06/04/2009 / ITALY
It was very
different when I arrived in the early eighties. In those times there were less
than 10,000 foreigners in the country. There really wasn't a culture of
diversity like there was already in France
and the UK.
The only kind of problem I had was curiosity - ‘what is Senegal?' Nothing hostile. It was in the 1990s that
things started to change. In 1989 a group of African refugees were killed in Naples. In 1992 the
Northern League was born. And the more numerous the immigrants became, the more
numerous the racists became. In 1993 I was attacked by a gang in broad daylight,
telling me to go back where I came from. Luckily some passers-by called the
police and I was saved.
Beaten to death for a packet of biscuits...and because he was black
In September last year, 19-year-old African-born Abdul Salam Guibre was beaten to death with metal poles by a shopkeeper and his son. Accused of merely stealing a packet of biscuits, the incident reignited the debate over racism in the country. Now, CCTV footage of the event has been revealed.
Burkina Faso-born Guibre had lived in Italy almost his entire life. Early on the morning of 14 September last year, Guibre entered a shop with two friends. Accounts differ, but it is thought that Guibre was accused of pick-pocketing a packet of biscuits by shopkeepers 51-year-old Fausto Cristofoli and Daniele Cristofol, 31, (their lawyers say the pair believed that the group had stolen their float as well). A dispute then broke out between the group and witnesses reported that the pair shouted "thieving niggers" and other racist insults as they attacked Guibre. He fell into a come and died a few hours later.
The trial is set to open on April 21. Yet prosecutors are unlikely to claim the attack was racially motivated since the video footage taken by a surveillance camera and produced during the trial was mute. The attackers have been accused of murder and face a prison sentence of up to 30 years. They could see their jail term reduced to just a third of that, however, after they asked to be tried via an shorter procedure (Rito abbreviato), thereby forgoing the possibility of an appeal.
Contributors
The CCTV footage
WARNING: Some of these images may be disturbing.
Guibre (red dot) is tracked by the shopkeepers. At 1:12 there's a close-up of the attack. The footage was originally published on Affaritaliani.
"The more numerous the immigrants became, the more numerous the racists became"
Aly Baba Faye is a sociology teacher originally from Senegal. He moved to Italy at the age of 22 and has lived in Rome for 25 years.
It was very
different when I arrived in the early eighties. In those times there were less
than 10,000 foreigners in the country. There really wasn't a culture of
diversity like there was already in France
and the UK.
The only kind of problem I had was curiosity - ‘what is Senegal?' Nothing hostile. It was in the 1990s that
things started to change. In 1989 a group of African refugees were killed in Naples. In 1992 the
Northern League was born. And the more numerous the immigrants became, the more
numerous the racists became. In 1993 I was attacked by a gang in broad daylight,
telling me to go back where I came from. Luckily some passers-by called the
police and I was saved.
There are other things. The way people look at you and mutter about you on the bus or train, as though you're dangerous. That would never have happened in the eighties. Now if you want to rent a house, you'll get a viewing appointment over the phone alright, but as soon as you get there and they see you're black, you'll either get told ‘it's already gone' or quite simply ‘the neighbours don't want to live next to foreigners'. It's become quite normal for people to admit they're ‘anti-foreign' and talk about it freely. They don't differentiate between migrants and nationals with foreign parents. Abba [Guibre] was Italian, he lived here all his life.
In most countries you have to pay for a crime against an immigrant. In Italy, there's the mafia, there's the Vatican. Laws are bent, and in any case you're forgiven by god. ‘Va bene' they'll say. Two days after the march for Abba's murder [7,000 staged protests in Milan], they were already saying ‘life goes on'."
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Comments
I saw the vdeo and it broke
Submitted by Rodney Howard Browne (not verified) on Sat, 18/04/2009 - 10:10.I saw the vdeo and it broke my heart.
Unregistered user
Racism the challenge for Black and White
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Tue, 07/04/2009 - 17:37.the origin of racism might be class based ,
because many black people are poor.
the reason why the africans might have more difficulties to rent a place might be, because:
1- they often end up inviting friends to live with them and share the rent.
2- they often do not pay the rent on time or even skip paying.
Racism is not limited to white people,
white asians and black have racist minorities.
racism is very present in europe from italy to france to uk to russia....
but also racism is even more present in africa, and it's even more savage than the european racism, in africa many black people have created a ritual around the racist behavior like:
1- hunting the albinos for their skin and bones.
