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Summary
My project focuses on discrimination in Italy, encompassing specifically racism. The goal of my project is to further comprehend why Italian culture, in my experience, has been extremely closed-minded, and investigate ways how Italian society can start creating effective social change, in a country built on social biases against minority groups.
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Thesis
Italian society has ignored racial discrimination in its own country ever since Italy colonized northeastern Africa in the late 19th century. Racist government practices, such as ignoring racist attacks in the judicial system and eliminating governmental roles working towards eliminating discrimination, have led to a society that condones widespread racism, evidenced by economic and cultural discrimination and violent attacks on minorities. The Italian media, rather than highlighting these issues, has largely ignored racism, passively promoting the myth that racism doesn’t exist in Italy and thereby rendering meaningful change difficult.
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Introduction
I moved to Italy when I was eleven years old, allowing me to grow up experiencing American and Italian culture. While living in Italy, I found that Italians have a very narrow view of Americans; in their opinion, we are all ignorant and racist. Whether this is accurate or not, I found it astounding the amount of bias against any race -except Caucasian- within Italian culture. Friends, strangers, and even my teachers often expressed their dislike for individuals belonging to minority groups. Discrimination and racism are an everyday occurrence in my small town in Italy. I started to question “Why does this occur? And how can social change occur in a country built upon a foundation of social inequality?” It is for this reason that I am doing my project on social stigmas surrounding race in Italy and the methods underway in order to achieve social change.
My research will consist of two main areas of focus. In the first part, I will study the history of racism in Italy, with the hope of understanding the deep social ties, coming from Italy’s cultural history, which causes bias against minority groups. Another direction of my research will be directed towards current social inequality issues. I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the discrimination and problems for certain minority groups. Between my knowledge of the Italian language, Italy as a country, and intensive research, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of my topic and to apply my findings to my own community in Italy. My overall goal is to further understand why Italian culture, in my experience, has been extremely closed-minded, and investigate ways how a society like Italy’s could start to create effective social change.
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