoshishi · Answer

@paoloM81 Hai ragione anche te, tuttavia ha fatto una "domanda generica" è giusto anche rispondere, ognuno come pensa. Se solo lui/lei sapesse cosa dicono alcuni giapponesi dei koreani o dei vietnamiti. La gente con i pregiudizi esiste ovunque e penso che ce ne sia più di quella che si pensa.

Kureij_Inoshishi · Answer

@seemt My personal opinion is.. it will get worse and worse.. but i'm just a "crazy boar".. so you don't have to listen to me.
Hope is the last to die. But.. 희망에 매달려 사는 사람은 단식을 하며 죽을 것이다.🤪

.내 사랑 잘자요 🤣🤣🤣

Kureij_Inoshishi · Answer

@seemt Anyway I'd like to know if your opinion comes from something you've read about Italy, something you've heard, or an episode you've personally experienced.
I don't like statistics because can easily be contested but here https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2019-being-black-in-the-eu-summary_it.pdf 
says that "racist" episodes are similar in germany and italy. The most intolerant seems the peaceful Finland.

As I said the statistics are often dubious.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/slideshows/worst-countries-for-racial-equality?slide=12
Here Korea rank fourth.
Speaking of the episode of "Studioilcoreano" (I mean it's a cat-fight between women) it doesn't surprise me, I've been to korea only once but what I saw during the night was: harassing people, drunks, a lot of violent and rude women and also a lot of homeless people, especially the elderly. I might think that korea is a dangerous place with serious social problems but I would have to live there for years to be sure.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-racist-countries
Here is 9th. Do you think Korea is racist?

paoloM81 · Answer

Sono un maschio italiano quindi portatore di cromosoma xy, uno di quelli che hai appena insultato insomma. Questa app è fatta per conoscere le lingue e avere scambi culturali, non per sfogare la propria frustrazione per una battuta sentita al bar pincopallo dallo scemo del paese

paoloM81 · Answer

@Kureij_Inoshishi scusa ma tu ti ritieni razzista? In particolare verso gli asiatici? Ti sta bene essere identificato come italiano=razzista? Adesso immagina uno straniero che si interessa al nostro paese e legge queste cose, che tipo di opinione dovrebbe avere? Ma seriamente date credito a una domanda del genere?

Sono un maschio italiano quindi portatore di cromosoma xy, uno di quelli che hai appena insultato insomma. Questa app è fatta per conoscere le lingue e avere scambi culturali, non per sfogare la propria frustrazione per una battuta sentita al bar pincopallo dallo scemo del paese

@paoloM81 Hai ragione anche te, tuttavia ha fatto una "domanda generica" è giusto anche rispondere, ognuno come pensa. Se solo lui/lei sapesse cosa dicono alcuni giapponesi dei koreani o dei vietnamiti. La gente con i pregiudizi esiste ovunque e penso che ce ne sia più di quella che si pensa.

@seemt My personal opinion is.. it will get worse and worse.. but i'm just a "crazy boar".. so you don't have to listen to me.Hope is the last to die. But.. 희망에 매달려 사는 사람은 단식을 하며 죽을 것이다.🤪.내 사랑 잘자요 🤣🤣🤣

How about your people towards caucasians?

@Studioilcoreano complimenti per il benaltrismo.

@francescoghg Scusami, non sopporto l'ipocrisia

@seemt My personal opinion is.. it will get worse and worse.. but i'm just a "crazy boar".. so you don't have to listen to me.
Hope is the last to die. But.. 희망에 매달려 사는 사람은 단식을 하며 죽을 것이다.🤪

.내 사랑 잘자요 🤣🤣🤣