The election of fear
Italians are more afraid of a far-right backlash than immigrants.
▻https://www.politico.eu/article/italy-election-fear-macerata-shooting-migrants-far-right
The drive-by shooting spree in Macerata is the latest in a long line of violent attacks by radicalized Italians. In December 2011, two Senegalese street sellers were killed and a third wounded by a far-right activist near Florence’s central market. In July 2016, a Nigerian refugee was killed by a right-wing football hooligan in Fermo for reacting to a racist insult. Besides these two deadly episodes, there have been countless other smaller scale attacks, including “punitive expeditions” against immigrant shops and reception centers.
Unfortunately, these two strands of fear don’t cancel each other out. They might very well coexist in the same hearts and minds, contributing to a growing disillusionment in politics and entrenching divisions in Italian society. This fear of a xenophobic backlash won’t necessarily have a large enough impact on the polls next month, or neutralize people’s willingness to believe right-wing parties’ pledges to “fix” Italy’s migration problem.
But while the overall landscape is worrying, there are some mildly reassuring signs: There have been no mass anti-immigrant protests and while hatred circulating on social media is certainly toxic, the infection appears to be still mainly contained to online forums. Opinion polls are indispensable for gauging the public mood but, especially when dealing with an emotionally loaded phenomenon like migration, they are volatile.