"We are not racists. We are Italian racists. We hate everyone."

8/14/2019 "We are not racists. We are Italian racists. We hate everyone."

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We are notracists.

We are Italian

racists.We hateeverybody.

taly. 28 May 1985.Montecatini Terme. Amagnificent, almost-

summer snug Tuscannightfall. I have just comeup to the intercom at thedoor of the building on ViaManzoni where my vest-pocket studio apartmentis located on the thirdfloor. I hold two pizzas.

One margherita concipolla and a marinara forMaria Luisa. I ring the bellto have Maria Luisa openthe door for me arms-filled and to signal to herthat she can take the coldbeers out of the frig andpour them. I walk up.

I

When I arrive, the door isajar, I see no beers, andMaria Luisaglued to the

TV screenis waving her

hand frantically for me tocome next to her. I putthe pizzas down andmove quickly to her.

Heysel Stadium. Brussels.The Liverpool-Juventusgame has beeninterrupted. To my horror,I see Liverpool fans on thepitch with bats and chains

threateningJuventusaficionados. Maria Luisatells me the sportscasterhas reported that a wallhas collapsed; it isbelieved there are peoplecrushed to death underthe rubble and the feet ofshocked spectators whoare trying to escape in astampede. I cannotbelieve my eyes, and Ihave to remind myself I

am in Europe and not


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Yankee Stadium in NewYork. I am really sad anddepressed. I have nevereven dreamt in all myyears that a spectator

sport might provokeviolence and death. I feelas if I have come upon avery dismal, exceptionallyunbelievable discovery. Iam lost for words. MariaLuisa is practically crying.

Even still more seeminglyimpossible is the fact thatthe game will be playedto its finish! I amdumbfounded. 47 fans

32 of themJuventussupportersare dead. Yetthe show must go on. Iunderstand later on thatthe decision was based onthe thinking that if thegame had not beenplayed out, more violencewould have erupted. I donot agree. I believe we allshould have hung ourheads in shame for the

rest of the night.

The tragic event is finallyover. The television newsprograms begin thelamentable rehashing ofthe nights events asdeath toll verificationscome sadly trickling in.The next morning I willwatch, benumbed, videos(some of themamateurish) of the rescue

efforts to bring to life thetrampled bodies withbroken limbs. It is aghastly sight. I feel thesame I did when I visitedmy men in a field hospitalin Kontum after the battleof Dak To.

It is time to accompanyMaria Luisa to her homein Sesto Fiorentino. I donot have a drivers

license, so I must take the

train back to Montecatini.It is almost late. We walkdown the stairs solemnly,and before we go to thecar, I toss our uneaten

pizzas into the trashdisposal unit in the street.We say little on our way. Ikiss Maria Luisa goodnightand walk the kilometre orso to the train station tocatch one back. I feelvery bad. I am perplexed.The train comes. I look tosee if there are others asdeadened as I. I cannotdetermine that. Abouttwenty-five minutes later

the rickety train pulls intoMontecatini Termethemain station. I start myten-minute walk up thestreet leading to myapartment. All of asudden, I hear a caravanof about fifteen cars andtrucksoverflowing withyoung men and womenscreaming with joy andshaking their fists about

with gleeful energycoming towards me. I ampuzzled to discern whatthe commotion is. All therevelers are dress withsome violet; they are fansofLa Fiorentinathe arch-rival in Italy of the famousJuventus squad. The LaFiorentina tifosi areshouting at the top oftheir lungs: Grazie,Liverpool! Grazie,

Liverpool!! Grazie,Liverpool!!!

efore talking to youabout Racism, mydear reader, please

read with me these threedefinitions of it which Icopied out for you:

B

1. From lo Zingarelli1998, edited byMiro Dogliotti and

Luigi Rosiello,

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Zanichelli;Bologna, Italy:Teoria che tendea stabilire unagerarchia tra le

popolazioniumane, esaltandole qualit superioridi una razza,affermando lanecessit diconservarla purada ognicommistione erespingendo lealtre in una statodi soggezione.

2. From The ConciseOxford Dictionary,Sixth Edition,edited by J. B.Sykes, OxfordUniversity Press,1976; Oxford,England: Theorythat humanabilities etc. aredetermined byrace.

