A Trip to Benning Road

As I walk down Western Avenue towards the intersection with Wisconsin,  the ostentatious elegance of Friendship Heights widens my eyes. Capital Grille stands to my left, sitting next to an imposing, almost stately looking building housing the upscale shopping chain, Bloomingdales. There exists a very languid ambiance, as pedestrians and shoppers casually stroll around one of metropolitan DC's most pristine neighborhoods. The demographics are monotonous; diversity exemplified by differences in designer purses. Just down the street from the Metro, as if holding a cross-country mirror, stands a Rodeo Drive of sorts, housing the world’s most fashionable brands: Barneys, Dior, Bulgari, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Jimmy Choo, Tiffany’s, Brooks Brothers, and Saks Fifth Avenue, all sitting comfortably next to one another.

This area of Washington DC is among the wealthiest and most educated in the entire country. Just down the street is Chevy Chase Village, where charming homes complete with perfectly manicured lawns are ubiquitous, housing some of the capital's most well known inhabitants (including Chief Justice John Roberts). According to Bloomberg, the average income of households living in Chevy Chase Village is over $300,000. Part of Friendship Heights is also located in Bethesda, a city of 60,000 with an opulent downtown. Bethesda consistently ranks among America's most educated cities, home to the NIH and Walter Reed Medical Center as well as being the  headquarters of Marriott and Ritz-Carlton, defense contractor Lockheed-Martin, and insurance giant, Geico. In recent years, due to a boom in government contracting, real estate developers have gravitated towards the city and the wealthy suburbs that litter the area, building upscale and luxurious high-rises to satiate an inexorable demand. But Washington DC is not one city, it is two; a quintessential dichotomy. While Friendship Heights feels like a suburban utopia, and while downtown DC is an immaculate ode to the founders of this country, there is another part of DC that is never seen, a part never visited, and a part that can feel a world away.

For my Criminal Procedure class, an extra-credit option was presented for students to go on a police ride- along in Washington DC, presumably as a way to observe, first hand, how much of the material learned in class is actually performed in practice. I assumed that the liaison at the police department would assign me to a department near my house, in the second district, a prosperous area that takes up a large chunk of Northwest DC. Given my assumed placement, I predicted an uneventful ride-along encompassed mostly with traffic stops of suburban parents on their way home from work. Instead, I received an email, informing me that I had been assigned to the Sixth District in Northeast DC, located at 100 42nd Street, near the Benning Road Metro Station.

The Sixth district, along with the Seventh district, have, over the last several years, been the most dangerous parts, in terms of violent crime, in all of Washington DC. They are conveniently located across the Anacostia River, geographically segregated from the rest of the district. It would be nearly impossible to accidentally "wander" or "get lost" in either district, as you would have to cross a river to do so. DC is split up into oddly delineated quadrants, which all converge with one another at the Capitol building. When you ask residents about the dangerous areas of DC or places not to go to, you'll often hear Southeast (as in the Southeast Quadrant), which is made up mostly of the Sixth and Seventh districts. As a whole, homicide rates have drastically declined since the heyday of violent crime, when murder rates approached 500 in the early 1990s*, a breathtaking number considering that Washington DC's population was just 600,000*. A number of factors explain the decrease including increased attention and policing as well as gentrification, which has improved previously decrepit areas and pushed low-income communities outside the city*. While improvements are evident in regards to the city's statistical reports, vast areas remain filled with seemingly indefatigable criminals, leaving whole neighborhoods in perpetual poverty. Armed with two police officers, I embarked on a trip to get a small glimpse of life in the Sixth District.

