The Italian government ordered an investigation on Wednesday
into slurs on right-wing websites against the country’s first black minister, a
case that has put Italy’s racial problems back in the spotlight. Cecile Kyenge,
an eye doctor and Congo-born Italian citizen, was named integration minister in
the new government of Prime Minister Enrico Letta last Saturday. She is one of
seven women in the government.
Since then, she has been the subject of taunts not only on
neo-Fascist websites but was also the butt of race-tinged remarks by a
politician of the Northern League, which has been allied in the past with
former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Equal opportunities minister Josefa
Idem ordered an investigation by the National Anti-Discrimination Office into websites,
which called Kyenge a “Congolese monkey,” “Zulu,” “the black anti-Italian,” and
other slurs.
“I am doing this in my capacity as new minister for equal
opportunities but above all as a woman,” said Idem, 49, who is German-born but,
like Kyenge, married an Italian man and took Italian citizenship. She said the
slurs that appeared on some far-right websites violated laws prohibiting
“instigation of racial hatred” and asked police to shut them down.
On Tuesday, Northern League European Parliamentarian Mario
Borghezio caused a political stir when, in a reference to Kyenge, called
Letta’s coalition a “bonga bonga government”. Speaking on a radio program, he
said Kyenge wanted to “impose tribal traditions” in Italy, and that Africans
had “not produced great genes”.
Lower house speaker Laura Boldrini condemned what she called
“racist vulgarities” on websites and by “a politician”. Members of his party
also criticized Borghezio, who has made controversial comments against
immigrants in the past. Manuela del Lago, a League candidate for mayor of
Verona, said she was “absolutely disgusted” by Borghezio’s comments.
Kyenge has said she wants legislation – which the League
strongly opposes – that would allow children born in Italy to immigrant parents
to get automatic citizenship instead of waiting until they are 18 to apply.
Italy, a country that gave millions of immigrants to the world in the 19th and
20th centuries, has had difficulties welcoming citizens from other countries
who come seeking work. In a statement posted on the club’s website, he called
Kyenge’s appointment as minister “another great step forward towards an Italian
society that is more civil, more responsible and aware of the need for a better
and definitive integration”.
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