3. From Merriam-

WebstersCollegiateDictionary,TenthEdition, edited byFrederick C. Mish,Merriam-Webster,Incorporated,1994; Springfield,Massachusetts,United States: Abelief that race isthe primarydeterminant of

human traits andcapacities and thatracial differencesproduce aninherentsuperiority of aparticular race.

know about Racism.How could I not? Ihave lived with it all

my life. My mother,

fanatically RomanCatholic (Irish wing), right-

I

wing, and a bigot ofenormous stature, set thetone for me in thebeginning: Dont everinvite a nigger into this

house. Amen! I studiedfor sixteen years inRoman Catholic schools:Cross your legs, girls,and shut the gates ofhell. (When are RomanCatholics going to cometo terms with the truth?priests do not want tomarryif they did theywould never have eventhought of joining anorganisation that keeps

them from womenpriests are women-hatersthey want to bealone with themselvesthey think they are betterthan we areeven a dull-witted Jesuit wouldunderstand thispriestsbelong to a class ofpeople unified by acommunity of interests forthem more powerful than

love.) I served for twoyears on active duty inthe United States Army; Iwas a social worker in thenorthwest section of FortLauderdale, Florida; I livedin the north of Floridapart of the Deep Southfor four years; and, I havelived in Italy for more thansixteen years with thosewho might be consideredthe greatest racists in the

history of WesternCivilizationthey havebeen practicing the art ofRacism for centuries andwith spectacularprecision.

I am sensitive to acts ofRacism and have been formost of my life. Racismdenigrates that which isgood about humanity, andbecause there is so much

of it in all parts of the

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world, it has becomealmost popular to opinethat there is, in fact, noremedy for the causes ofRacism, they being so

ingrained in the innatemakings-up of the humanbeing. This belief is socommon, it helps inalmost giving carteblanche to racists toperpetrate their rants andravings. Racism giveshumankind a bad name.Which is to say that ifRacism did not flourish asit does, the world wouldbe a better place to live

for all individualsa lessvexed place to be in.Racism establishes thetruth that most of us areweak-willed, that we areinclined to take the easyway out when we shouldbe confronting, for sure,that which is threateningus and our fellows. Theorchestration of hateagainst whatever minority

group or member of thatarrangement by partieslarger than it, is one ofthe most despicable actsof pusillanimityconceivable. There aremany other why andwherefores I can bring tothe forefront to expressmy disgust for Racism,but it is now moreinteresting to concentratespecifically on those

characteristics whichdistinguish the racist fromothers.

Remember MarkFuhrman? It is prettymuch agreed upon bymost people that Markpossessed racistinclinations, and thesewere revealedmostembarrassingly for himand his defence attorneys

during his trial which

also brought to light manyinteresting aspects of hispersonal life. But let usnow concentrate onMarks face. That face,

for me, is a racist face.I have seen it time andtime again during my life.There it is. Marks face. Avery listless face. I haveespied thousands andthousands of them.Marks is a face full ofhate and full of fear andfull of cowardliness. Oneashen with sadness, rigidfrom smirking, andsmitten with loftiness. In

Vietnam, that face saidthis to me: Lieutenant, ifyou want to make theUnited States Army yourcareer, dont associatewith those niggerprivates. That face saidthis to me: Tonight werehaving a company partyto celebrate that niggers(Martin Luther King)death. Are you comin,

lieutenant? That facesaid this to me, under itsbreath, refusing to saluteme, when no one was insight of us: Lieutenant,youre a nigger-lover.Youre a Jew-lover. And Idont salute Yankee scumlike you! In Florida, thatface said this to me:Why dont you go backto New York where youbelong? That face said

this to me: Here in LakeCity we know how to takecare of our niggerproblems. That face saidthis to me: The Divisionof Family Services of theState of Florida is notcorrupt and mismanagedas you say. We do ourbest to help the Negroesin the northwest sectionof Fort Lauderdale whereyou are assigned. You are

being released from our

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organization because youare insubordinate.

This face can be foundeasily in any city in the

world. This face ismalignant, and it isinvested with potentiallyunlimited growth. Itexpands within itselfthrough the strength of itsignorance and its cravingfor punishment inflicted inretaliation for an injury oroffence. This face poundsand beats to the groundthat which is around it.This face, in the course of

time, sinks in its ownpoison. I cannot imaginewhy this disease is notalphabetized in theDiagnostic and StatisticalManual of MentalDisorders published bythe American PsychiatricAssociation!

