Veiled problems
0 viewsFirst, I want to say that I know one or two Muslim men, and they are nice blokes. One, our ex-appartment caretaker was a family man, of Egyptian origin. I don’t know how devout he was, but his wife dressed traditionally, although she did not wear a veil, so I suppose they were both practicing Muslims. Anyway, this chap was very pleasant and friendly and had a very gentle and unassuming character and certainly did not conjure up any images of being a potential suicide bomber or anything terrible like that. The other Muslim I know is under thirty, single and has his own transport business - well, one van so far, but I imagine he will expand when he is ready. Also Egyptian, this chap seems so spend a lot of time renewing his residency permit, permesso di soggiorno. He too, is a very pleasant chap. He is not devout, but does respect Ramadan.
At the moment in Italy, the subject of banning the wearing of veils is being discussed by the government. Now, I’m not wholly against, as I once was, I’ll admit, the wearing of veils, but banning them completely does seem too extreme a solution to a situation which possibly would never have arisen if it were not for 9/11 etc. There must be better ways for encouraging integration. Perhaps some simple form of induction course for immigrants, great and small, should be implemented in order to help immigrants understand a little about Italian culture (This would have been useful for me too). After all, it only seems reasonable to me that if you want to live in another country then you should make some effort to fit in with the locals or ‘when in Rome do as the Romans do’ to coin a particularly apt expression.
Societies are becoming, or have become multi-cultural and multi-denominational nowadays, so perhaps something could also be done at school to help youngsters of all backgrounds to understand those about them.
It is a shame that the actions of minorities seem to have such a negative effect on majorities, but that does seem to be life, alas.
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I think you are making an assumption that you cannot make. You assume that the immigrants want to integrate instead of just expanding their own culture.
I have seen, particularly with the Senegalesi and Nigeriani, those that want to integrate do so quickly and without pushing their ways on the Italians. Others expect the Italians, in Italy, to become Nigeriani.
Hi David,
Yes, your are right - I am assuming that people actually want to integrate - at least to a certain extent - I’m not saying ’stop being what you are because you are in Italy’.
Of course those who have no intention of fitting in just make things difficult for everyone - so more effort should be made to ensure people do try to integrate. Effort is required on both sides, those already resident and the new faces. However, I still have the feeling that immigrants, especially those who are not white, are not really welcome. As usual, nothing is simple…..
Some really want to integrate. I Filippini have become an important part of Italian society and some people of all countries really do try but many do not. Look at the Quartiere Cinese in Milan which has now taken over Via Montello, or the Islamic city in Padova which built a wall around the block to keep the “bad influences” of Italian society out.
It is true that some people really do want to integrate and that others do not. Sometimes non-integration does not cause any real problems - I live near the Chinese quarter of Milan which is Paolo Sarpi - and I have to say that the Chinese keep to themselves and do not cause any real problems socially. The Chinese have not really integrated, but they are a lot less vocal than the Muslim elements who have set up their own school, for example, in what seems to me to be an obvious attempt to avoid integration. In my opinion if you want to live in another country you need to make some attempt to integrate, if not, why change countries? Or why not head for an country which has a similar culture to your place of origin - so you don’t really need to bother or worry about integrating. On the other hand, if you really do want to keep your identity and your religion etc, then why not do it in private and a few low level concessions in public, such as not wearing full veil?
There is a wonderful, and quite old, film called ‘East is east’ and it is about an Indian or Pakistani family in the UK and how some elements of the family integrated, whereas others did not. However, in the UK the lack of integration is perhaps understandable in some cases when you consider the open opposition of many British people to those with non-white faces. If people go around making nasty comments about you all the time, then you are not exactly going to want to become integrated. Having said this, open opposition to non-European immigrants is not that evident in Italy -especially when such people can be used as cheap labour.
It’s a bit too late now, but perhaps, with hindsight, it would have been a good idea for the politicos to have prepared their citizens for the influx of non-Italians/Britons. Maybe with some education barriers can be broken down and this can make the process of accepting people from other countries a little easier.
It’s time we stopped seeing each other as black or white or Muslim or Catholic or whatever and began seeing each other as human beings. Yes, this is a Utopian concept, but if you aim high, you have a higher chance of scoring high, but if you aim low, you probably won’t get any result worth shouting about.
I’ve said enough.