Cecile Kyenge – First Black Cabinet Minister Takes Office In Italy

 

Italy, has long had problems with racial integration between its immigrant classes and hoped to resolve some of those issues when they appointed Cecile Kyenge as the first black Cabinet minister in their government, but they didn’t succeed.
Italy has always been rife with racialism, even on the soccer playing fields where racist taunts can be heard. Now, however, racism has reared its ugly head in the political arena.
Kyenge has been the center of attacks from within political circles. She was mocked by Mario Borghezio, a member of the Northern League party, who called the new cabinet a “bonga bonga government.” Neo-fascist websites have also called Kyenge a “Congolese monkey” and other derogatory names. Investigations into these websites have been sanctioned by the Italian government.
Kyenge, an eye surgeon who moved to Italy more than 30 years ago from the Congo has an Italian husband and two children. The 48 year old won a seat in the February elections, in the lower Chamber of Deputies and has been active in local center-left politics for some time.
Kyenge was brought in to be minister of integration by Premier Enrico Letta and he said of Kyenge’s appointment that it was a “new concept about the confines of barriers giving way to hope, of unsurpassable limits giving way to a bridge between diverse communities.”
However, Letta’s praise of Kyenge has been overshadowed by the racist slurs that have been hurled against her. Her biggest antagonists seem to be the Northern League party, an anti-immigrant party and members of neo-fascist internet groups.
Borghezio said, in a Radio 24 interview, that Kyenge would corrupt Italy by trying to “impose tribal traditions” from her native Congo.
However, Kyenge showed her true grit by not responding in the same fashion to those who criticized and derided her by tweeting “I believe even criticism can inform if it’s done with respect.”