Perhaps you have heardof Jean-Paul Sartre? He

wrote a very interestingbook, Rflexions sur laquestion juive, in 1954 inParis, France, and whichwas published byGallimard, a very famousParisian publishing house.It was Sartres intention tobring to light one of themost sordid sides ofhuman behavior, anti-Semitism, and hisexperiences fighting

Fascism and Naziismduring World War II nodoubt influenced hissense of disdain for thetragedy that had beeninflicted upon EuropesJewish population duringthat conflict. Sartre,surely, did not think thatRacism was the breedingground for anti-Semiticindividuals exclusively.He knew there were many

different strata of Racism.

But because he was avery courageous man,instead of writing someprosaic, academic treatiseon the subject which

would have blanketed allthe peculiarities of allforms of Racismtherebykeeping the author safeand unperturbed in hisgeneralizationsSartrepicked a fight with anti-Semitism and itsadherentsper se. He wasnot one to dillydallyasmany academicians arewont to doaboutmatters he deemed

menacing to society andwhich he thought shouldbe nipped in the bud withdetermination.

According to the grandFrench philosopher, thelinguistics (thoughtpatterns) of the racist aredevoid of substance and,therefore, easily engagedin verbal counter-

attacking. The adversaryof the racistusingserious words because heor she holds to the wordand employs them to winan argument against theracistmust respond tothe buffoonery of theracist who retorts bytrying to discredit theearnestness of the non-racist counter-attacker.The one intolerant seeks

to hit back with banter, tointimidate light-heartedly,to displace from normalposition or relationshipthe argumentation athand. When confrontedwith the propriety oflanguage, the bigot isafraid to appearridiculous, incredulous,and he attempts tomitigate the confrontationhe is embroiled in at the

moment.

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Interestingly enough,Sartre points out thischaracteristic: the racistis often provincial-

minded. (Are racistsliving in metropolitanareas less racist thanthose living in thecountryside?) Forexample, the anti-Semiteshe talks about in his bookand who were all Frenchcitizens, could boast atwo-thousand-year-longtradition. They wereglued to theirbirthplaces and counted

so much on the wisdom oftheir ancestors, they feltthey did not need to beintelligent for the simplereason they had beenbenefiting from whatothers of their past hadbeen already doing forcenturies. What wasthere to be learnt!Attachment to theirproperty was paramount

to their thinking. Theirpossession of it was partof the cause of their fears.Their land had not beenbought. It had beenpassed down to themthrough the centuries.The countrified racist isfixed to his property. Hefears to lose it. He issuspicious of others whomhe feels might take theacreage away from him.

It is very easy for thesecountry bumpkin-likeracists to divine plotsabout usurpation ofproperty by foreigninvaders and, of course,the Jew is the classic buttof these ultra-nationalistsprejudices.

Sartre says there areother ways we canidentify the racist. For

one, the racist is not

inventive; he prefers tokeep things as they aresticking to those ruleswhich maintain the statusquo. The racist will not

assume responsibility forhis or her actions becausein doing so, his or herbluff will be calledimmediately. Nor willracists form any factionfrom which they may besingled out foridentification. They preferto join secretorganisations. (The KuKlux Klan, of Scottishorigin, is a hooded group.)

Racists will not elaborateany fixed program whichmight evidence theiractions or plans of them.They do not seek legalidentity or registration asa legal entity for dreadthey will be caught sightof. They hide in the dark.

The racist wants to be adisciplined member of an

undisciplined group. Thelittle person needs thosewho can be hated tosustainas high aspossiblethe level ofanger in his or her being.The racist wants todestroy people, notinstitutions. Theintolerant one isconcerned with what isperfidious for him or her,and goes about trying to

combat that intimidation.Sadly, the racist is not insearch of that which isintelligential. He takesthe long, slow road tohatred. As aconsequence, the illiberalis apprehensive of himselfor herself. The racist iscraven.Sartre makes thisobservation near hisclosing: the racist is very

much interested in occult

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powers, magic,irrationalityall thingsthat are intuitive.

talians are one of the

most misanthropic ofpeople in the world.

