What does it take for you to consider someone your co-citizen in your country?
As several people have said, it's not a matter of citizenship. Racism doesn't care where you were born, just that you're different. It could be where your forefathers are from, your religion, your skin colour, your gender or sexual preferences, whatever those particular people don't like.
Wish I knew how it could be solved.
As for the legal situation, I can't tell from what you wrote if you have citizenship or not. If you mother has lived there for years, she might have applied, and this would likely apply to you, but perhaps not, and it will be a good idea to apply.
But bottom line is, I think that as long as you feel at home, you should stay there, and disregard the racists. It's painful to hear that stuff, but you know it's not true. As you say, they're the minority.
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Citizenship has nothing to do with DNA.
Foreign cultures can be acquired if someone integrates themselves.
Different cultures can work well together.
Stereotypes and prejudice exist and even are partly natural; some people unfortunately don't care about looking beyond that.
DNA defines the pool of possible looks though.
Also I wonder if you ever considered changing your name? I mean that would be a big step and you certainly don't like to change the name. I'm just curious if you already had that idea. (I wouldn't suggest you to change your name if you are okay with it.)
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No, there is an italian version of my name that could help with those matters, but it's something I would never do. My name is my identity and it's a far too great sacrifice for having full acceptance. Not even sure if it would be worth to do that.
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Yes, I understand this. Spontaneously I can come up only with two reasons you really would want to change your name.
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That is a very sad reason, but it is indeed another reason.
Migration would perhaps be more advised though, for your own security. :-/
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I personally consider a person's place of birth their nationality, but I place very little relevance on it, though I suppose that's not the same as citizenship. I consider anyone that's integrated into society a citizen of my country. But again it's not very important to me, it's a small detail about a person, I care much more about what kind of person you are on the inside. Patriotism is dumb in my opinion and judging people on where they come from is just racism.
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Well, i guess countries on the beginning would be more a matter of race (physical characteristics and that sort of things); nowadays one could argue that is changing more to ways of living (laws, may be ways of thinking) but even that is not so true, to be honest countries are getting meaningless as time goes by, only defining your life income/comfort for the average citizen at best. i dunno, i should be sleeping already.
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I am a Spanish national living in Belgium since i was 6. I know all to good what you're talking about. 12 years ago i turned 18 and had to choose if i wanted to become a Belgian or stay a Spanish national. I never changed it because frankly, its total bullshit.. I am a citizen of this earth, period..One day we will look back on these small borders and think "what the hell were they on about back then"
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Something between options 3 and 4. Some assimilation is required. At the least, learning the national language and dropping any cultural quirks considered offensive in the new country.
Also, as someone from the Balkans, that story about the parents hiding their stuff before you arrive makes me really angry.
Edit: Oh, and I'm Bulgarian.
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Italians have every right to be skeptical. regular and irregular foreigners make up almost the 33% of the total prisoners. it is a fact that is clear when we consider that foreigners are about the 5% of the Italian population (source is ISTAT, national statistic institute. not "letssendthemallaway.hailhitler")
that being said, i do not mean that it is right to accuse you of crimes that many of your countrymen seem to commit, it would be an ignorant generalization. if you're european, you follow the law, behave good, work, pay taxes and assimilate our culture and customs, in principle there is no problem.
citizenship is just a paper whose release is regulated by laws that do not consider your relationship eith a specific culture, nor protect the race of that country . about this, non-european immigrant (both regular and irregular) and jus soli are only two pieces of the puzzle of the ethnoracial replacement of we white european currently on going throughout the western europe. add to this the incentives and the continuous slogans that invite the persons to emigrate to other countries because of self distructive social and economic policy. this while the government itself encourages reception of illegal immigrants, often illiterate and sometimes even suspected criminal.
the thing is, white genocide is real. if the line is this white europeans will be a minority in a few decades. london bridge is falling down and paris seems is already gone. howr only hope is east europe.