2- killing and looting many foreign communities.
so if i have to classify the racism level
from most racist to least racist communities:
1- blacks (most racist)
2- White
3- Asians (chinese ,vietnamese,japanese ... )
4- Arabs and Latinos
5- central asian (the stans)
Unregistered user
Your opinions are exactly how Europe became racist
Submitted by Arab/African from Nigeria (not verified) on Sun, 12/04/2009 - 01:07.Your so called list is utter rubish because it is subjective, comes with no verifiable statistics and is hate propaganda, the very same way Europeans went around the world postulating arbitrarily to be superior when in fact your technology and know how stood on the basis of intellectual contributions from Arabs, Africans, Chinese and Asians...NO RACE IS SUPERIOR...it's all LUCK. The europeans were lucky to have the right technology at the right time but were mere slaves (most of Europe) to the Romans before this relatively recent conquest, and before that Persians ruled, Egyptians ruled and even before that black Africans ruled the world. So spare us your lunancy of an opinion and diversion because BLACKS are not the problem in Europe. You simply have a complex and are afraid...there is medication for such paranoia.
Unregistered user
THE WORST RACIST ARE THE GERMAN,AUSTRIANS,SWISS AS I HAVE NOTICE
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Wed, 08/04/2009 - 00:27.Control everywhere,as long as you are black,embarassment,because we've got the best skin colour,BUT
Let's dont fight evil with evil,if Africa was economically balance,we would'nt have been here,the world changes,let's make our world(africa) to change,think positive,act positive,learn as much as you can,financially,economically,steal as much as you can technologically and let's go back home and make Africa the wonder land.They stole from us,came to us and oppressed us,used us for their development,thought us nothing about their kind of government but made us have one and left us in emptiness and illiteracy,thats one of the reason we are where we are.
God never sleeps,the weak shall be strong,dont give your land up,your sacrifice and mine are needed to raise Africa from the six feet they dig for us,keep steadfast,believe me,we can make it,tell the racist countries like Germany,Austria,etc that our generation is up to learn,to survive and to build the next generation,YES WE CAN
Unregistered user
African from Nigeria
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Tue, 07/04/2009 - 17:53.I wonder where you come from. Black people more racists than whites and Arabs? Are you kidding me? To be honest with you, I would love to see more Black people becoming racists. It is the best way forward for Black race.
[Deleted] This has nothing to do with poverty.Even wealthy Black people are subject to racism in Europe and In the Arabian countries. Look around you and see.
Have a good day
Unregistered user
Re: African from Nigeria
Submitted by Arab/African from Nigeria (not verified) on Sun, 12/04/2009 - 00:42.Racism is born of a complex or weakness and by being racist one seeks to feel better about how they view themselves. Even Arabs are subject to racism in Arab countries (e.g. Palestinian working in Saudi), and black people are subject to racism from other black people in Africa (it's called tribalism) so advocating more racism is simply stating the status quo and maybe adding fuel to the fire. You Nigerian, how do you view "abgero's"? Another food for thought, Why is it hard to be racist against the Japanese? Word is enough for the wise.
Unregistered user
who is more RACIST , just look at the comments
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Wed, 08/04/2009 - 12:12.the majority of comments done by black people on this page are advocating violence towards the white people
while white and other ethnicities are condemning racist behavior in general.
and if white people are so racist why do you come to Europe ? stay in your beloved africa then ...
as for arabs , last time i checked arabs make 1/4 to 1/5 of africa so basically africa is a black + arab continent and not just black continent ;)
personally i think your neighbors the arabs are very good and patient with you black people, having seen what a small quantity of balcks is doing in europe i would not want to be your neighbor.
if germany, italy , spain .... was in africa they probably would have pushed you all the blacks in a small island and besieged you , you are lucky not having us as your neighbors.
more comments
Unregistered user
Are you really complaining about Racism?
Submitted by Proud African from Congo (not verified) on Wed, 08/04/2009 - 17:41.Well,listen to yourself! What you have just said is nothing short of extreme racism. You don't want to be our neighbors? But you have no choice. Read the history of your country with rapport to colonialism.Your stupid parents came to Africa and looted whatever they found to make you live a good life today. Without Africa Europe will be nothing today. It was only though exploitation, looting,stealing and corrupting those ignorant African leaders that Europe managed to make it. The population in Africa has exponentially boom. It is increasingly young, advanturous and fearless. So the less they find jobs in Africa, the more they will come to Europe. Remember, there are millions of White people living in Africa. Can you tell us why they come to Africa? We actually want them out!
You talked about Arabs being Africans? Well, not really, if you ask real Africans. Arabs came from the MidleEast during the 16th century. I will recommend that you read African history book. yWe don't quit recognise them as being Africans. So,imagine those White people who call themselve Africans. This is a long, long, long shot for them! That will never, ever happened! The true of the matter is we Africans are being very patient with all of you. For all these centuries.
Lastly, you want to know why some Africans come to Europe? Well, the true is if you look at it very carefully. Most Africans that come to Europe are the least educated and the poorest in Africa. They cannot make it in Africa, so they venture to other places. However the small group of them go to Europe for education! This is a natural trend and will never stop as long as there is poverty. As the population in Africa continues to boom,the number of those poors Africans will continue to increase in Europe.This is a fact! no one will stop it! Europe can put Walls around itself, it will never stop. So you are stack. The only alternative will be to peacefully and respectfully integrate them into your societies, just the way we have managed to integrate your fellow White here in our continent.Take the case of South Africa. After all these years of Apparteid, we painfully let go the anger and humiliation. We allowed you to live a happy life. We could have retaliated. That was duelly in our right to do so. But, we chosed to let you have a little peace of the paye. If Africans are not treated right and in dignity, you will never be in peace. In the next 30 years you will be dealing with 2 billion Africans next door to you. If you don't change your outlook and learn about African history you will be crashed.