The day before I was scheduled to participate in the ride-along, I did a little research just to get some basic information about Southeast and the Sixth District. I went to the MPD website and after clicking on the "Sixth District" tab, I explored the link that says "about the community." A brief excerpt from the description describes the area as covering, "portions of the Northeast (east of the Anacostia River) and Southeast quadrants of the city. The district consists of a mix of single-family detached and row houses, along with a significant number of public housing projects." I Google mapped the directions from the Metro station to the police station to ensure I didn't get lost, and out of curiosity, typed in "Southeast DC" on Google and clicked the "news" tab, which displayed news items relating to a shooting that had taken place earlier in the week. Since I don't recall the exact headline, I decided to Google "Southeast DC" again while I was writing this post (November 12, 2013) and the top two results showed the death of a pedestrian following a hit and run, and the death of man following a possible shootout. The "shootout" occurred near an elementary school, squarely within the Sixth District, approximately 1 mile from the police station where I had been assigned for my ride-along. Of the top 10 Google news search results, 9 involved the death of a civilian. To give you a sense of how the news differentiates by district, when I typed "Northwest DC" in Google News, the top 2 results were "emergency personnel respond to house fire at Dianne Feinstein's (current U.S. senator from California) DC compound" and "Northwest DC parking sign changes, fines issued." In case you were curious about the third news story from Northwest DC it was a letter from Peter Roskam, a U.S. representative from Illinois, about a discussion he had at a local high school, titled "Impressed by D-C students."

The closest Metro stop to the Sixth District police station is Benning Road, situated on the Blue and Orange lines. Starting at Friendship Heights, on the Red line, I made my way towards Metro Center, where I would hop on the Blue line towards Benning Road. The trip quickly reveals itself as a bell curve. The group waiting for the train at Friendship Heights looks very much like me, white and middle to upper class. As the Metro moves towards downtown, the demographics slowly change and the commuters diversify, revealing a harmonious mixture of those who work and live in downtown DC. But slowly, after transferring to the Blue line, the bell curve dips back down, as the monotonous environment of Friendship Heights returns; except nearly all of the commuters are black. As the Metro passes through the Stadium-Armory stop, I am, as far as I can see, the only white person on the train.

Once the train passes Stadium-Armory it briefly goes above ground, and you receive your first glimpse of the Sixth District as you cross over the Anacostia River. On this day, an incessant rain was pounding the city and after crossing the river, I see what appear to be a massive collection of transmission and smoke towers and other large electrical equipment dotting the sky. It is the Benning Road PEPCO Station, which was slated to close in 2007. The PEPCO station has been mired in controversy, due to allegations of toxic dumping amid numerous public health concerns. The ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry), which is an organization operating under the Department of Health and Human Services, undertook an investigation to determine the safety of the area around the PEPCO station, located in a neighborhood called River Terrace, after concerns were raised about increased rates of asthma and other respiratory ailments. While the Agency concluded there was an "indeterminate public health hazard," it also warned that "River Terrace residents have been exposed to ozone and particulate matter above health-based guidance values." River Terrace Elementary School, which served the neighborhood and was closed just last year, sat less than 500 feet from the PEPCO facility. In addition to polluting the air around the neighborhood, PEPCO was also accused by the District of polluting the water. According to the District Department of the Environment the PEPCO station, between 1985-2003, released PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) into the sediment of the adjacent Anacostia River, on six different occasions. PCBs can be incredibly dangerous and can be exposed to those who eat fish and have been demonstrated to cause a variety of adverse health effects, including cancer.

The Metro arrives at Benning Road Station a little past 1 in the afternoon, and I make my way up the escalator. There are only a handful of people on the street as the now persistent drizzle keeps residents indoors. I exit the station and turn right, down Benning Road. Directly across the street is a Denny's restaurant. On my right, as I am walking towards the police station, are two shuttered buildings, a former child care facility, and a restaurant. Overgrown weeds envelope the parking lots, as metal poles stick out of the pavement in front of the restaurant to prevent cars from idling. After a few minutes of walking I turn left on Blaine Street, which leads directly to the Sixth District police station. The sidewalks are cracked, as the rain creates a mass of puddles, forcing me to walk on the damp grass. To my right, across the street, are a series of row houses, which appear, like much of the area , decrepit, dilapidated and destitute. At the rear of the houses, stands a narrow, barely paved road, which runs behind the row houses, at the end of which sits the police headquarters for the Sixth District.

