The march against racism was very successful yesterday. But there really is a racist danger in Italy? Indeed, behind the demand for legality and the fears of out-of-control migratory flows there is a wave of xenophobia? Attentive observer of Italian politics and son of the only land immune to racism, Sicily («Racism is a disease for blonde people»), Pietrangelo Buttafuoco has his own idea about the Milan demonstration.
Which?
«It's called “induced attention”. It's that phenomenon where from the moment you decide to buy a Vespa, you see Wasps everywhere. And if you want to move house, you see “For sale” everywhere. He studies psychology. In politics, through refined propaganda mechanisms – and be careful: mirrored, that is, used both by those who ride the fear of others and by those who denounce racism – it means bringing people's interest to something that has always been happening, to which, however, no one until then had given a particular meaning".
And which now becomes greedy political material.
«It's been thirty years, or more, that people are dying in the Mediterranean. I remember them as a boy, on the beaches of Sicily, the beached fishing boats with writings in Arabic. But no one said anything. Apart from Andrea Camilleri. On purpose: he wrote the story of Montalbano and the migrants three years ago, then now it is broadcast on Rai and the anti-racist propaganda machine arrives to spark the controversy. But read Davide Enia, Notes for a shipwreck, and see how long people have been dying in the sea of ​​Lampedusa… But then there were no Savianos, the Veronese, the Albinati to write articles and books about it, there were no links to Che tempo che fa…»
And why today yes?
«Because Salvini is in government. Before there was no enemy to blame for all this. It's irresistible marketing: who does not yearn for the halo of goodness? The anti-racist kulturkampf has now taken the place of the declamatory anti-mafia. Having no other way to defeat the DC, at a certain point it was made the headquarters of the Cosa Nostra. Wanting to hurry up and extinguish Salvini, he is labeled racist, or the most abject thing there could be. It is a shortcut of dialectics. It's called criminalization.".
But does the danger of racism exist or not?
«But the insults, the writings, the discomfort for those who are not part of your community have always been there in contexts – how to say? – “colorful”. Today it happens with African migrants. Until the 70s with the southerners. Yet at the time I didn't see the big newspapers pointing fingers, scandalized, against those who put signs "Southerners don't enter here" in Turin premises. We always pretended nothing happened. But now that the enemy is unbeatable, electorally, we need to demonize it".
In Milan, in the front row were the candidates for the secretariat of the Democratic Party, Sala, Boldrini, Landini…
«One might think that they are paid by Salvini. The more they use this mechanism of anti-racist propaganda, the more the League grows in consensus. And yet it's funny: think about all the poppies of Forza Italia who are now champions of politically correct behavior who would have liked to be there but can't…».
This is your malice. The fact remains that Salvini brings together a Left that is otherwise divided on everything.
«They evoke the nightmare of racism in order to apply the equation Salvini equals Nazi. But only because they have no other strong arguments.".
In the European elections, the numbers from yesterday's march will translate into votes?
"I do not believe. Yesterday's parade in Milan is once again the showcase of the hegemonic minority that perpetuates its challenge to the silent majority through the criminalization of its opponent".
Those who marched are convinced they are on the right side.
«Of course. It's as if they were telling you: “Tu, Salvini… Tu, what votes binds… you will also win the elections, you will also be in government, but you're a Nazi". It serves to disqualify the political opponent and to intimidate public opinion. And to feel, precisely, on the right side".
And you, Which side are you on??
"You see, among the Buttafuocos, there are colored ones. We are of mixed blood, we are half-breeds, moreover, Sicily is a hair's breadth from Africa, from the Balkans and Asia and think how the stork could get confused. Everything that ends up on the front page today – written, insults, bumps and burps- for us it has always been on the agenda. All lived with holy patience and common sense. Perhaps because Salvini was not at the Viminale, prima? When it happened to us, all of this, era pax in multicolor?».
source – http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/politica/macch-rischio-razzismo-solo-propaganda-che-fa-crescere-1655602.html?mobile_detect=false