Racist at the roots

Whilst researching material for my next piece, I came across an article on Amanda Knox published in L'Espresso, an Italian left-leaning newspaper, which is an unnerving example of how entrenched xenophobia and casual racism have become in Italy. The author refers to Rudy Guede and Patrick Lumumba as the "Uomo Nero", which is Italy's version of the bogeyman and translates literally as "the Black Man". How l'Uomo Nero has managed to survive the advent of political correctness and remain part of Italian popular culture despite its intrinsic racist connotation is already bewildering in itself and a damning sign; however, the fact that a leading, well-established and more disconcertingly left-leaning newspaper can refer to two black men as the Uomo Nero in a grotesque play on words or even careless lack of tact is indicative of how Italy has tacitly accepted xenophic attitudes in its popular culture.