I am greeted by a uniformed police officer and then by a plain-clothed administrator who invites me to attend roll call, which begins a little bit after 2pm. I am led to a classroom of sorts, with desks occupying the middle and far sides of the room and a row of computers on the near side. I take a spot in the far corner, smiling awkwardly as I walk into the room, on the receiving end of some uncomfortable glances. A middle-aged, short and stocky officer with a crew cut jokingly asks me if I'm lost and introduces himself. He was previously in the military and later shows me the semi-automatic assault rifle he takes on patrol. Another officer notices my Red Sox hat and tells me he is originally from Brockton, where my father grew up. After a couple minutes of small talk, the commanding officer enters and informally assigns specific areas and tasks for the officers on duty, while pairing certain officers together. The atmosphere is very relaxed, as the group discusses a spate of robberies by a new gang, who often hit their targets at gas stations. Once the meeting is concluded the officers check alerts on the computer and line up to get radios and other equipment for the patrol. After a few minutes, I am politely, but sternly, asked to leave after one of the officers does not appreciate me idly and somewhat cluelessly wandering around taking photos like a tourist seeing Times Square for the first time.

For confidentiality reasons, and because the officers asked me not to, I won't tell you the names or any information about the two officers I went on patrol with, but both were incredibly welcoming and informative, putting up with a range of my relentlessly capricious and fastidious questioning. After waiting around for a vehicle, we embarked on our journey (it felt like a journey to me) around 3:30pm. Not two minutes after entering the vehicle and exchanging some pleasantries, we received a call for a domestic disturbance, and we sped off, lights flashing, as cars veered out of our way. While I am reluctant to admit it, there was an intoxicating. somewhat addictive feeling, as we weaved our way through traffic, accelerating and braking until I could smell the aroma of burnt rubber. I'm pretty confident that if I were a police officer I would constantly be turning the siren on, even in the absence of an emergency.

We arrived, after about 3-4 minutes of erratic driving, on a street just off 295, which weaves alongside the Anacostia River, and sits next to and even cuts through a number of neighborhoods in Southeast and Northeast DC. I didn't know the protocol once we arrived on scene, but one of the officers as he exited the car, politely knocked on my window and directed me to follow him into the house. We entered the house and quickly moved upstairs, where I followed both officers into a doorway where an obese woman was sitting with a tube running underneath her nose connected to an oxygen tank to her right. A young boy, in his early to mid teens, sat next to her, as she yelled loudly, making furious hand motions, in an effort to describe the problem. Another group of officers were to my left, down the hallway, in a bathroom, where a 15 year old girl was crying. I was unsure of what to do, so I mostly stayed quiet and out of the way, as the officers meandered around the upstairs of the house, asking questions and trying to understand the situation. After the situation was under control, we left the house, to serve a restraining order across town. In the car, I asked, somewhat apprehensively, what happened in the house. According to one of my ride-along officers, the issues were with the 15 year old girl, who had recently been suspended from school, and who was off her medication for a behavioral disorder. I asked whether this was a common issue, not taking medication or lacking accessibility to medication. Both officers suggested that it varied, but in the area where we were situated, a poverty-stricken part of Southeast, it was a major problem.

Our next stop was an area called Kenilworth, on Ponds St., where we would be serving a restraining order. The (presumed) owner of the house informed us that the subject of the restraining order was actually her 26 year old son, who had just left. The owner of the house was a middle-aged, heavyset woman, with short hair, who was very emotional about her son and his apparent misdeeds. She showed us what she thought may have been a loaded gun, but what was actually a BB gun, which the officers confiscated. Since the son was not home, the officers informed the owner to call the police once her son arrived. For the next hour, we drove around DC, making a few mundane stops, including checking on suspected trespassers at an abandoned house and responding to a child who mistakenly dialed 911. After being informed that the son, who was the subject of the restraining order, had returned, we headed back over to serve the order.

Trailing behind both officers, we entered the house once more, where the 26 year old son was waiting for us. One of the officers asked him to stand up as he read the restraining order, which stipulated the terms of the order and detailed the legal proceedings that were to take place. Over the course of the next 45 minutes, the 26 year old, along with his girlfriend, took all of his belongings, clothing, food, appliances, toiletries, etc, and placed them into clear trash bags, bringing them over to a friend's house down the street where he would be staying. After several minutes of awkward silence, the mother, and owner of the house, began conversing, surprisingly enough, with me. Her son, who was essentially being evicted, was upstairs with one officer packing his belongings, and her son's girlfriend was in the kitchen packing up all of their food with another officer, leaving me in the living room with the mother. She told me how her son was living in West Virginia up until recently with his girlfriend, until he moved back into her house in Washington DC. But with no job and no job prospects, and with what she considered persistent drug use, she had no other choice. Soon the mother and her son were yelling at one another, blaming each other for what was occurring. The son's girlfriend even chimed in, jeering the mother for poor parenting. At the time, the officers and myself couldn't really help but smile as the whole episode was essentially us watching family members bicker at each other for a half hour, but after we left the house, and when I returned home, the whole event had a sobering effect.