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thats because you all plebs have a wrong idea of what racism is. it is a ward whose meaning has being distorted by who is in charge and that liberals have adopted whitout even bother thinking. same goes for feminism, antisemitism ( a ward you seems to like <3), homophobia, and so on. now they are just empty words designed to stigmatize and to silence on the start those who dare to oppose against the prevailing morality. and you folk are the first line, the same infantry of this cultural dictatorship, proudly chanting this wards with your keyboards unsheated and allways ready to raging agains random people. the well known intollerance of the tollerants. AH.
tbh, i would never put races and cultures under a hierarchy of importance and value as human beings. as an ethno-racial nazionalist and identitarist it would be an oxymoron. socialism needs to be nationalist for it being socialism or else it is just liberism, as you all can see. on the other, protecting a race and a culture doesn't mean to call for the destruction of the others. but i understand you all can't uderstand... you are so busy looking at the speck in the eyes of others that you can not see the fucking beam stuck in your. ct of a famous wise man lived long ago (and that has nothing to do with europe, lets be clear. christianity has born as some kind of jewish reformistm. it belongs to the middle east. church and pope francis gotta go away.)
i'm done brain melting. writing in a leanguage that isn't yours is power and time consuming probably won't answer anymore bye.
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100% its zio-judaic communists conspiracy :c
jk. its all about numbers, precisely indigenous birth rate. in short, currently the value of new births here (counting ONLY italians) has never been so low since the first ww2 past-war. even germany is having a bad time with this. lets not even mention portugal and greece that are at the very bottom of the list, currently the countries with the lowest new birth rate in europe.
the only ones who are not affected by this crisis are african and middle-east immigrats who continue to shot out a child after another to grab the few government aid we receive.
they are not even touched by this degenerate feminist propaganda that reduces being a mother to dictatorship of patriarchy (probably because their religion requires them to be in subjection, but at least they can see through that facade. most white females can't).
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that's not genocide; it's self-inflicted. (just as there's difference as between suicide and murder)
note that I'm not entering a discussion on the merits of the topic. While we probably don't see eye to eye on many things, there is a valid point here
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its both. if tax, social and economic politics strungle us beyond who is in charge we have no decisional power about it. there is only extinction. either you use brutal force to oppose it, or you just let it go and follow the other bleating sheeps.
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The obvious thing you're missing is that birth rate is almost exclusively tied to living conditions, with a several decade catch-up time. So immigrants to Europe won't breed so much that they take over, they'll adjust to local birth rates within a couple of generations. That is, unless they get marginalized and kept in poor living conditions... by people like you.
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numbers and statistics tells you are wrong
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/2014_Gini_Index_World_Map%2C_income_inequality_distribution_by_country_per_World_Bank.svg/863px-2014_Gini_Index_World_Map%2C_income_inequality_distribution_by_country_per_World_Bank.svg.png
https://www.statista.com/statistics/262884/countries-with-the-highest-fertility-rates/
they'll adjust to local birth rates within a couple of generations.
the same results can be achieved with social policies to support and encourage new births. this without taking the risk of importing masses of illiterate desperates. with all the social problems that this entails.
That is, unless they get marginalized and kept in poor living conditions... by people like you.
if a national state does not help at first its citizens, then conceptually it is the same figure of the national states to be useless. is the approach to be wrong. these people first of all should be helped to live in their native country, and not to be helped to emigrate to other. nothing that a deluded thirdworldist such as you can understand.
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thank you for this deep and brilliant statement of your.
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What do you expect? You write racist things, you get called out on it.
You do understand the concept of race isn't scientific, right? There are too few genetic differences between different groups of humans to try to form races out of them. And the overwhelming majority of those differences are in appearance. Under the hood, so to speak, variations within groups are way way bigger than variations between groups. So when you complain about countries not protecting their races, you're just saying you don't want to see people who don't look like you in your country. Beyond being racist (obviously), that's also a pretty stupid thing to say, because reducing the frequency with which distant population groups mix genes increases the rate of genetic diseases. See purebred dogs for a horrifying and very sad and cruel example.
Your other point though, concerning cultural replacement, has a tiny bit of merit. Nations are, after all, primarily defined by culture. So if the defining cultural group of a nation stops being the most numerous group, that could certainly lead to the new most numerous group becoming the primary culture of that nation. Except that has no chance of happening anywhere in Europe (or in the world, really), because immigrants come from numerous different cultures. And they assimilate into the primary culture over time. So I don't see how it's possible that so many people from a single country migrate to a single other country so quickly that they manage to outnumber the native population.
