You are not a true Italian, you are a black African

[N.O.R.F]

Bad news for Peacenow. He will never be accepted.

 

Stuck in the dark ages

John Leicester

 

Mario Balotelli endures abuse that no 19-year-old should suffer – for no other reason than because he is black. There is the graffiti on walls leading to the San Siro, where the Inter Milan striker plays.

 

“Non sei un vero Italiano, sei un Africano nero,” it says. Translation: “You are not a true Italian, you are a black African.”

 

There are the unprintable racist chants and vicious boos he hears when he plays, and which live on even after matches are over in videos on the Internet.

 

There was the time in Rome last June when, his sister says, hooligans threatened him and hurled a bunch of bananas into the bar where Balotelli was relaxing with fellow players from Italy’s Under 21 squad, prompting the owner to call the police.

 

And what have the Italian league done in response to the insults he regularly faces? Unbelievably, they slapped Balotelli with a €7,000 (Dh37,000) fine last week.

 

“It’s like the world is upside down,” Cristina Balotelli says. “It’s ridiculous, and I think my brother just doesn’t want to think about it because he is so disgusted.”

 

In a fairer world, all you would need to know about Balotelli is that he is young, gifted, quick, muscular, scores goals and is nicknamed “Super Mario”. He joined Inter in 2006.

 

He made his first-team debut in December of the following year, aged just 17, as a late substitute in a 2-0 win against Cagliari. Two days after that, he scored twice in a 4-1 crushing of Reggina. With 23 goals in 68 games, a call-up to Italy’s national squad may not be far off.

 

But the racists do not see Balotelli’s skills, just the colour of his skin. Even when Inter are not playing, he has been targeted for abuse. Prosecutors in France are investigating taunts about Balotelli that Juventus supporters shouted when the club played French champions Bordeaux in the Champions League last November.

 

Juventus fans again sang racist slurs directed at Balotelli on Wednesday, despite a plea made over Stadio Olimpico’s public address system asking them to stop.

 

Speaking by phone with The Associated Press, Cristina Balotelli said it is a testament to his force of character that her brother manages not to be cowed by the hatred flowing from a vocal minority of “very ignorant people” who “need an enemy and they need someone to curse”.

 

“He gets very upset but then ... he doesn’t think about it any more, this is a strength,” his sister says. “Of course, I know that he is hurt. If he decides to move abroad, it shouldn’t just be because of this. It’s like to run away, it’s like to be defeated.”

 

It is nothing new in Italy. In 2001, when 18-year-old Nigerian forward Schengun Omolade took the field for Treviso, fans hoisted a banner that said, “We don’t want a black player on our team” and then left the stadium.

 

Before that, hooligans in Rome held aloft a large banner aimed at opposing Jewish fans: “Auschwitz Is Your Country; the Ovens Are Your Homes.” In 2005, Ivorian defender Marc Zoro was reduced to tears by racist boos and insults hurled at him by Inter supporters.

 

There have been modest fines, bans and threats from up high that matches could be suspended or that clubs could even be sent down to lower leagues. And yet, as Balotelli knows too well, still it goes on.

 

Deep-rooted racism is not restricted to Italian football – as was shown last week when violent clashes erupted between African crop-pickers and local residents in southern Italy.

 

After those riots, in which dozens were injured, Cristina Balotelli found herself fending off calls from reporters looking for comment from her brother, as if he must have something to say as one of the few high-profile black Italian success stories. That, in itself, suggests how widely Balotelli is marked out for his colour in Italy.

 

“I said, ‘What has my brother got to do with this?”’ she says. “We don’t have black politicians. He became a symbol of too many things.”

 

At times it all becomes too much for the 19-year-old. A week ago in Verona, in a match Inter won thanks to Balotelli’s lone goal, he again heard insults and boos.

 

In response, Balotelli mocked the crowd, ironically applauding when he was substituted and by saying in a post-match TV interview that “the fans are more and more sickening”. The Italian league’s fine followed the next day.

 

If Inter’s subsequent appeal is rejected, then it will be a victory for hooligans. “He just applauded for two seconds,” his brother, Corrado, said. “It’s crazy.”

Stuck in the dark ages

[ailamos]

They can try and try to bring him down but I feel that if Mario stands firm and continues to do what he does best, score goals, then they will eventually see beyond color. I lived in Europe for a while and seen this first hand, especially in Italy and Spain, the one way to combat this as a very close friend of mine said, is to continue to lead a regular life because once it gets to you then you are giving them the victory.

[The Zack]

Expected from Italians but bad news for the mentally-italian Peacenow.

[Nin-Yaaban]

"Peacenow" to jump in and to defend this in 3..2..1..

[Che -Guevara]

Not to play the devil's advocate, how do think Europeans should react with such large influx of immigrants into their countries?

[Johnny B]

^So Norf just found out that there is racism in Italy and rides on the very IT to both tease Mr peaceNow and counter his Self-criticism as a Noble Somali man?!

 

You could've teased him way better by mentioning the Romans diden't like black Romans .

[Naden]

Many Italians are die-hard racial supremacists. If they indeed have a decent majority that disapproves of this hooligan behaviour, they would have addressed it already. Young Mario will be better served going to another country where he would be appreciated. Demagoguery should not be rewarded.

[Johnny B]

^from where i come from .. it's considered being racist using terms like "svartkalle" or ( blackhead ) against the Italians , Spanish, Greeks,Arabs etc etc.

 

Italians and their "caza d'italia" are at the forefront against racism here.

[Naden]

^ Yes, they do suffer a fair amount of racist abuse. I had an Italian classmate who raged at Scandinavians for their haughty attitude towards Mediterranean folks

[5]

Originally posted by Naden:

Young Mario will be better served going to another country where he would be appreciated.

Like America, they like winners

[Chocolate and Honey]

Of all the nationalities ee aduunka jooga, who wants to be Italian bal?

[Naden]

^ They sure do. Gave that Beckham a quarter billion only to have him park his injured body on a bench. They could have had 40 Marios for that amount

[Chocolate and Honey]

Beckham is an eye candy, realy. As long as he struts his stuff in Hollywood, the Americans has no objections. That anorexic wife of his, now thats another matter all together.

[Che -Guevara]

Amazing, qofba qofbaa huus udhugta!

[Peacenow]

Well you can laugh. But once the British have sick of you creating Londonistan and worshipping the arab. Where will you go?

Perhaps to Italy. I have always said it is not easy to live here. Yoh cannot open your mouth here. You must grin and bear it.

All the more reason to develop Somalia. So we can all go back.