But victims of theirRacism and xenophobiashould take heart.Italians are, above andbeyond, moreunforbearing ofthemselves than they areof any other existingethnic group! As a matterof fact, Italians despisethemselves so muchmore, they havesubconsciously conspiredto start eliminating theirstirps under the aegis of amethodical, self-imposeddemographic standstillthat has already rupturedtheir proliferation morethan did the two worldwars of this century. Amass suicide is evolvingin Italy and hate is the

weapon of choice. (Listento this quote by an Italian journalist: Ho imparatoche in Italia bisognaparlar bene di tutti.Quando dici una cosacattiva succede unputiferio. La capacit dimoltiplicare lodio daparte delle persone di cuiparli male infinita. Ionon odio e non voglioessere odiato. Non voglio

mettere in circolazionetossine di malanimo.Questo un Paese diodiatori professionisti.)Italy is sinking in the mireof its own vindictiveness.

I

Let us hypothesize abouthighly-bigoted individuals,members of the Gestapoand the Ku Klux Klan who,socializing, drinking beerstogether in a spirit of

camaraderie, are rabidly

involved in an enthuseddiscussion about whichone of their systems ofcruelty is better atmastering the domination

of victims through thevarious means of tortureand murder available toimplement the maddeninghorrors of the two. TheGerman speaks about thegas chamber, mutilationsof body parts, firingsquads, and many othersystems of abuse. TheNorthamerican speaksabout lynchings,castrations, beatings,

slavery, rape, and stillmore systems of abuse.Both compare notes.They learn from eachother. They teach eachother better ways totorture and wound and killinnocent people who havebecome terrorized bythem. They drink into thenight enjoying theirfriendship and feel

confident in assuring oneanother that they areaccomplishing somethingfor the betterment of thisworld. Along comes theItalian. He sits with theblack-garbed Germanman and the hooded KuKlux Klan man. The firstthing he wants to say isthat he can devise deathinstruments that arebetter than the German

and Northamericans, andthat he can kill moreefficiently and reap betterresults. No one can dothis work more effectivelythan the Italian. He is thebest at everything. He isalso the best at beingdoubtful about himself.(Schopenhauer: Il trattoprincipale del caratterenazionale degli italiani un impudenza perfetta.

Questa consiste sia nel

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non sentirsi troppo imparia nessun compito, onde laloro presunzione esfacciataggine; sia nelnon sentirsi troppo alti

per nessuna cosa, onde laloro bassezza.)

Italians considerthemselves the most furbiof all. A furbo is anindividual gifted withcunning. Perhaps it is sothat Italians are furbi asmuch as it may be saidthat they have enduredthroughout their longhistoryall varieties of

invasion, oppression andother national tragediesthat have left themparticularly sensitive tosuffering and obligated todo all needed to survive(Italians sold thevirginities of theirchildren, throughlotteries, to United StatesArmy G. I.sall lined upand hoping to winduring

the bacchanalia of post-World War II Italy), orbetter said: mangiare!Furbizia, the fine art ofbeing calculating, issomething of a carry-overidiosyncrasy fixed in thecharacter of the Italian,and it has come to mean,to some extent, a taprootof ability and powernaturally lacking in non-Italians. With this ace up

every Italian sleeve,inhabitants of The Bootkick their way, frequently,to have their way, to evena score, to put acrosstheir point of view.Always, there is presentthis ratiocination: WeItalians are somethingspecial. No doubt theyare. Their opinion ofthemselves comes acrossrather anti-climactically

for most foreigners living

with them because theoutsiders know that noone else in the world isparticularly impressedwith Italian furbizia.

Therefore, why shouldItalians be? (HenryKissinger: Voi italianisiete vittima di ununica,peculiare forma distupidit. La vostrapresunta furbizia. Seammiraste meno la vostrafurbizia, saresteprobabilmente i piintelligenti e i pi civili.)

uppose you are anAfrican fromSenegal, a scruffy

Albanian from Albania, aChinese with almond-shaped eyes whichdistinguish you from yourfellow Italians, aFlorentine Jew who hasspent his life hiding thefact that he is Jewish, anArab woman with yourhead covered, an olive-

skinned Tunisian, or anIndian who has recentlyarrived in Italy after beingstuffed illegally into thehull of a ship filled withother poor people whohave paid their way tocome thousands of milesto escape persecution inforeign countries in theEast, seeking a better lifein Europe. It is Sundayafternoon and the Franchi

Stadium in Firenze(Florence!) is filling upwith fans, tifosi, come tosee some importantmatch crucial to theoverall Class A standings.You know damned wellthat you better stay ahundred kilometres fromthat place! And why?