I had no personal attachment to this family and knew very little about their history, but I could only presume given the age of the son (26) and how old his mother looked, as well as noticing nobody seemed to mention any father, that this was likely an example of the vicious cycle that inflicts many low-income communities. Due to a number of reasons, minorities have significantly higher teen pregnancy rates than their white counterparts. In 2012, teen pregnancy rates among Hispanics was 46.3 (per 1,000 adolescent females) and rates among black adolescent females was 43.9, while rates for white adolescent females was just 20.9. In Washington DC, the numbers are even more skewed, where the rate of teen pregnancy, as of 2008, among black adolescent females is 64.8, while the rate among white adolescent females was just 4.3. The higher teen pregnancy rates among African-Americans is then coupled with the phenomenon of young black male incarceration rates. The United States incarcerates more people by percentage than any other country, accounting for 25% of the world's prisoners. One in three black men can expect to be imprisoned at one point in their lifetime. Overall, black men are six times as likely to be incarcerated as white men. The results are predictable. Children grow up in a household without a father, who is likely absent, either by choice, or because he is incarcerated, or in some cases, deceased. The mother, who is likely raising a child without a college degree, subsists on government support or on a collection of low paying jobs. The product is the current state of the Sixth and Seventh Districts, where the city contemplated route changes in Anacostia because youths were throwing rocks, bricks and other debris at buses or how the graduation rate at Anacostia High School was 42% in 2011 (Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School has a graduation rate of nearly 94%) or how a 22 year old young man was arrested just last week for the shooting death of a 21 year old girl. The shooting occurred less than 1 mile from Benning Road Metro Station.

The remaining couple hours were relatively uneventful. We stopped at an area where illegal U-turns were often made and gave some tickets and warnings to a number of drivers. Interestingly enough, the officers would often pick and choose which cars to pull over, based on the make and model. If a car was older and seemed beat up, the officers were likely to pull it over. If the car was a new, Toyota Highlander, chances are the officers would leave it be. Towards the end of the trip, as my prescribed time slot with the officers ran out, I asked if the officers would give me a tour of some of the problematic areas in the Sixth District, before I headed back home.

The officers slowly drove around some of the most notorious parts of the Sixth District, many of which were occupied by public housing projects. One place I distinctly remember was Stoddert Terrace, in Southeast DC, located right by 37th Street. There are maybe two dozen structures, which each house multiple families. The structures occupy a portion of 37th street as well as 37th street place, which is a narrow, uphill, cul-de-sac, running perpendicular to 37th street. The buildings were worn down, drab, brick structures, some of which had cracked or smashed windows. The officers described the area as one with high drug use and pervasive gang activity. By congregating the structures together in such a manner, the city was in essence isolating the crime to a specific area, and doing little to combat it, thus leaving residents in Stoddert Terrace at the mercy of common criminals. Children growing up in this project have little hope of getting out, and in an ironic and perverse reality, many will join gangs out of concern for their own safety, with the all too common result of becoming another statistic in America's criminal justice debacle. The officers also pointed out that DC's public housing system was an unrestrained mess. There was little to no oversight, according to the officers, with only a handful of people (according to the officers), the exact number of which I am unsure, presiding over the 56 properties, 8,000 units, and 20,000 residents that use the Housing Authority. The officers described how criminals who are evicted from a certain housing project end up lost in the system, and simply move to another one, or just return months later. And shockingly, or at least shocking to me, some criminals will live in one apartment illegally and rent out the apartment they were supposed to be living in, essentially becoming the landlord to a property they don't own and that is being paid for by your tax dollars.

