Race Riots in Italy: Mafia Suspected?

You heard me mention the race riots in Southern Italy in last night's "What's goin' down." More information has come out regarding the event. It appears that the mafia is suspected for the violence:

The clashes began Thursday night in Rosarno, a working-class city amid citrus groves in Calabria, the toe of Italy’s boot, after a legal immigrant from Togo was lightly wounded in a pellet-gun attack in a nearby city. It is not clear who pulled the trigger — the authorities said they were investigating whether organized crime had provoked the riots — but the consequences were severe.

Blaming racism for the attack, dozens of immigrants burned cars and smashed shop windows in Rosarno in two days of riots, throwing rocks at local residents and fighting with the police. More than 50 immigrants and police officers were wounded, none seriously, and 10 immigrants and locals were arrested before the authorities began sending the immigrants to detention centers elsewhere in southern Italy on Saturday.

It really is a very bad situation over there.

What's Goin' Down? Europe Edition

Croatia has elected a new president that will hopefully lead a new period lacking in corruption and filled with prosperity:

The new president had this to say:

Gray-haired and bespectacled, Josipovic usually appears in light blue shirts and gray suits that underscore his laid back image. He says he decided to run because he ''couldn't bear the injustice that has been done to the people of Croatia for years.''

''I am aware of presidential responsibilities,'' he said once. ''With my own example, I want to inspire decisiveness, optimism and civic courage of Croatian people to change our society and make it a better one.''

I wish only the best for Croatia.

You heard me talk about racism in Italy through the lens of football. Well, let me share with you another story of racism in Italy.

Hundreds of African immigrants have been evacuated from a southern Italian town, authorities said on Sunday, following some of the worst racial violence in Italy since World War Two.

The evacuation followed three days of clashes in the southern Calabrian town of Rosarno, which began when some local residents began attacking immigrants who responded by rioting.

At least 53 people, including 18 policeman, were injured in the unrest in the town, located in Italy's southwestern toe.

Authorities moved more than 1,000 people, mostly illegal temporary workers from sub-Saharan Africa to immigrant centres around Italy in an operation that lasted from Saturday through to the early hours of Sunday.

Not just that, but it brought up dangerous comparisons:

Even workers with regular residence permits left the town to escape a climate that one political commentator compared to the 1960s Ku Klux Klan racial violence in the United States.

I think America has a generally positive view of Italy and I'm not saying we shouldn't. However, we should recognize that every country has its faults, some are very serious.

Racism in Football

Racism in football is a continuing issue today. Despite efforts from FIFA to rid the game of racism, fans continue to berate players because of their race. At the center of the controversy in Italy has been Mario Balotelli. Balotelli is of Ghanaian descent, but was raised by Italian parents. He is Italian in every way and plays for the U-21 Italian National Team. However, he represents a change in a once homogenous country and it seems that people are not okay with that. He is also a target of controversy because of his behavior, but he is insulted because of his race. After the recent match against Chievo, Balotelli launched this claim:

"I do not apologise to those who insulted me," the statment on Balotelli's official website said. "But I do apologise to those who were innocent and whom I offended through my expressions of exasperation at the boos I received during the game and as I left the pitch.

"I should have made it clear that the fans in Verona and around Italy who boo me disgust me. Instead of enjoying a good game, they prefer to insult me.

"I am tired of always hearing racist chants when I'm on the pitch. It doesn't happen just at Verona. I was ashamed to hear my own Inter fans booing Chievo's Luciano. It's a disgrace which must end.''

There is no reason for racism in sport. It's a shame to see stuff like this occur still.