S

Well, inside the stadiumthere is the stench ofviolence all over the

place. Sections of season

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ticket-holders, groupedunder diverseorganisations with theirblazoned flags or logos,are expressing their pent-

up emotions and takingadvantage of a uniqueopportunity: to let it allout against anythingcaught in the nets of theirdisapproval and rancor.There are banners withanti-Semitic sloganswritten on them. Thereare chants againstAfricans, Albanians,Chinese, Jews, Tunisians,Indiansyou name them!

There are Nazi salutes togreet their favoriteplayers. The Mayor ofFirenze, the Cardinal ofFirenze, the owner ofLaFiorentina, businessmen,bankers, lawyers, policeofficials, doctors, actors,actresses, and the editorofLa Nazione, aFlorentine dailynewspaper, Vittorio Feltri

(he who still refers toAfrican people asniggers in his columnsjust as my mother did inour home!) are all there.They are talking andlaughing with othernotable personalities inthe V.I.P. section of thestands. Thedemonstrations of hateand brute force (by nowhoards of combat-

equipped police arespraying rambunctiousfans with water hoses andshooting off tear gascanisters at them) do notinterest the City Fathersone iota, and they appearto be so used to thesebrutish commotions, theydo not even anymore takenotice of them. In someparts of the circus, moresedate ticket-holders are

frozen to the spectacle of

savagery, and theyremain silent hoping theentire ugly scene willinsome wayjust meltaway out of their sight. It

never does. These morereserved spectators neverhave even a grunt tovoice their opposition tothe disgusting shows ofdissoluteness. Boccachiusa. It is hard to find achild among thethousands of gawkers.This is not the place tobring the innocent, nor isit the place to invite yourfriend who is visiting you

from another country. Itwould be just tooembarrassing. What isamazing is that peopleare not usuallykilledduring these marvels offerociousness. Theloathing is pretty muchcontainedit has to be orit will not be able to bereplayed next timeandinstead of breaking bones,

what is broken the most isthe stadium itself. If youwant a fight while you arevisiting Firenze onvacation, the place to gois the stadium onSundays. (Is World War IIIon its way?)

Oh, no! The referee hasmade a favorable call onbehalf of an oppositionplayer, and all the La

Fiorentina tifosi arefurious! A rain of coinsand cigarette lighters isfalling onto the fieldoh,no! Thousands ofLaFiorentina tifosi areshouting at the top oftheir lungs: PUT THEREFEREE IN AUSCHWITZWITH THE REST OF THEBASTARD JEWS! HEIL,HITLER!oh, no!Someone has thrown a

paper bomb onto the

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field, and La Fiorentinawill now be automaticallydisqualified for the nextgame. The tifosiapplaudoh, no!

Helmeted police arechasing some juveniledelinquents through thestands and other tifosi arethrowing anything theycan get their hands on atthe policeoh, no! Anambulance has pulled upto take away an injuredtifosooh, no! Tifosi aretrying to break the bullet-proof panes of glass thathelp keep them from

going onto the fieldoh,no!oh, no!!oh, no!!!

The game is over. Thestadium is a mess. Thingsare broken all over theplace. There are charredpieces of wood and shardsof glass as far as the eyecan see. The tifosi areenergized to go home, tocontinue in the streets of

Firenze their acts ofviolence. About twothousand visiting tifosi,tifosi of the oppositionteam, caged in an areawith high fences aroundit, must wait at least halfan hour until the LaFiorentina tifosi havedisappeared from theconfines of the areasurrounding the stadium.They will be then

escorted, through thestreets, in long lines, bythe police very anxious toput them on their trainsand buses home.Meanwhile, on theirwayshome, La Fiorentina tifosiare destroying the teambus which transported theopposition players to thestadium. They areoverturning cars, breakingstorefront windows which

foolishly were not

boarded, setting fires togarbage disposal units,throwing rocks at passingcars, ripping telephonesout of their sockets,

spraying windows andstreet signs with violetpaint, and one tifoso witha hatchet in his hand ischopping away at a tree!The La Fiorentina tifosihave a surprise for theiropponents who are nowentering their trains andbuses. About twohundred have gatherednear the train station andare positioned, in hiding,

ready to pelt the partingtrain with rocks, bottles,pieces of metal, andanything else they havefound not tied down. AMolotov cocktail a fewyears ago burnt ninetypercent of a Bolognatifosos body nearly killinghim. (The Ferrovia delloStato spends hundreds ofmillions of dollars each

year repairing damage totrains that havetransportedfootball/soccer fans onSundays.) If you walk ablock over, you will seethat each and every car inthat via has a long scratchon its side etched on bythe keys of the LaFiorentina tifosi.

