Italian Orangutan Insult Kerfuffle
Roberto Calderoli - Cecile Kyenge
(Rome, Italy)
Deputy Senate Speaker Roberto Calderoli said on Monday that comments about Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge that have been slammed as the umpteenth racist insult by anti-immigration Northern League members were born from his "love for animals".So, Calderoli disagrees with Kyenge's immigration policies and decides to resolve the issue by calling her a pejorative name. Name-calling is hardly a preferred method of resolving political disputes.
The Northern League heavyweight told the Italian daily paper Il Corriere della Sera that his comparison of the Congolese-born minister to an orangutan he made over the weekend was "an aesthetic judgment, not meant to be racist".
Calderoli said while speaking at town festival in Carroccio a Treviglio near his home city of Bergamo that "when I see her (Kyenge's) pictures, I can't help but think of her resemblance to an orangutan".
Premier Enrico Letta called Calderoli's comments "unacceptable...beyond every limit," and expressed his support of Kyenge.
After Calderoli phoned Kyenge to apologize, Lombardy Governor and Northern League leader Roberto Maroni said that the Senator had "done well to do so," but that the comments had been fueled by "immigration policies proposed by Kyenge that are not only wrong, they contribute to the uncontrollable influx of immigration" into Italy.
1 comment:
So? It's... fun sometimes. You are such a stick in the mud. I agree with you often, but... You just need to relax and let things happen. YOU shouldn't be offended for anyone else. And if you feel offended, when something is aimed at you, either deal with it or come up with something better to throw back.
This whole, "you can't say that" crap has got to end. Because, as is evidenced from every side... indeed, you CAN say that. If nothing else the notion is contrary to reality. We need to start dealing with reality. And we will, one way or another.
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