Make Some Noise!

In a country known for its more humane view of life and living, this is despicable. However, it also shows how far Italy is veering toward the right with the influx of immigration(ironic from a country from which so many people immigrated,including the infamous Mafia and La Cosa Nostra- two groups not famous for law-abiding behavior).

ON a beach near Naples, two young Roma (Gypsy) girls, both born in Italy (and therefore Italian citizens) lie covered with towels, not because they are sunbathing, but because they have drowned in sea, right off the beach.

For several hours, as their bodies lay on the beach awaiting an ambulance, Italian beach goers picnicked nearby, and continued to enjoy the beach.

The relationship between Italians and have been fraught with tension of late, especially with the influx of Roma from the Balkans. There are severe problems with integration and aculturation even though the Roma have been living in Italy for almost 1,000 years.

Whatever the rubs, however, two little girls lay dead on a public beach, and in the words of James Baldwin as he spoke about the four little girls killed in an explosion of a church on a Sunday in the South during the Civil Rights Movement years, "nobody cared."

How sad for these children, how absolutely tragic for the rest of us.