So, overall, all these concerns I hear about immigration are just silly. And don't get me started on the idea of immigrants being criminals.
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not the first time, not surprised. i know that my voice is out from the choir of you intollerant and racist deluded globalists. I expected both this and the blacklists. so, meh.
but pls i am an ignorant and bigot guy. mind if i ask you what have i wrote that identifies myself as a racist?
and how would you call two dogs, one a bulldog and the other a labrador? different ethnicity? please. there are differences. the thing is that equality warrior decide to not see them.
so let me get this. in your opinion the scientists studying in fields like, idk, anthropology, or geneticists who devote their lives to the study of these things are wasting their time? I am willing to bet that they are racists just like me.
and wow, look at this few differences between races (racism inside)
craniometry is an anthropology science adapted to measure human skulls and determine their size and their brain capacity. it turns out that caucasians and mongoloid got it bigger, with all that this implies. there are many theories revolving around this fact. someone says its because of the neanderthal genes in us with a percentage ranging between 0.3% and 0.8%. other says it is related to cold places that seem to stimulate brain function. in short, the thing is still unexplained and this leaves open fields to all speculation of any kind
(literally hitler, don't open)
So when you complain about countries not protecting their races, you're just saying you don't want to see people who don't look like you in your country.
this isn't racism. its a natural human behavior to feel themself more close to people that resemble them in many aspect. like it or not, one of those trait is the color of their skin.
about the purebreed thing you said, that would turn true if we humans would be few in number at the point to get close to incest. even counting the 7 billion of people and dividing them by race thats unlikely. keep your feet on the ground.
Your other point though, concerning cultural replacement, has a tiny bit of merit. Nations are, after all, primarily defined by culture. So if the defining cultural group of a nation stops being the most numerous group, that could certainly lead to the new most numerous group becoming the primary culture of that nation. Except that has no chance of happening anywhere in Europe (or in the world, really), because immigrants come from numerous different cultures. And they assimilate into the primary culture over time. So I don't see how it's possible that so many people from a single country migrate to a single other country so quickly that they manage to outnumber the native population.
history can teach. remember the roman empire and the barbaric invasions? it was one of many things that determined the end of it. thats what you get by underestimating mass immigration. you have a peaceful view of the thing, that's the problem with you and many tollerance preacher. it is wrong and out of the world to suppose that more culture can live together in peace and respectfull of each other. the thing is, the big fish will always eat the smaller fish when he has the chance to do it. man act in the same way, its nature will always prevail on good thinking and peace. the man willing to take up the sword is and will always be one step ahead of the peace preacher. always. when some bearded allah screamer will come knocking at your door you will understand.
So, overall, all these concerns I hear about immigration are just silly. And don't get me started on the idea of immigrants being criminals.
oh my, no of course. but i would like you to start about the idea of them coming here only for scatter fragrant petal roses and white doves (even if they racist) on where they pass.
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To be honest, Italians shouldn't be the ones that are sceptical..Don't forget that the Italian mafia has terrorised the world for decades...
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!? actually, the history of mafia and how it has created and then began speading in other continents is a point in my favour. again, savage uncontrolled immigration is BAD.
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The fact that there are many immigrants in prison doesn't mean that most foreigners are more eager to commit crimes, it means simply that criminality migrates along with the waves of honest people looking for a better life. If criminals commit crimes you shouldn't judge normal people for that, so I totally disagree when you say that people have the right to be skeptical.
Also if you want to reason with statistics, you will surely know that 60% of the people in detention were imprisoned for drug dealing BUT all the drug flows in our country is controlled by the 100% italian organized crime.
Another curious statistic was about Italy being the first country in Europe for death by gunshots and murders, so I guess you feel utterly unsafe while taking a walk trough your italian neibourhood?
And about white genocide, I consider it bullshit. Even if it was true, I don't really care of being white nor being surrounded by black people.
