Racial discrimination is now “commonplace” across 12 European countries, and one in three people of African descent has experienced harassment in the past five years, a report this week found. This doesn’t surprise me. Since my election to the Italian Chamber of Deputies in 2013, I have constantly faced racist abuse. When I became Italy’s minister for integration, as the country’s first black minister, it got worse. A fellow Italian MEP, Mario Borghezio, called my appointment “a shitty choice” by a “bongo-bongo” government, adding that I had “the face of a housewife”.
A former vice-president of the Italian Senate, Roberto Calderoli, said in a public meeting: “When I see pictures of Kyenge I can’t help but think of the features of an orangutan.” Other extreme-right politicians have called me “Zulu” and “Congolese monkey”. I have faced death threats and now live under police protection. This year, during and after Italy’s general election we saw hate speech lead to horrific crimes, including the targeted shooting of migrants and violent attacks on anti-fascist demonstrators including my European parliament colleague Eleonora Forenza.
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