Oh, no! A group of almost

thirty La Fiorentina tifosihave encircled twoAlbanians who happed tobe in the area probablyunwittingly. They will notbe killed. The tifosi knowbetter. However, theforeigners will be spitupon, kicked, punched,and left on the ground inagony. Fellow tifosi havebeen set at the corners ofthe streets to warn of

arriving police vehicles.

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Often, the police justwatch and let the tifosirun amuck crazed withhowling. The faces of theAlbanians are white with

terror, and they are doingwhatever they can toprotect themselveswithout saying a word.(Lets ask the tifosi ofLaFiorentina how they treattheir girlfriends andwives!)

Stadium violence is kickedaround so flittingly so. Itis subject to long holdingsforth by droning

sociologists andpsychologists andbeyond-all-boundsjournalists andvainglorious civic leaders,but little is done to quellthe destructiveness. Ithas become an acceptedfactan uncomfortableone, but not that much so.The reason? The tifosiblackmail the teams: Let

us rumble and do what wewant, or we wont buy ourseason tickets. Otherignoble approaches areemployed. They are notbluffing. They are themasses. They arediscontented. (BertrandRussell: Cynicism suchas one finds veryfrequently among themost highly-educatedyoung men and women of

the West results from theculmination of comfortwith powerlessness.Powerlessness makespeople feel that nothing isworth doing, and comfortmakes the painfulness ofthis feeling justendurable. Russell saidthat in 1930, my dearreader!) And in themasses they are supreme.With their banners,

swastikas, death signs,

paramilitary clothing,flags, Rebel flags of theex-United StatesConfederacy, arms,symbols, et cetera, they

form our group againsttheir group. There areleftist and fascistelements in the stadiums.The Italian hooliganexpresses a bad feeling,which is generalised, of adissipated society:Florentine society. Theybring their chains, brassknuckles, hammers,cigarette lighters, axesand explosives to blurt

out their desire forpassion, myth anddreams; but, what oozesout from theirnonconformity is theirincompleteness, theirbafflement. Theseindividuals are empty.They exist to belong totheir rustled groups;ridiculous concoctions:Che Guevara Group, Dixie

Group, Marxist-LeninistGroup, Nazi Group, BadBoys Group, RenegadeGroup, et cetera. All theirheroes are negative ones.They are the paladinshated by theestablishment. The tifosiare nihilistic. They cannotcreate anything. Violencerenders these individualsvisible, but they will beviolent only in a place

which is sociallyacceptable and wherethey can hide in groups:the stadium. (Those twoAlbanians might be killedin the stadium; outsidethey are safer.) Thecowards make gestures atthe TV cameraswiththeir faces erased by skimasksthen escape tohide in the masses.These delinquents believe

it is better to transform

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themselves intorevengers in the stadiuminstead of being nothing.They have no values andthey yearn to publicize

their insignificance.Should it, then, surpriseanyone that Italy isnumber one in Europe foruse of heroin, cocaine andamphetamines? I hopenot.I have compiled a simplepsycho-socio identikit ofthese Florentine monstersfor you, and I think it willhelp to serve to bring youto a better understanding

of them and Italy, theproblem child ofEuropea CNN Freudianblurting out. (BettinaLuschers baldness is notthe only thing CNN istrying to cover up!)

Their mothers and fatherssacrifice them for theirvery own ambitions. Italysuffered a great deal after

World War II, andgrandfathers andgrandmothers and fathersand mothers then setthemselves the goal togive all they could to theirlittle darlings so theywould not have tolanguish as much as theyhad to. But, theyoverreacted by vitiatingwhat they thought wasbest for their offspring.

Italian parents do notimpart their love to theirchildren. They give themtheir thoughts. Childrenhave become acommodity of sorts. Noone believes that childrencome through theirparents; they believe theycome from their parents.Possession. Children arenot heartened to leavethe nest; they are brought

up to be soldered to the

family. It is very common,still, to find unmarriedforty-year-olds living withtheir parents.