One last thing: I am italian ;)
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you can minimize and turn around this matter as much as you want but numbers speaks clear and totally contradict what you say, sorry. i don't know what you want to demostrate by listing crimes committed by italians (which happens. what a find!!). the fact that italians do commmit crimes don't authorize nor justify foreigners to do the same (and in that case it should be considered worst as its supposed for you to act honest as you are a GUEST). the problem is that the "waves of honest people looking for a better life" is nowhere to be seen. all i see is people lazing in the street begging stranger for coins, living like animals, eat where they defecate and defecate where they eat. they do not even show the least intent to build a new life. and if ignoring them puts you in error, justify them makes you a moral accomplice.
... could it be that the numbers you mentioned might be somehow related to immigration? i mean, its just about making 2 + 2. also i would like to see a source on that 100% (???) of drug flows being controlled by italian. it is knows that along the "waves of honest people looking for a better life" there are also members of the black axe group, a nigerian crime organization implicated in drug, prostitution and weapon smuggling.
what's you hopinion about rapes? in the article is stressed that the 60% of rape crimes are attributable to italians. isn't this weird if you consider that foreigner are a minority of about 5 millions of people in a total of 60 millions italians?
One last thing: I am italian ;)
well now that's a bit anachronistic for you to say :v .and first of all you should be proud of being romanian, because thats what you are. self-racism is a bad beast.
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So on what base you say that italians are more allowed than foreigners to commit crimes?
I'm curious about how many of these "animals" you've had contact with, because I've been volunteering for Caritas and I have a vague idea of what they've been trough. You obviously have no idea of that, and if you do and still say what you just said it means that you lack of human empathy and are a poor human being.
Having a degree in criminology makes me a little more entitled to speak about criminality that you are, unless you state of having a greater level degree and having access to more data than I had. Almost all murders and deaths by gunshot are caused by italians simply because italian organized crime has control over the illegal weapons in our country, no foreign criminal organization present in Italy is strong enough to import weapons or drugs.
Anyway statistics shows also that despite immigration is growing every year here, crimes keep decreasing which contradicts whatever perception of degraded country you have. Specifically sexual buses committed by italians reduced by 50% and by foreigners by 66% in one year.
You keep bringing up things you discussed with your friends at bar, reality is different.
The self-racist thing is another bullshit you probably heard at the bar and sound cool to you. I am not denying my origins and they don't bother me. I just feel part of the society where I grew and you are one of those people that never integrated in our society because your ethical values are antithetical to western and christian way of thinking.
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oh look, another intellectual elitist with a heart so gentle and pure to believe that he is the almighty god!
noone is allowed to commit a crime, good job on turning that omelet.
if you emigrate to a country being poor and desperate, without a home and without at least the prospect for a decent future, the last thing you should be planning to do is to become a criminal, especially if in the country in which you are a guest you have an ongoing request for political asylum in progress. its common sense, decency, respect, is not biting the hand that gives you to eat, call it what you want. if you go to a friend's house i don't think you would start farting like a wild boar, or to put your fingers up your nose like there is no tomorrow. the concept is the same. it does not seem so difficult to understand, especially for one so educated like you.
and this brings us to why I call them animals, parasites, leech, and so on.
their behavior does not match the reason why they have migrated. see, that would be build a life away from their d 'country of origin, not to spend all day doing nothing in the parks, in squares, in train stations, bus, self ghettoized neighborhoods where it is better not to enter if you have white skin. and no, the shit one might have been through does not authorize them to act like shit.
go on, deny reality as much as you want. numbers are still there, the gentle immigrants you ideologize so much are real only in your naive mind. the friend at the bar i have (???) are more connected to the reality than you are anyway, but this is all you can expect from a those that
downward percentage don't have any value if you don't start from a numeric digit.
here they are, right from the italian minister of justice. official value updated at 30 september 2016. you are welcome.