After a quick stop at Subway, we headed back to the Sixth District police headquarters where I thanked the officers and headed back towards Benning Road Metro Station. I passed by the row houses with the cracked road running along the rear of the buildings. I passed the child care facility and the restaurant that are now both closed and the overgrown weeds that had taken over both parking lots. As I entered the Metro station, I passed a group of male teenagers, presumably high schoolers, huddled together discussing plans for their Friday night. I made my way down the escalator and hopped on the train towards Metro Center, the vehicle to take me across the river, and a world away.
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There exists a very stark contrast in our cities today, a contrast I have never really been exposed to. I knew that there were always bad areas within a city, and growing up outside of Boston, I was aware that certain neighborhoods like Mattapan or Roxbury were dangerous, and thus I didn't go there. But that speaks to part of the problem. Because the problems don't exist in our neighborhoods, in the quiet, affluent suburbs, we don't see them and it doesn't affect us; out of sight, out of mind. How often, if at all, do the residents of the affluent DC suburbs even travel across the Anacostia River? How can we, as a society, empathize with the plight of our country's most impoverished if we have no idea how they actually live? I was struck by a comment made by Michael Pfleger, a priest and social activist in Chicago, during an episode of the HBO series, Vice. Pfleger lamented the proliferation of guns of in our inner cities and pointed out how indifferent we seem to be about the inexorable violence that inflicts these communities, especially children. While Pfleger may be over simplifying a very complex issue, he notes that Sandy Hook seems to have awoken the nation even though children in Chicago are being killed in greater numbers, the main difference being the children in Chicago are minorities. His argument bears consideration. The number of teenagers and children murdered in Chicago in the past three years, as of August 2013, was an astonishing 176; out of sight, out of mind.

Additionally, the way in which our cities have been constructed has led to increased polarization between socioeconomic groups, which often breaks down as division between white residents and minorities. While segregation no longer exists, at least as a policy, our major cities remain incredibly segregated, four and a half decades after Martin Luther King Junior's death. Earlier this year, Wired Magazine, released a stunning series of maps, detailing the extent to which our major cities remain segregated. Each race represents a color, and the map shows, in excruciating specificity, how our cities are very often broken down by race. In Detroit, for example, the division is explicit along the famous 8 Mile Road, showing a maze of Blue (representing white residents) to the North and a maze of Green (representing black residents) to the South. Given that the area across the Anacostia River is predominantly African-American, the racial breakdown that exists along Detroit's 8 Mile Road likely exists in a similar fashion, with the Anacostia River as the dividing line.

The violence that inflicts inner cities and by extension, and disproportionately so, affects minorities, is a product of many factors. Placing blame on a single issue, whether it be guns, socioeconomics, schools, the breakdown of the family unit, poor policing, or the product of bad people doing bad things, is irresponsible and foolish; the deterioration of Chicago into self-described "Chiraq" and the continued amelioration of Washington DC are too complicated for some unequivocal, facile explanation. At the same time, the complexity of the situation ensures that a laconic and simplified remedy, which is what our politicians so often seek, will be impossible to devise. But, I have a hard time accepting that this is a reality that we are helpless to eradicate. Doesn't each child deserve an equal chance to succeed, and if not an equal chance, at least a chance to succeed? In addition to the physical toll, which comes in the form of violence, there exists a hidden, even furtive, psychological toll which can cause serious harm to an adolescent who bears no physical wounds. What is the effect on a young boy whose friend or cousin or uncle or father or brother is killed as a result of gun violence? How is the mental psyche of a high school student, trying to graduate and enroll in college, affected by two murders in the span of five hours less than a mile apart? How does a young black male growing up in the Sixth District see himself, when the only thing he sees emanating from his neighborhood, is news of another story about a tragic shooting?

There is a cruel irony about Washington DC, an irony encompassed in the supposed morality and nobility of our nation's capital. The elongated and imposing, Parisian-esque, pearly white columns that stand resolutely in front of the Capitol building, the White House, and Supreme Court; the museums with boundless and priceless treasures of art, history, science, and nature, created and sustained through your tax dollars and donations from the likes of Andrew Mellon; the monuments and memorials, so artfully crafted, permanent homes to our country's heroes and greatest leaders, their most poignant words inscribed for pride and inspiration: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." As our nations "leaders" meet in their polished offices, protected by an army of police, safe from concerns about health insurance or wondering where their next meal will come from, less than 4 miles away, surreptitiously hiding away from the droves of tourists on the National Mall, down Independence Avenue and Capitol Street, across the Anacostia River, stands the Benning Road Metro Station: a world away.

