Keeping up to date with Italian politics is demanding. They have a new government every time you look. Italy has sworn in seven different prime ministers since November 2011. The latest is Giorgia Meloni. The snap election which saw her take office was held last September; she is the first woman to hold the position in Italy’s history.
I was made aware of her by several videos circulating on social media. Shared by mostly Africans, Meloni spoke on African people crossing the Mediterranean Sea heading for European countries, of which Italy—given its geographic location—has been one.
Recorded before becoming prime minister, the then Member of Parliament was seen strongly asserting France’s colonial legacy in Africa. Meloni railed on the economic stranglehold the French maintain on the continent, and why Prime Minister of France, Emmanuel Macron, should focus on resolving those historical and contemporary issues instead of lecturing Italy about how she’s dealing with the humanity arriving on her shores.
[Dunking on France can be done by anyone who owns a history book. If you’re European and want to go viral within the African community, read about what France has done to Africa, find a camera, and speak with conviction. It will spread like wildfire. I’m tempted to explore the psychology of why, but I’ll suppress the compulsion.]
Meloni has the beginning of a point. French imperialism, colonialism, and neo-colonialism are obvious factors in the exodus of thousands. Were that relationship ameliorated, migration to Europe would likely decrease. The logic holds. My issue is the statements were not intended to build solidarity with African people, nor did they display an understanding of the colonial relationship many European countries—not just France, and including Italy—have with Africa.
Leader of the populist, right-wing political party Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy), Meloni’s mission is making sure Italy remains “Italian” in the ethnic sense. Her political development can be traced to Movimento Sociale Italiano (the Italian Social Movement), a party started in 1947 by disciples of Benito Mussolini.
Forgive me if I can’t find my mustard seed. Meloni understands Africa has been wrecked by countries like France (and Italy) but shows little compassion towards those wanting to escape the imposition and interference. In fact, she uses the unwanted status of Africans in Italy to gain power.
Chico Harlan and Stefano Pitrelli of the Washington Post write:
Immigration still strikes a chord with many right-leaning voters in Italy, who feel their country has received scant help from Europe in handling the burden of accommodating and integrating new arrivals. A surge of asylum seekers and refugees in 2015 and 2016 turned migration for several years into a political touchstone and helped spark a nationalist movement across Europe.
Though Meloni’s party didn’t immediately benefit from those sentiments, she later siphoned votes from a rival Italian far-right group, the League, that soared in part because of the immigration backlash.
The conductor of Meloni’s premiership is Silvio Berlusconi. The former Italian head of state and AC Milan owner (who now has his hands on newly-promoted Monza) orchestrates an alliance of right-wing parties he founded in 1994 called the coalizione di centro-destra (centre-right coalition). The 2022 general election was their first victory since 2008, when Berlusconi himself took the reins of power.
Once the 86-year-old’s massive media empire is accounted for, Berlusconi is perhaps the most powerful person in Italy, and was arguably the most influential figure in Italian football for over 30 years. His conservative and nationalist influence over Italy’s politics, media, and football cannot be understated.
This interests me primarily because of the so-called “migrant crisis” and its trajectory since the elimination of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, but secondarily—and for our purposes here—because of what feels like weekly incidents of racism occurring inside Italy’s football stadia.
The most recent, high-profile occurrence was between Leece and Lazio on January 4th. Lazio away supporters abused Leece’s Samuel Umtiti and Lameck Banda throughout the match, causing the game to be stopped in the second half. Despite his team winning, Umtiti broke down into tears after the final whistle.
Lazio responded with a message condemning racism, saying they have “always fought against all forms of racism and discrimination with all the means at its disposal.” Considering the widely-known reputation of Lazio ultras, one wonders what exactly those means are; Lazio and racism have been synonymous with each other since I started watching club football.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino offered his solution: "May the huge majority of fans, who are good people, stand up to shut up all the racists once and for all." Infantino sees a Disney movie, where a crowd disarms the bad guys with cheering, the camera fades to black, and we think all is right with the world. Real life doesn’t operate with scripts.
Individualism won’t be enough to oust the reputation of overseeing leagues where Africans are abused. The good of one person does not negate the bad of another. There are people in football grounds willing to demean Black footballers, and take every opportunity to do so. They may be a minority in willingness and perhaps ideology, but they aren’t the acoustic minority. It seems racists speak loudly, and “good people” whisper their condemnation.
The most efficient response is Lega Serie A, the Italian Football Federation, and Italy’s government joining forces to create sanctions, levy fines, dock points, and prosecute racist actors caught inside the country’s football grounds. In other words, use state and institutional power to quell the energy of bigots.
There is one problem, which the beginning of this essay tries to outline: Italy’s current government and overarching political ideology has been dominated for decades by those who can not, do not, or will not challenge the behaviour of racists; the anti-African sentiments found in Italian football stadiums are a more virulent form of the same anti-African sentiment found in Italian politics.
You don’t get one without the other.
[The ultimate irony being if Mario Balotelli is produced via migration, he is Italian long enough to be used by the national team. If Lamont Marcell Jacobs is produced via migration, he is Italian long enough to win a gold medal. If Ghali Amdouni is produced via migration, he is Italian long enough to press play on Spotify. Space is always made or manufactured for the exceptional.]
I don’t imagine the current government intervening in the affairs of those abusing African footballers, when the same government risks boats of African migrants sinking by diverting their already-precarious course to France as a point of political expediency. Politicians don’t prosecute members of their base.
Racism in Italian football is unfortunately commonplace; some would lay blame at the feet of the individuals, some the clubs, some the leagues, others the football federation, maybe even the government. I suggest compartmentalising is the issue. The ideology causing someone to think it proper and opportune to abuse Banda and Umtiti is present and apparent at each level.
We often confuse behaviour as the disease, instead of it being a symptom. Racist chants are a cough, but not the virus itself. Behaviour can be treated and disincentivised, but if the racist, fascist, and xenophobic beliefs generating that behaviour aren’t addressed, you’ve only pressed pause. A two-hour ceasefire on anti-African sentiment every week doesn’t help the people in boats on the Mediterranean. If anything, it harms them by giving Italy the unearned appearance of progressivism.
The treatment is not easy, nor quick, but it is known: Political education and organization to combat the far-right ideology rife in Italian society—which invariably and necessarily cascades from the terrace to the pitch. 🎯