Photo by Kaitlyn Morrell

FLORENCE, Italy — Prior to beginning her semester abroad in Italy, NYU freshman Erica Paige inquired about race relations in Italy, concerned that she would be singled out because of her skin color during her time abroad at NYU in Florence.

A Florentine told Paige, “Italy is not that racist compared to how it gets in other European countries.” However, Paige found that race discrimination is still present in the gaze of some locals.

“People will stare at dark-skinned people with mild aversion with the thought that they might be in the presence of an African refugee,” said Paige. “I haven’t seen dislike for immigrants escalate to any form of physical action; people just glower at them or say something out of ignorance.”

At the Inside American Politics conference at NYU in Florence, U.S. Ambassador to Italy John Phillips responded to concerns about the protection of immigrants in Italy.

“12 to 13 million dollars are spent a month to save these people. And many are not staying in Italy,” said Phillips.

For Katherine Lum, a research fellow at the Migration Policy Center of the European University Institute, immigration has been a challenge to the Italian identity. In an interview, Lum pointed to the relationship between immigration and racial discrimination.

“As Italy's foreign-born population has grown, so too has resistance to these new Italians and the idea of Italy as a culturally diverse nation. Many Italians are fearful of immigrants,” said Lum. “Only a portion of these refugees actually remain in Italy, with many preferring to apply for refugee status in other European countries. The recent violent protests on the outskirts of Rome against a refugee shelter for minors shows that a significant number of Italians link immigration to crime, insecurity and incivility.”

Unification came late, in a European context, for the Italians. Since the fall of the Roman Empire, Italy was sectioned into either city-states or foreign-ruled territories. Different states unified to become the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, before nationalism and an imperialistic spirit were ushered in by the Fascist party following World War I. World War II brought destruction to the country; entire cities were leveled with the Allies’ trek up Italy, the boot of Europe. With its historical background of disunity, Italy in the 21st-century will be further challenged by immigration.

Today, unrest across the Middle East and Africa has caused thousands to seek asylum in Italy, but this pursuit has become deadly. Many attempt the journey across the Mediterranean Sea in small boats that often capsize.

In October 2013, a dinghy carrying close to 500 people from nations across Africa overturned near the Italian island of Lampedusa, resulting in over 350 deaths. Since then, the Italian government has implemented but then subsequently discontinued Operation Mare Nostrum, a government initiative aimed at patrolling the Mediterranean sea lanes between the Italian and African coasts and combating illegal activities like human trafficking.

Italy also sees immigrants from Asia who come to find jobs in the country's garment industry. The textile industry is based in the northern city of Prato where Asian immigrants, particularly those of Chinese origin, make up about 15 percent of the population. With cheap labor forcing many Italians out of Prato’s garment business on top of a hard-hitting recession, the growing Asian population is often viewed with contempt. In 2007, a minor dispute between a Chinese street merchant and an Italian traffic warden in Milan resulted in a full-blown riot through Chinatown over Italian discrimination.

However, discrimination against immigrants is not necessarily a problem emerging from working members of the older generation. NYU freshman and Italian citizen Alice Centamore spoke of her personal experience with this issue, which she sees as emerging among younger generations.

“Unlike what you might think though, young Italians are the ones having trouble accepting immigrants and praising diversity,” said Centamore.

Several students of Asian descent at NYU in Florence reported that they have been jeered at by locals, often accompanied by the assumption that the students were Chinese. While these occurrences did not involve profanity, the students felt personally offended that people would assume their ethnicity based solely on their outward appearance.

According to Lum, Italy’s press and political parties have also contributed to rising xenophobia, with one particularly outspoken party being the Liga Nord.

“[Liga Nord’s] main electoral platform is anti-immigrant and xenophobia,” Lum said. “[It is] keeping immigration on the political agenda, organising anti-immigration rallies, and consistently promoting the message that immigration is a threat to local, regional identities, and often incompatible, in the case of Muslim migration, with the Italian way of life.”

Urged by the Liga Nord party, former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi pushed for the passage of several anti-immigration laws. The most notable of these is known as the Pacchetto Sicurezza, or the Security Package, passed in 2009.

“[The Pacchetto Sicurezza makes] illegal entry into Italy a penal crime, punishable with a fine from 5000 to 10000 Euro,” said Lum. “And introduced tougher rules on irregular migrants and those who deal with them, such as landlords and money transfer services. It also extended the length of time that migrants could be detained in a CIE [Centri di Identificazione e Espulsione], up to a period of eighteen months.”

Matteo Renzi, Italy’s new prime minister, has promised that immigration will be a top priority under his administration, and he has proposed a common policy towards those seeking asylum throughout the European Union.

At the Inside American Politics conference, Phillips suggested that immigration and racism in Italy should be addressed by Europe as a whole.

“Europe has not stepped up to recognize this as a European problem by providing resources. Europe needs to step up. And I think they will,” said Phillips.

Besides the Mare Nostrum program, Lum said that, “Renzi has also proposed introducing a modified form of ius soli or citizenship based on birth, to the Italian-born children of migrants who have completed at least two cycles of school in Italy- primary and middle school … Although there is strong resistance to changing the law from the Lega and NCD [Nuovo CentroDestra], as well as ambiguity in the Cinque Stelle party, Berlusconi has indicated that he is willing to support this proposal.”

With immigrants making up 7.4 percent of the Italian population as of this year and more coming everyday, the Italian government has been ramping up its efforts to accommodate this modern mass entrance, yet it is unclear whether the Italian public is ready to move forward as well.

Correction: 7 Dec. 2014