Peace, respect, dignity for Africans or forget it!
Unregistered user
Illegal
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Tue, 07/04/2009 - 22:43.Your comments are shocking and more than that, in France, they are illegal. It is called inciting racial hatred and in addition to being morally reprehensible, and counterproductive to the general advancement of society as a whole, it is against the law. As soon as I can figure out how, I will be reporting your post to the webmaster and hope to see removed.
Unregistered user
[Deleted]
Submitted by South African (not verified) on Wed, 08/04/2009 - 06:09.[Deleted]
It will come time when you will be kick out of South Africa.
Long live to Africa!!!!
Unregistered user
There is nothing White people can do now!
Submitted by Abidjan, Cote D'ivoire (not verified) on Wed, 08/04/2009 - 01:16.You stole from our continent, corrupted our ignorant leaders, attacked our brothers and sisters in your countries, promulgated racism against our Race. Now you want peace? are you kidding me? Your time is up! Africa is changing.
The African youths are angry!!!!! You should cover yourself! Africa is no longer the welcoming place that your racist parents once enjoyed. You will have to deal with our generation now.
Long life to AFRICA!
Have a good day.
Unregistered user
Time is running out for White people!
Submitted by African from Gabon (not verified) on Mon, 06/04/2009 - 21:55.I think Africans should beging to do the same thing. Why do we have to complain about racism? [Deleted]. Since we know how those racists Europeans treat us. This is nothing new. I am calling on the new generation of Africans to beging to think this idea through. If they attack us, we retaliate agianst White poeple in Africa! It is simple as that.
They don't want us in Europe, then we don't want them in Africa. Regardless of what African political ellits say.[Deleted]. Africans attitude has to change.I came to realize that hate against us will not stop [Deleted].
Africa is changing anyway! Our generation think different than our parent's. We see it all over Africa today. Too bad for Europeans and white people. Time is running out for you.
Long life to Africa and to its people!
Unregistered user
as if no africans are not racist
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Tue, 07/04/2009 - 17:18.let's set things first:
1- what happened to the poor guy is bad, very bad.
2- racist is indeed very present in the european continent
3- racist are a minority in every community but unfortunately they are more vocal.
4- racism exist and is widespread in the african continent, in many occasions africans in several countries went after foreigners .... killed and looted them .
Unregistered user
Ghana
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Tue, 07/04/2009 - 18:04.Well, This is what we need actually. [Deleted]
To all young Africans, let not do like our forfathers. We have to fight back to maintain our dignity. (Deleted]. That's simple. Get good education and come back to Africa and begings to act. Let's walk the walk.
People are not born racists, they become one.
African youths, this is our time! Africa is the place of one billion people and will surpass China population in the next 15 years. This is not a joke. This is a man power we should use.
Let's Go.
Unregistered user
I think what we have to do
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Tue, 07/04/2009 - 17:18.I think what we have to do is to work hard and stay in our homeland; no place like home. It's hard for blacks everywhere and i do not know why. I'm black mauritanian, i feel safer, free and confortble been black here in USA than my own contry. I think the worst raciste are white arabes(maures), most of than.
Unregistered user
you are ABSOLUTELY corect !
Submitted by Proud African (not verified) on Tue, 07/04/2009 - 02:26.I agree with you. You are absolutely correct! I am glad to see the younger generation of Africans thinking like this. It is refreshing. We have millions of White people living happily in Africa, it is about time to beging to see that this privilege stop. They don't want us in Europe, let give them hell in Africa. They should start packing.
Unregistered user
Racism
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Tue, 07/04/2009 - 00:52.Let's find peace, Make every effort to live in peace with ALL MEN and to be holy, without holiness no-one will see the Lord . Hebrews 12:14
Unregistered user
Hotep
Submitted by will (not verified) on Wed, 08/04/2009 - 03:22.which lord are you talking about? African Lord or Roman lord? The Bible say Moses I want you to take my people out of Egypt. That means We are not your lord's people. We should adore ours. Hotep.
Unregistered user
I live with more than 120
Submitted by Unregistered user (not verified) on Wed, 08/04/2009 - 11:20.I live with more than 120 nationals,and one day i never segregate them.Thay intsead pretend to know everything than a black could.Mind you i have never been defeated by a white student in my class;and as far my performance is concerned in the fields,none of them has ever satisfied our supervisor.Please,know that blacks are powerful.Only, that the colonisation all our resources were taken to the west and we became your puppets and dogs.I blame so much our fathers.
Unregistered user