A Barrage Unlike Any Other- Photo Timeline of the Week in News

It is hard to believe that it has now been 3 weeks since Edward Snowden, the unassuming 30 year old computer technician, leaked classified intelligence about governmental spying programs. Following the acknowledgement of his responsibility and the divulging of his location, the assumption was that a major showdown would ensue between China and the United States. Snowden was front page news, but for a period the news plateaued, but spiked again when it was revealed that on Sunday, June 23rd Snowden arrived in Russia, adding a complicated but also appealing element. The outrage in the United States was swift, with accusations of recalcitrant behavior, and threats of consequences, which weren't exactly specified. Couple Snowden with the drama of Aaron Hernandez and George Zimmerman, and the three stories highlighted a week of inexorable news drama (especially June 26th), touching nearly every facet of society; the courts, race and race relations, same-sex marriage, sports, politics and geopolitics, voting rights, modern day heroes, affirmative action, guns, immigration, and privacy.

Timeline:

June 20th:

12:20PM-Sports Illustrated reports that 23-year-old Aaron Hernandez, tight end for the New England Patriots, who just signed a $40 million contract last year, is likely to be arrested following the murder of Odin Lloyd. Lloyd was found in an industrial park 1/2 mile from Hernandez's home in North Attleboro, MA with multiple gunshot wounds.

6:35PM-Wesley Lowery, from the Boston Globe, reports on Twitter that no arrest is imminent in the Aaron Hernandez case.

June 21st:

11:44AM-Numerous sources report that an arrest warrant for Aaron Hernandez has been prepared but the time when it will be served is still unknown. All reports suggest the charges will be for obstruction of justice, relating to Hernandez's destruction of his cell phone and home surveillance system days earlier.

~7PM-Washington Post reports that Edward Snowden will be charged with espionage, theft, and conversion of government property, each of which can carry a 10 year prison sentence.

June 22nd:

1:40PM-State authorities search Hernandez's sprawling mansion for a second time, spending approximately 3 1/2 hours in the home, and removing approximately fifteen bags of evidence.

June 23rd:

~9:30AM-The Guardian, which has been the lead newspaper in reporting on Snowden, says Snowden has arrived in Moscow, to Sheremetyevo Airport. Reports suggest Russia may be a quick stop in a journey to Ecuador, which is considering an asylum request.

6:50PM-Nelson Mandela, who had been admitted to a Pretoria hospital on June 8, is reportedly in "critical" condition as his health slowly worsens. Mandela, who is 94, is world famous for his role in ending Apartheid, as well as leading South Africa, in 1994, through a peaceful transition into a democratic country.

June 24th:

~10:00AM-The trial of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman accused of murdering Travyon Martin, begins with opening statements. The prosecutor uses profanity in his opening statement while the defense uses an absurd "knock knock" joke. The trial, which has become a media sensation, has stoked racial tensions amid claims that Martin was targeted because he was black. Zimmerman claims that he acted in self-defense, evidenced, according to him, by multiple injuries on the night of the murder, presumably induced by Martin. A guilty verdict could send Zimmerman to jail for life while an acquittal could further inflame race relations in the country.

~10:00AM-The Supreme Court releases the opinion of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, which dealt with the constitutionality of affirmative action. Abigail Fisher, who is white, claimed that Texas's affirmative action policy, which uses race as a factor, among many, in determining admissions, discriminated against her. Concerns arose from many affirmative action supporters that the policy could be struck down but the Court punted the issue, sending it back to the lower court with directions to apply a test called "strict scrutiny."

11:29AM-Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's former Prime Minister, is found guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison, for having sex with an underage prostitute. The ruling also barred Berlusconi from public office indefinitely. However, in Italy's judicial system, there are still  two more layers of appeal before the sentence becomes final, and in all likelihood Berlusconi will not spend a day in jail. In 2012, Berlusconi was sentenced to four years in prison for tax fraud, but never served the sentence.

12:37PM-Jim Roberts, a Reuters executive, posts a photo to his Twitter account of an empty seat on a flight from Moscow to Havana. The plane is inundated with reporters, who believed Snowden would be on the flight. Instead, the empty seat becomes a symbol of the absurdity of the whole situation.

