Italy’s first black cabinet minister Cécile Kyenge continues to be the target of right-wing politicians who have reportedly thrown bananas at her, hurled racist taunts and even implied sexual violence against her.
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Now a populist coalition called the Northern League is doing everything is its power to bring Kyenge down. In its latest attempt, its leader Matteo Salvini, who is Italy’s interior minister and deputy prime minister, is trying to obtain a legal judgment against Kyenge for criticizing his party, the Washington Post reports.
In response to the Northern League’s intimidation tactics, Kyenge called the Northern League party “racist” at an annual social-democratic political event in the northern city of Parma.
Kyenge told the Post that she has no problem defending herself in court. She said she’ll even give up the enhanced protection for freedom of expression enjoyed by lawmakers in Brussels in order to stand trial, she said.
“If they attack me, they attack many other people,” she said. “It’s important for me to be there and to make sure that the court doesn’t accept these accusations, not just for me but for all people who stand up against racism in Italy.”
Kyenge said she’s targeted by the League because: “They want me to shut up.”
“I’m a symbol in Italy,” she said. “I’m a symbol for migration, for diversity.”
Kyenge was born in Congo and moved to Italy three decades ago to study medicine. An eye surgeon, she lives in Modena with her Italian husband and two children. She was active in local center-left politics before winning a seat in the lower Chamber of Deputies in February elections.
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Premier Enrico Letta tapped Kyenge to be minister of integration in his hybrid center-left and center-right government that won its second vote of confidence Tuesday. In his introductory speech to Parliament, Letta touted Kyenge’s appointment as a “new concept about the confines of barriers giving way to hope, of unsurpassable limits giving way to a bridge between diverse communities.”
His praise and that of others has been almost drowned out by the racist slurs directed at Kyenge by politicians of the anti-immigrant Northern League party and members of neo-fascist Internet groups.
Now 54, Kyenge is considering whether to move on and become advocate for fight against racil discrimination.
“If I can do this for myself, I can do this for others,” she said. “Racism is a crime. Racism must be erased.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.