Monday, February 09, 2015

Italian senators rule that describing a black person as an orangutan 'isn't racist'

Italy's deputy Senate president describing a black minister as an "orangutan" does not amount to racism, senators have decided. Roberto Calderoli sparked outrage in July 2013 with his comments about Cecile Kyenge, then Italy’s integration minister: He said: “When I see Kyenge I can’t help but think of an orangutan.”



A member of the far-right Northern League (Lega Nord) party, Calderoli refused a call from Italy’s sitting prime minister, Enrico Letta, to step down and the deputy senate president has remained in his post ever since. His “I’m not racist” position has now won the backing of senators, who ruled that the orangutan comment does not amount to racial hate. The move was supported by Kyenge’s Democratic Party (PD), with only the Five Star Movement (M5S) opposing.

Kyenge, who lost her ministerial position when Matteo Renzi became premier a year ago, said she was “surprised” and “sad” about the ruling. While she had forgiven Calderoli for the slur, Kyenge worried about the broader impact of the Senate decision: “If a person who represents the institutions can insult anybody, I ask: who protects the weak [members of society] in this country?



"It’s creating a very dangerous precedent.” Far-right politicians are “taking advantage of the [economic] crisis”, capitalizing on citizens’ fear and “looking for someone to blame”, Kyenge said. “A lot of parties are consciously doing this to divide society. I regret the lack of courage of the political class and the institutions,” she added.

4 comments:

Gareth said...

Why does the rest of the world take Italian politicians seriously? The events of recent years show the majority of them have less credibility than nepotistic despots in some banana republic.

Anonymous said...

Great picture of the senator.

Ratz said...

As long as I'm not using a term pejoratively, I have no time for political correctness or whatever is the current fad is.. but damn, even I wouldn't call someone that.

Taylor Bara said...

Do you know who rules in essay writing services field? This service https://paperwriter4me.com/research-paper-for-sale. It is truly amazing!