Children are taught tooblige. As such, theyspeak in a monotonoussonance without anyenthusiasm for life. Theyare tenseon the alert todo what they must. Thekids are catechised whenthey are tired and angry.They are loaded up afterschool with Englishclasses, piano classes,karate classes, swimming

classes, ad nauseum.They must do that whichtheir parents did not!Parents platform theirchildren saddling themwith their maxims.Schools teach the sameboring subjects, in thesame boring way.Children are bribed tolearn. They are alwaysbeing corrected, chided.

Kids are forever,neurotically, being askedquestions; controlled.They are inflicted withhumiliation at every turn.The children lackmotivation, vigor; theyare conformists, obeyers.Apathetic. Passive-aggressive personalities.They get what they wantby manipulating for it.They grow into little

tyrants. They do not haveto earn anything. Theyare exempt from manualwork and that whichwould require them topartake in some activitythey could say theycreated or invented andthen enjoyed. Theypossess no spontaneity.They have no sense ofduty to others. They aretaught to have rights only.

Possessive mothers,

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grandmothers, aunts andmother-in-laws conditiontheir children not to love(Visit Firenzes CareggiHospital and go to the

feeding rooms in thematernity wards. If therehave been some birthsrecently, you will find twoor three motherscigarettes dangling fromtheir mouthsbottle-feeding their newborn.You will also see, in thecloud of contrabandMARLBORO cigarettesmoke, their mothers andgrandmothers and aunts

and mother-in-lawsbrushing off the cigaretteashes that have fallenduring feeding time ontothe GUCCI sweaters of themums.) Italian kids parrotthe customs of othernationality groups.Others clothes, othersmusic, others ideas.They are not respected.They respect not. They

are always riveted to thetelevision or video gamesscreen, and they go tostudy tired of watchingtelevision in lieu of goingto watch television tiredof studying. They arepushed to competebutnot on an intellectuallevel. Their parents arethinking only about theirimmediate lives and thoseof their children. The

children are not listenedto; they are preached to.The children are givenbad example. They arenot given love. It is nowonder that these warpedindividuals seek a violentoutlet in the stadium: it isthe only place where theycan revoltfeelthemselves free from asuffocating familyoppression. The stadium

is the only place theycannot be ensnared.

This sad state of affairsexists today victim of

neglect and hypocrisy. Ithas been incubating fordecades, not addressedby governmental,religious, political andeconomic institutions. Asif the quandary did notexist. Warning signalshave been flashed timeand time again in thepast, but no one has everresponded to them. Thesickness has spread on

and beyond. It is believedby many that the chancefor a turnabout is nowimpossible. Italy is on itsway to extinction.

There are many who willnot lose sleep over thisfall of modern, self-indulgent, corrupt Italiansociety. They will surmisehaughtily that Italians

cooked this platethemselves, and now theymust stew together in it.Italians want to go down,down, down; and, theywant to be brought closerto some Final Action.They are destroying morethan they are producing.It will not be kind, or just,if Italians are let alone tolimp to their Final Plunge.Their problems are

Europes. Italy is anobstacle to the economicand political stability ofthe European Union. Itneeds Europes helpdesperately.

Most interesting are thereasons why this is so.One must stretch theimagination in alldirections to draw someprecise conclusions. It is

incredible that a society

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that boasts of an almost-two-thousand-year-longhistory should have founditself in this unthinkablepredicament. For Firenze,

the responsibility isperhaps even greater forit was here that the seatof humanism was warmedso well five hundred yearsago. What can we sayabout Firenze today? Whyhas it fallen into such adismal state? Could it bethat the very values of adevotion to thehumanities have nosense, no merit? Must we

re-evaluate the moral andspiritual fundamentals ofWestern Civilization thatfor so long have nurturedour intellects? Is thisagony that Firenze issuffering through theresult of it coming to anunreal dead end? Whatcan be done to alter thisdisaster course? Can it bealtered? Why cannot the

Florentines relate tothemselves and theirsociety in a hale andhearty manner? Whycannot the Florentinesenjoy themselves, putthemselves to that whichhas a basis in reality?Why are Florentines afraidto seek a newinterpretation of theirplace in this world? Whyare Florentines so

alienated?

