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Bananas Thrown at First Black Italian Minister[W:257]

A regrettable example (among many) of the uncivilized behavior that is rife among today's "protesters".
 
First reaction: :lamo

But I feel bad for her.
 
A regrettable example (among many) of the uncivilized behavior that is rife among today's "protesters".

Not just protesters; I seem to remember a Govt minister apologising for remarking that whenever he looked at her, he was always reminded of an orang-utang.
Italy may have historic culture and an amazing history but I've never felt like taking my two half-Nigerian sons there on any kind of holiday.
 
Not just protesters; I seem to remember a Govt minister apologising for remarking that whenever he looked at her, he was always reminded of an orang-utang.
Italy may have historic culture and an amazing history but I've never felt like taking my two half-Nigerian sons there on any kind of holiday.

Some uncivilized protesters throw bananas. Others throwes cakes or pies. Others run around like femen or ***** riot. Plenty of lack of civility to go around.
 
Found where I'd read the article -

" Earlier this month a senior parliamentarian in the anti-immigration Northern League party likened her to an orangutan and only apologised after a storm of criticism.

Another Northern League party member said on Facebook last month that Kyenge should be raped so she understands how victims of crimes committed by immigrants feel."
 
She is the minister of immigrant integration and some BS like that and she is doing a horrible job.

So if people want to bully her, fine. She's a minister. She's a public official. Grow a thicker skin and take the hits. If you want people to commend you on your job, do a good job. I guarantee you, if she had done a good job in her position, people wouldn't have treated her this way.
 
She is the minister of immigrant integration and some BS like that and she is doing a horrible job.

So if people want to bully her, fine. She's a minister. She's a public official. Grow a thicker skin and take the hits. If you want people to commend you on your job, do a good job. I guarantee you, if she had done a good job in her position, people wouldn't have treated her this way.

She may or may not be a competent minister and it is obviously legitimate to criticize her. Throwing bananas (or anything else) at someone is not criticism, but simply hooligan behavior.
 
She may or may not be a competent minister and it is obviously legitimate to criticize her. Throwing bananas (or anything else) at someone is not criticism, but simply hooligan behavior.

We have different interpretations of hooliganism then. Hooliganism is if you go vandalize a private property of someone who hasn't got anything to do with public office. So if you go and throw bananas at me, that's hooliganism since I'm not a public person.

Public officials are not above any kind of criticism. I will grant you that throwing bananas is not a good way of expressing your disagreement, but it's not hooliganism. Why? because that's her job. She's out there for everyone to have an opinion on her and to express it as they wish.
 
Including asking for her to be raped?

I did say that the way in which people expressed themselves is not a commendable one. I am just saying, that as a public figure, all chips are on the table. She's not beyond any form of criticism or public attack, regardless of how well crafted, or in this case, distasteful it is. She needs to take the hits that come with the job. Or she can quit.
 
Criticism, even harsh criticism, is OK and legitimate. Uncivilized behavior is uncivilized, whether it's directed at a public person or at anybody else.
 
Criticism, even harsh criticism, is OK and legitimate. Uncivilized behavior is uncivilized, whether it's directed at a public person or at anybody else.

Can you state to an absolute certainty that throwing bananas at her was not a form of harsh criticism?

Arnold Scharzenegger (bloody name) had eggs thrown at him when he was running for gov of California. He took it with a smile and said it was free protein.

The point is. It's not uncivilized behavior. It's a form of criticism. Not the most elegant one. not a desirable one. But it is still a form of criticism and the people of Italy are well within their rights to throw all manner of abuse at an incompetent minister.
 
Can you state to an absolute certainty that throwing bananas at her was not a form of harsh criticism?

Arnold Scharzenegger (bloody name) had eggs thrown at him when he was running for gov of California. He took it with a smile and said it was free protein.

The point is. It's not uncivilized behavior. It's a form of criticism. Not the most elegant one. not a desirable one. But it is still a form of criticism and the people of Italy are well within their rights to throw all manner of abuse at an incompetent minister.

Throwing things at another person is not criticism. It is a form of physical assault. It is uncivilized at best, criminal at worst.
 
Throwing things at another person is not criticism. It is a form of physical assault. It is uncivilized at best, criminal at worst.

Yes, if you throw knives or rocks or something considered a weapon. Bananas aren't weapons. They are food.
 
Yes, if you throw knives or rocks or something considered a weapon. Bananas aren't weapons. They are food.

That is why it's uncivilized rather than criminal.
 
That is why it's uncivilized rather than criminal.

Only if you throw it at private individuals. it's a legitimate form of protest when throwing it at public figure.
 
Only if you throw it at private individuals. it's a legitimate form of protest when throwing it at public figure.

Well, we disagree here. People who throw things at other people are uncivilized hooligans who can't argue their point.
 
Well, we disagree here. People who throw things at other people are uncivilized hooligans who can't argue their point.

Well, we don't disagree on the fact that these people can't make a comprehensive discussion on the things they dislike.
We do disagree on calling them hooligans... I call them protesters, and we disagree on calling it uncivilized because I call it distasteful.
 
Throwing a banana at a black person carries complex connotations. That they are barely evolved from monkeys, freshly descended from the trees, sub-human. It is not comment or criticism, it's raw racist hate.
 
-- she is doing a horrible job.

--snip--

I guarantee you, if she had done a good job in her position, people wouldn't have treated her this way.

Have you got a link to the reports on her performance? Looking at the Human Rights Watch report - Italian press owned by Berlusconi are quite fascist in their approach to reports on immigrants and their performance in Italy so I doubt there will be any positive reports about her in any newspapers.

Why is the government keeping her in place if she's doing so badly?

Regarding throwing bananas at her - outside Italy it is something with racist overtones. Inside Italy, the HRW report states that there are no laws regarding racism in Italy anyway so most immigrants are pretty much at the mercy of Berlusconi's press.
 
Have you got a link to the reports on her performance? Looking at the Human Rights Watch report - Italian press owned by Berlusconi are quite fascist in their approach to reports on immigrants and their performance in Italy so I doubt there will be any positive reports about her in any newspapers.

Why is the government keeping her in place if she's doing so badly?

Regarding throwing bananas at her - outside Italy it is something with racist overtones. Inside Italy, the HRW report states that there are no laws regarding racism in Italy anyway so most immigrants are pretty much at the mercy of Berlusconi's press.

There aren't any positive feedbacks on her because there are no positive feedbacks to give. She's incompetent. She gets paid a lot of money from public funds, she has a whole department which is supposed to work on immigrant integration, and she has successfully managed to waste the Italian people's money on no accomplishments except an escalation of violence from the immigrant community, especially from the african and ME backgrounds, on Italians. And that's the reality. And in response, italian extremist groups respond in kind. It's an overall bad situation and the branch of govt which is supposed to fix it is inept. And this woman is to blame.

The government keeps her in place because that's politics for you. Don't ask me why socialists in Italy think the way they do, I don't know.

Eggs, tomatoes, all manner of vegetables and fruits and such have been thrown at unpopular people since the dawn of time. It's a legitimate way in which people show their disapproval. If you want to say that bananas carry a racist overtone, fine, you can say that. But why are bananas any different than tomatoes or eggs? I don't see any difference.
 
pretty much the norm at a lot of football games on the continent
 
I cannot watch the video from the office, anyway I think she is disliked mainly for her positions, not for the color of her skin.
But I agree that throwing bananas to her was wrong and stupid.
 
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