https://www.giustizia.it/giustizia/it/mg_1_14_1.page?facetNode_1=1_5_33&contentId=SST1268361&previsiousPage=mg_1_14
https://www.giustizia.it/giustizia/it/mg_1_14_1.page?facetNode_1=1_5_33&contentId=SST1279574&previsiousPage=mg_1_14
https://www.giustizia.it/giustizia/it/mg_1_14_1.wp?previsiousPage=mg_1_14&contentId=SST1256179
as it seems that you for some reason are not able to judge a thing by itself whitout imply a comparison, here is some demografic number to make some. taking in account italians, plus moroccan and egyptian (africans that commits more crime here)
http://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/indici-demografici-struttura-popolazione/
http://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri/marocco/
http://www.tuttitalia.it/statistiche/cittadini-stranieri/egitto/
will leave the math calculation test to you. as smart as you are i'm sure its not a problem :v hit me up when you are doneso we can talk about it. if you can't see behind your sense of morality and emphaty that is clearly blinding you, then this is a road without exits and there is no reason to keep moving forward.
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I've grown up and lived in three different countries with distinct cultures, and I consider my cultural makeup and Identity to be an amalgamation of all three. I only have one citizenship (that of my birth country), although I have lived for longer elsewhere and would qualify for being able to at least apply for it, if not for some bureaucratic idiocy that I don't really want to get into here. So in short, I can relate to your situation, and I can empathise with some of your experiences.
That said, I always say that I consider myself a citizen of the planet earth, and look forward to the time when the human race can move beyond notions of petty nationalism and archaic borders. Although sadly I do not have much hope that I will live to witness such a thing actually happening :(
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if someone has same belief or same principles or same views with me, they are brothers.
if someone has different belief but build good relationship with me, they are great neighbors.
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I am also from Romania and when I'm visiting other countries I get marked as a thief/gypsy/etc. Well...people need to understand once and for all that gypsies are not Romanians. They are nomads. Every country has them. They don't originate from Romania. So yeah...i'm a racist when it comes to gypsies. They ruined Romania's reputation and because of them we are treated like shit. So yeah... I feel you Bro. Good luck in Italy.
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Except that gypsies aren't nomads.
Historically they were more nomadic, predominantly because they weren't allowed to stay in one place too long - they'd get forcibly kicked out if they tried setting down roots. Nowadays, they're predominantly stationary, and marginalized by the societies where they live, squeezed into ghettos.
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Trust me...they are still nomadic. Locally they are moving from place to place, district to district, city to city and coming back from time to time to their "roots". This behavior is then reflected from time to time beyond the country borders. And by the way, the don't get forcibly kicked out because of them trying to set down roots. It's because of their dirty and beggarly lifestyle, swearing, stealing, beating, vandalizing and refusing to keep things clean where they live.
This wiki article reflects what i've wanted to say in the first place - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people
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Actually, I think this article sums it up much better
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Nah. There are a ton of other nations co-existing here in Romania without any problems. For example, in my block of flats there are 3 Chinese families, around 4-5 Arab families, 2 French families (one of the French families is black) and if i remember well i think there is one Italian family. We're getting along just fine and with a normal lifestyle. Now, a few years ago, 2, maybe 3 years, a wealthy gypsy family moved in our block. They were super messy. Even if they were rich (from all the fucking gold they had on their necks and the cars they were driving, like Bentley and Porsche) they pissed all over our peace of mind. They were loud like hell, after midnight, during the day, 24/7. They made a mess in the front garden, throwing garbage all around. They wouldn't give a heck about their neighbors. One of their kids even verbally abused one of the Arab couples. And the examples can continue. So we decided to call the police and the block administrator and they evacuated them all and imprisoned one of them for a whole list of infractions.
So no, this is not racism. When it comes to gypsies racism is implied and deserved. They choose to piss on all the nations because they don't care about them, they don't know what respect is and they want to have a nation of their own. It's totally bullshit when gypsies say that they want to be accepted. They just want to be accepted as long as they can steal. After they are done, they move on.
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Racism is often seen as a blamable / immoral action towards any kind of individual nowadays. As an example, if someone from my city would hate blacks, Chinese, Arabs, etc because of their believes, culture, history, etc ... then that person would be marked as racist. But most of the individuals from my city aren't racists. That's why there is a huge cultural diversity here. But gypsies don't stand in this position. Everybody hates them by default , with no exceptions. They are the worst kind of leechers. That kind that doesn't care about anything. So ... even by receiving the racism treatment, for them is something normal, their way of life. Racism isn't part of their vocabulary because racism is something they were formed on during the past hundreds years. Now you understand?