daydreamed the otherday that Dante,Boccaccio, Giotto,

Leonardo da Vinci andMichelangelo weretogether in Piazza dellaSignoria, in front ofPalazzo Vecchio, underthe same balcony fromwhich Adolf Hitleraddressed thousands of

roaring, applauding

I

Florentines. Thesemasters of theRenaissance were allscreaming in shock:Who are these

imbeciles? Who are theseimbeciles? Who are theseimbeciles? What hashappened to our city?Our art and traditionshave been left in thehands of fagged,muddleheadedoverseers! They wereoverwrought. I washoping that at thatmoment a caravan ofNorthamerican tourists

trekking in slow motionand on their three-weektour of The Old Continentwould float by for Danteand his friends. We couldhave flipped a coin to seewhich of the two came offthe more ridiculous.Heads, theNorthamericans; tails, theFlorentines! (FromABook of Aphorisms and

Quotations by Anthony St.John: 116.Northamericans havebeen obtuse for morethan two hundred years.Europeans have beenobtuse for more than twothousand years.) Look atthe Northamericans!Little fat, flush old ladiesand chubby salesrepresentatives (Hey,man! Im on vacation, not

civil rights!) frommultinats who have woninternational salescampaigns, slobberingfrom one plate ofpasta toanother, their headsspinning from rich, redwines, subsidising racisttaxi drivers, racist hotelclerks, racist waiters,racist travel agents, racistbankers, racist barbers,racist electricians, racist

audio/visual technicians,

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racist stenographers,racist printers, racistphotographers, racistdisplay builders, racisttranslators, racist

musicians, racist securityguards, ad nauseam.When the Northamericanscome to pay their bills,the Florentines smile andkiss them on both cheeks.Then the descendents ofthe Renaissance aboutface, up the middlefingers of both hands and,violetwith envy of theNorthamericans wealth,ridicule how fat,

uncultured, andofcoursehow terriblydressed are thoseNorthamericans! (WeFlorentines must bebetter than they are!)This disgusting ritualplays itself out time andtime again and has beengrinding on so fordecades. Northamericanstilt home, their cups filled

with culture andsouvenirs and two orthree nights fattening upin Florentine restaurantsthe average Florentinecitizen cannot afford to goto.

But let us not ramblefurther on about stupidity,my dear reader. Let usget one thing clear in ourminds: Firenze has the

lowest birth rate in theworld. There are nowabout 57,000,000 Italians,and in about thirty yearsthere will be 7,000,000lessand then 25% ofItaly will be over sixty fiveyears of age. Is it nottime to come to therescue of Firenze and,hoping for the best, wishwith all our might thatItaly will follow suit? Is it

not time for the United

Nations to send taskforces of psychologistsand psychiatrists intoFirenze to weed out thehatred which is destroying

Firenze from within? Is itnot time for B-52s to dropHow to Raise Childrenbooks all over Toscana? Isit not time that we dosomething drastic to saveFirenze from theFlorentines? S.O.S. fromFirenze! S.O.S. fromFirenze!! S.O.S. fromFirenze!!!

Three days before I

finished this article, I wason a Florentine bus goinghome, seated at the backwith other immigrants.(Just as in Alabama in1953!) There were fivegruff-looking Albanianstalking and laughing intheir own language. Aftera number of stops, threebus line ticket controllersentered the bus and they

found that, as usual, eachAlbanian did not possessa ticket. The Albanianshad no I.D. cards, and asthe ticket controllerswrote out their penalties,the Albanians offerednames and addresseswhichthe controllerssaidwere false. Whenthe ticket controllers leftthe going-home, crowdedbus, the Albanians took

their fines, shredded theminto confetti, and threwthem into the air. Not oneItalian in the bus blinkedan eye. They watchedwith tight-lippedvirulence. The Albaniansstared back at themthey toodefiant. Notone Italian thought to callthe police. To do so wouldmean that the Albaniansenjoyed the same rights

the Italians possessed;

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and, these, the Albanianswould never have in racistItaly. Nor would theyhave a decent house tolive in, a decent job to

labor with, a decent life tolive with decent people.

Firenze is an incubator ofxenophobia, racism, andhate. And as such, it iskilling itself. Steadily,furtively it is marching tothe destra.

Oh, I almost forgot to tellyou. Vittorio Cecchi Gori,Italian Senator with

immunity againstprosecution, courierpigeon between VaticanIncorporated City andHollywood City, andbankroller of thatmagnum opus ofdemagogy anddisingenuousness, thefilm Life is Beautiful, isalso the owner ofyouguessed it!La

Fiorentina!

La vita bella? Forwhom?

* * *

Written by:

Anthony St. JohnCasella Postale 38

50041 CALENZANO FIITALIA

15 December 1999

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Documents

"We are not racists. We are Italian racists. We hate everyone."