Smith Goes JYA
How to Reconcile the Ideal with the Real
Anna Newman
Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: Features
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He stands on the corner of a busy intersection, squeegee in hand, battered hat pulled down over a dark face, now a long brown overcoat to protect him from the chilly weather. With each car that approaches, he raises the squeegee, but most drivers reject the simple service he offers: washing their car windows while they wait at the red light. No matter what time I return home, he is always there: early in the morning, during lunchtime, in the dark.
On my second day in Florence, back in September, I was witness to what is a common phenomenon in Italy: a protest. This particular protest took place in the piazza outside of the Smith Sede and was led by people upset about a meeting of provincial leaders. I learned that the government officials were holding a discussion about banning immigrants from washing car windows, an issue which is apparently very controversial in Italy. Some of the immigrants, frustrated and angry, attack cars with hammers and smash windows if the drivers refuse to have their car windows washed. The protesters had gathered that day because they represented those immigrants who were not violent and relied on washing windows for a living. Banning this practice would mean plunging many immigrants into even more dire conditions than those in which they currently live.
Italy has an immigration problem that some might consider even greater than that of the United States. Immigration has increased dramatically over the past few decades. In 1970, there were 140,000 immigrants living in Italy; by 1997 the number was over 1 million, and in 2005, the immigrant population had jumped to almost 3 million. Such a rapid and large growth in immigration to Italy has not correlated with a similar rapid change in the attitudes of Italians about immigrants. There still exist vast prejudices, which have come to light most recently in a crime that made front-page headlines, both for the actual incident and its consequences for Italian society. In late October, an Italian woman was robbed, raped and killed by a Romanian immigrant near Rome. A few days afterward, the Italian government passed a law allowing the Minister of the Interior to expel immigrants without a trial for reasons of national security. Groups of immigrants have already been identified to be expelled by various Italian cities, and while the law has been met with many negative opinions, many more Italians support its goal.