Italians are not racists. And to tell the truth, they can never be racists. History, geography but above all the founding act of the Italian identity says it.
What is the “Italian race”?
If we ask ourselves if there is an “Italian race” – a question that probably no Italian even feels the need to ask – the answer is definitely not. While the rest of the world is divided on a racial basis, this has happened in Italy in very few cases, the most striking of which found its climax in the unfortunate racial laws of 1938, which however constitutes an exception to the fantamillenaria Italian history.
Every Italian is the result of so many mestizos that all the races of the world are in their blood.
The story: Italians are not racists
Italy has hosted migrations from all over the world since forgotten eras. In ancient times, the Greeks made their colonies prosper in the South, the Celts settled in the north prosperous settlements. The Roman Empire transformed Italy into a great blender in which all the peoples of the Mediterranean, of the Middle East, were mixed, not to mention the barbarians of conquered continental Europe.
The Middle Ages was another time when barbarians and Romans, Armenians, Jews, Arabs, Byzantines and even Mongols found in Italy territory in which to sprout their blood. But the Germanic, French, Hispanic dominations in Italy lasted until unity, bringing with them endless family plots. Who in the 1900s found a continuation in tourists and tourists who ended up staying to marry Italians. Or think of the Italians in South America: we remain Italian, even after generations, not by race but by culture.
The relationship with the Jews
Let’s think about the case of the Jewish people. While it has experienced bloody repressions in Spain, in the Arab world, in Russia still in the 1800s and in Germany no later than a century ago, in Italy – with the exception of the aforementioned racial laws – it has experienced a peaceful and very often fruitful coexistence that lasts since Roman times. Indeed, the grafting of Jewish blood into the flow of Italian blood is such that many of our surnames are of Jewish origin.
Actuality
In the United States and many other parts of the world there is a racism emergency. On the other hand, in the 19th century, slavery based on race still existed in America. Which never happened in Italy, not even in the times of the Roman Empire. And while this is happening, and while anti-Semitism is growing in France and a bit all over Europe, Italy continues to welcome migrants from all over the world (even beyond the threshold of common sense) rejected by other European countries. In short, the Italians are not racists even today.
Italians will be able to say many things. But if they say they are racists, we know where to get the answer started.