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It's sad, isn't it? Racism towards gypsies has become not only institutionalized, but entrenched in society, both there and here, in Bulgaria. And to some extent I can't blame people here for it. Not being racist towards gypsies is somewhat like being an atheist in a religious fundamentalist country. Not too many people can think independently enough to reject society's idiocy, and those who do find it in their best interest to not talk about it too much.
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Not a bad comparison, but not a very accurate one either. The thing is, the Romani who integrate culturally are mostly indistinguishable from the local population, so it's not so much hatred based on physical features as hatred of those born in an unfortunate situation. I'd compare it to the Victorian era common thinking that poor people's problems are their own fault and they deserve to suffer and to be treated badly (That was an actual thing, right, not a myth?). And I think that makes it somehow worse.
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I'm from Bulgaria, the country with the highest percentage of gypsies among its population, and I can tell you it's not being gypsy that makes them bad, it's being ostracized by society for a very long time. They're no worse than other ethnic groups were several hundred years ago. But because they live on the fringes of society, they missed out on most of the changes that the societies around them experienced since the Industrial revolution.
The obvious proof of this is that numerous ethnically Romani people have become indistinguishable from the rest of their country's population over time. If they manage to get through the entirety of school, get an actual job and are exposed to non-gypsy society from a young age, they'll generally assimilate. Last year I was hired to help provide free blood tests and pelvic exams for people without medical insurance. Due to an uninformed person organizing things, we were sent to a gypsy neighbourhood where it turned out the majority of people were insured. And they were insured because they had steady jobs. And all of them spoke Bulgarian fluently. And their houses were pretty clean too. In fact, if nobody had told me we were going to a gypsy neighbourhood, I'd have mistaken it for a typical part of a small-ish Bulgarian town.
By comparison, what we get in the media about gypsies is pretty much the worst they can find - Rich fuckers running people over with their expensive cars after they've had their licenses revoked, roving bands of armed robbers terrorizing the countryside, young mothers pregnant with their 16th child just to get more child support money, cruel idiots beating their horses to death because they collapsed from exhaustion, violent people attacking doctors and journalists, adults who can't speak a word of Bulgarian, etc. So I get why most people here (and in Romania as well, I assume) are racist towards them. But that doesn't make it any less wrong.
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Citizenship isn't subjective, it's legally defined. If you have an Italian passport (or even if you don't, but you are registered as a citizen), you are Italian. Italy is kind of interesting because most Italians identify more closely with their region than with being Italian because for most of its history it was not a unified nation with a single language, it was a fragmented group of sovereign states. My father is from Abruzzo, and my relatives speak the Abruzzese dialect, which is completely different to Italian If you meet someone from Rome, they will usually tell you that they are from Rome, not that they are Italian (although that's kind of just how they are in Rome - very proud). Bologna is probably the most progressive city, perhaps because they have such a big students population. You may find that they are a lot more welcoming towards you there.
The experiences you described are straight out racism. You are right that it is a particularly hot topic in Italy at the moment because it's a relatively easily accessible destination for somebody fleeing Africa by boat. They are very traditional in many parts of Italy and they have long memories. When I visited my relatives 10 years ago, there were a couple of old timers weeping about what the Germans did there during WW2. At a subconscious level, people develop racist ideas because it gives them a quick and easy way to categorise strangers in terms of risk. It doesn't have to be accurate, it just provides a system that reduces the energy spent assessing someone. People will trust you once they get to know you but those stereotypes only get broken down through exposure, so if there aren't many other Romanians around, first you'll be "from Romania, but cool" and they'll probably still be racist towards Romanians in general. Remember that older people have had very little exposure to other cultures. They didn't travel like we do now, and they didn't have the internet. You should find younger people more accepting, in general, but again it varies from person to person and from place to place. Your friend invited you home, which indicates that he trusts you, right? I'm guessing that he told you about what his parents did because he's ashamed of what they did. Maybe you should ask him if he thinks you're Italian.
