Racism, a delicate and difficult topic to deal with. Andrea Valpondi interviews Anass Miftah on the point.
How easy has it been for you to integrate in the Italian reality?
Well, having been born in Italy I have also been always equal to Italians, even if I have Moroccan origins. Penetrating the Italian reality has been easy, automatic. I have always been myself in front of the others. During my infancy I have integrated among my friends without problems. They have always been respectful in my comparisons without ever marginalizing me for my values, and in fact I still think of them as brothers for me. Also growing up I have always gotten along with new people – this it is due to having the same mentality of the Italian people, obviously combined with my own values which are more in some respects and less in others. Therefore it is normal that I integrate easily among Italians.
What do you think about racism and its diffusion?
I think that Italy is a magnificent country for the characteristics that it has and the people that live here. I think that racism is mainly due to a closed and ignorant mentality of the people which is handed down or passed on with the wrong reasonings. I think that sometimes it is correct to be angry with foreigners or immigrants because of some of their bad behaviour or actions. But the problem is that automatically all people who are of the same origin or colour are to blame, not just the guilty people. Everyone should be based on their own merits. I finally think that racism should be fought in the correct way and to help people to understand that racism is ignorance, it’s unfair and it is very wrong.
Surely you will have experienced racial episodes, how have you faced them?
Yes, obviously, that has often happened to me especially as I have got older. I have had a number of episodes of racism without motive, and many times I have to admit that I have answered with insults and at times, even with my hands. These episodes have happened when I have had ignorant people in front of me who wanted to pick on me using racist insults and rather than just stand still and take it, I have reacted to defend myself, my honour, my dignity. The ugly thing is that these words, when they are said to a weak person who doesn’t react, can seriously hurt and could create many problems. In fact it has even resulted in the suicide of a victim of racial abuse. Despite this I think that the majority of Italians are indeed good people.
Is your feeling that these things, especially in the area of Bergamo, is better or worse in your opinion?
I think that the situation is calming down although not entirely because many isolated episodes are still verified: racial attacks, rape, racial violence from and against immigrants – all of which leads to more racism. The best thing to be done is to try to eliminate entirely the racism from the roots with the correct education to the future generation even if it is a very difficult thing to achieve. At the same time it is important to give to people coming from another culture or background and perhaps with little or no education at least a brief education on some of the important values of Italy and the Italian culture – to avoid misunderstandings from the beginning.
Andrea Valpondi e Anass Miftah, 4 A Tecnico
