The Italian language in Africa.
Africa in the Italian language
Wednesday 3 November 2021
AFRICA IN THE CONSCIENCE OF ITALIANS: OLD AND NEW RACISMS
AFROPHOBIA Old and new racisms
Speaker: Kossi A. Dr. KOMLA-EBRI (40min)
10:00 am - 10:45 pm
Abstract.
Italians support the Black Lives Matter movement born in the United States, yet they are blind to the rampant racism in their society. In Italy there is an "excessive fear" and aversion towards Africans, which the UN and the EU refer to under the term of Afrophobia. A systemic, endemic phenomenon of multiple origins that contributes to creating a negative imaginary about Africa. This view is at the basis of racism in Italy.
In the Italian case in particular, it is important to highlight the legacy, brought to life by today's migratory phenomenon, of a distorted, underestimated, still misunderstood and / or denied colonial past by a large number of Italians.
This perception affects the relationship that Italians have with the children of Africa and stems from a racism, unfortunately often cleared by politicians, which is expressed in the banality of people's everyday language, in micro-aggressions and in hypersexualized approaches towards women.
This paper analyzes the institutional discriminatory situation against Afro descendants, born in immigration, and the clear denial of their full access to citizenship rights that derives from it. It also explores the usual intergenerational conflicts in the African diaspora and the inevitable problems related to the sense of belonging that affect the identity growth of a group of people in a country that still associates skin color with being foreigners.
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