You obviously at least partially identify as Italian, so if somebody says that you're not, you can tell them where you grew up, where you went to school, and that you even have a piece of paper to prove that you're Italian, so you're not particularly interested in their ill-informed opinion. Don't settle in for a debate, though, because these people have already made up their mind and don't want to listen to reason, but if you can make a strong point, they might consider it over time. Also, don't pretend to be ashamed of your Romanian heritage just to make them happy. Tell them, "Yes I was born in Romania, and I'm proud of it. We are good people." If they call Romanians violent, remind them that the Roman empire didn't expand via peaceful diplomacy and that in Romania there aren't enormous stadia like the Colosseum for the public to watch men fight other men and animals to the death. You can also ask them why they think it's called Romania, and remind them that it was part of the Roman empire about 1,750 years before Italy was unified as a Kingdom.
I'm Australian, but I have an unusual name that the mostly British masses have difficulty with. My second name is Italian and my first name is Scandinavian (but I have no heritage there at all - my parent were hippies and thought it sounded cool). I often give a fake name if I order a pizza over the phone because otherwise I have to say it three times and they still get it wrong most of the time. My first name sounds quite a bit like a relatively common Serbian name, and back in the 1990s, strangers who heard it (in a bar) would ask if I was Serbian because they were Croatian and wanted to fight me if I was!
I guess what you're really asking is how accepting and welcoming are we of immigrants? As you can tell, I'm quite open to migrants and don't believe that they "must assimilate", beyond following the local laws (which really requires learning English). Migrants are encouraged to identify as Australian once they become citizens, so someone might say "I'm Australian, I came from Cambodia" for example and second generation migrants will identify as Australian but also proudly declare their roots, which they also identify with, e.g. "I'm Australian but my parents are Croatian". There are plenty of people with the same attitude as me, but there are also a lot of very conservative people who are afraid of "asylum seekers" (refugees), and especially Muslims, which these ignorant rednecks seem to think are a race. People are always afraid of change when they are happy with their life, and unfortunately, we had a Prime Minister (John Howard) that exploited this fear to great political success, starting in the 1990s, and this "border protection" tactic has dominated Australian politics ever since.
Australia is another a strange case because practically everyone migrated here, but only from Britain for most of our history. There is a history of genocide against the Aborigines and shameful longstanding racially-driven immigration policy (the first act of Parliament after Federation in 1901 was to make immigration laws that became known as "The White Australia Policy" and things only really began changing after the Vietnam War). Australia only began counting Aborigines as citizens in the census and allowing them to vote in the 1960s!
Anyway, mate, this change of behaviour when you explain your background reflects poorly on the people that do it, not on you. I wouldn't particularly care what they think because it would make me lose respect for them straight away. It's pathetic to have such a poorly functioning brain that their observations and reasoning are overridden by primitive pre-conceived stereotypes (which aren't even correct!). I'd almost feel like thanking them for making it so easy to tell that they are too stupid to bother talking to, like if they wore a red hat with a bell on and a sign saying "Ignorant bigot", it really prevents you wasting any time on them.
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Some time ago I commented on a thread sharing part of my story, and I noticed that the topic was very interesting for many so I'd like to open the discussion to a wider range of audience, and also understand how ways of thinking change according to countries.
Long story short: I was born in Romania and lived there for 9 years, then I moved to Italy because my mother found a job here. I grown up in Italy, went to school and university in Italy, have italian friends and cook italian food BUT I don't have a italian name, so every time I have to give explanations about it, and so sometimes people change their behaviour towards me.
Most o the time it's simple distrust, like when I went to a friend's home and he told me that his parents spent half an hour to hide their belongings and jewelry when they knew I was coming. A couple of times it came to open statements like "you will never be italian", "your people are all violents and thiefs", "you should go home to where you came from".
The very most people here are not like this, I have lots of friends and know lots of awesome people so I will never blame the population for these episodes. But still they happened, and became more frequent in the last years with the arrival of immigrants on our coasts. If I'd had to say what I feel to be, I'd say italian for sure because it's the only culture I know and have, but lately I started to question myself "will I ever be fully accepted in this society or my name will be an obstacle for my lifetime?".
I've made a poll and I'd like you to share your opinion, and if possible, to say where are you from.
I've also added 10 sweet giveaways for you:
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