Waiting for the Italian Obama
Amara Lakhous 7 July 2008

Barack Hussein Obama could become the first black president in American history. And this would not be the only first if he wins the great race against Republican John McCain. There is another important first linked to his potential election to the White House: Obama is the son of mixed nationality parents, his mother is an American from Kansas and his father is originally from Kenya. Therefore Obama is the son of an immigrant.

Talk of the American dream is common, where aspirations, work, merit and personal freedom count for more than one’s geographical origins or their religious or cultural roots. Therefore Obama’s case really is its highest expression. Turning our attention back to Italy, it immediately comes to mind whether, in the not so distant future of this country, we will ever witness the son of an immigrant become President of the Republic, as happened in France with Nicolas Sarkozy, or President of the Council, or at the very least a Minister?

The current situation is not encouraging. One needs to remember that more than half a million children of immigrants who were born in this country or arrived as small children do not have Italian citizenship. The previous government did not approve a law in their favour in time, and the current executive branch is not even thinking about it. So they are excluded by name by a merciless law, the ‘Right of Blood’, and are condemned to being an Italian with a stay permit.

It is worth noting the case of Mario Balotelli, the rising star playing for Inter Milan and perhaps eventually for Marcello Lippi’s National team, who was born in Palermo with Ghanaian parents and then brought up by a family from Brescia. “It was humiliating”, revealed the footballer, “I lived through this situation of huge injustice and suffered from it. In all this time I have never owned a document testifying that I am Italian”. Balotelli was unable to play for the Under 21 national team and is waiting to reach coming of age so that he can ask for citizenship.

Unfortunately the lack in grants of citizenship is not the only obstacle, there are many others too. Let’s take the example of school education for the children of immigrants, viewed as a vital and strategic issue for integration in the United States, Canada, France, Germany and Scandinavia. In a recent report from the Ministry of Education, during the school year 2006-2007, the number of ‘non-Italian’ pupils was more than 500,000. By 2011, this figure will double, resulting in one million pupils.

What are the suggestions to respond to this enormous demographic, political, social and cultural challenge? In Italy unsettling proposals have been put forward to introduce quotas in schools for immigrant children! Italian parents are increasingly deciding to change their child’s school when the number of foreign classmates grows, fearing a drop in the level of education. Today it is really extreme and difficult to imagine an Italian Obama: a black man, with Muslim origins, the son of an immigrant stepping foot into the Quirinal Palace or the Palazzo Madama (the House of the Senate of the Italian Republic, just two steps away from the Vatican!). So what do we have left? Waiting for the Italian dream!

Amara Lakhous is an Italian-Algerian writer and anthropologist. He has lived in Rome since 1995 and is author of the book Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio.

Translation by Helen Waghorn

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