June 25th:

9:21AM-Reports begin to trickle out that the Court's decision in Windsor v. United States, the case involving DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act), will be revealed tomorrow (July 26). Hollingsworth v. Perry, regarding Prop 8 (a California voter initiative which defined marriage between one man and one woman), will also be released.

~10:00AM-The Supreme Court is poised to release opinions about gay marriage tomorrow but a major opinion about the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which has received far less attention, is released today. The 1965 Voting Rights Act was a huge piece of legislation, meant to ensure that minorities were not discriminated against at the voting booth. The part of the Act in question before the Court was called the preclearance requirement. The requirements means that any state or local government labeled as having a past history of discrimination must get approval from the federal government before making changes to voting laws. This is believed to have played a major role in ensuring that many areas, mostly in the South, could not disenfranchise black voters. And, in a historic decision, the Court guts the act, ruling it to be outdated, and while it didn't invalidate the preclearance requirement, it said the methods used to determine which states need to be precleared were unconstitutional, thus ending the preclearance requirement in a roundabout way.

~2:00PM-Just a couple hours after the Supreme Court guts the Voting Rights Act, Texas moves forward with redistricting plans and voter ID laws. The plans would disproportionately affect black and Hispanic voters and were blocked just last year under the now defunct Voting Rights Act.

11:27AM-During a visit to Finland, Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Edward Snowden is in the transit area of Sheremetyevo airport and is a "free man." Putin also adds the U.S. accusations against Moscow are "ravings and rubbish" and that Russian security agencies have not worked with Snowden.

June 26th:

12:58AM-Wendy Davis, a Texas state senator, successfully filibusters a sweeping abortion bill, becoming an overnight sensation. Texas, with the overwhelming support of Governor Rick Perry, was poised to pass a bill which would have effectively banned abortion after 20 weeks and tightened standards on abortion clinics resulting in the mass closure of such facilities. Davis stood speaking for about 11 hours, without a bathroom break. When republican lawmakers attempted a vote shortly before midnight, they were drowned out by raucous supporters of Davis, preventing the passage; Davis's effort and the event itself have become a cause celebre.

8:45AM-Aaron Hernandez is arrested. Many begin to speculate that Hernandez will be charged with murder, but Masschusetts State Police representatives tell reporters that charges will be released upon arraignment.

10:03AM-Jubilant supporters of same-sex marriage begin celebrating after hearing that the Court has ruled DOMA to be unconstitutional. The result is that couples who have been legally married in states which allow same-sex marriage will now be recognized as such by the federal government. Shortly after, the Court side steps the Prop 8 case, ruling that the Court did not have standing to hear it. The result is that the lower court's ruling stands, essentially legalizing gay marriage in California.

10:25AM-The New England Patriots announce, via Twitter, that they have released Aaron Hernandez. The release marks a precipitous and unprecedented fall from grace, for a young man who, just a couple weeks earlier, was known simply as one of the NFL's best tight ends. Now Hernandez has no team and is facing the likelihood of spending a significant amount of time in jail.

~12:00PM-Protestors and police clash in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, about one mile from a soccer stadium where Brazil was playing Uruguay, in a warm-up tournament for next year's FIFA World Cup. Protests have erupted all over the country, in response to what the protestors believe is wasteful government spending and corruption, stemming from Brazil's hosting of the World Cup next year and the Olympics in 2016. The protests are the largest in twenty years and have sparked fears of Brazil's possible inability to adequately host two major, international events. The also reveal a deeply fractured society, trying to balance huge economic growth, which has injected Brazil into the world stage, but has also left many residents wallowing in poverty.

~12:00PM-Rachel Jeantel, the star witness for the prosecution, takes the stand in the George Zimmerman trial. Jeantel was on the phone with Travyon Martin during the night he was killed and was the last person Martin spoke to before the altercation with Zimmerman. Jeantel is just 19 years old and was likely nervous as well as being emotionally scarred from talking to a friend just minutes before his death, and her testimony showed that. She was combative at times and difficult to understand at others. She was the target of ridicule on social media following her testimony for her appearance (she is overweight) and for her admitted inability to read cursive. As it so happens, Jeantel speaks two other languages, Spanish and Haitian Creole, in addition to English, and the prosecution highlighted this because, according to New Yorker writer Jelani Cobb, Jeantel's intelligence was also being questioned. Jeantel claimed that Travyon said a "creepy-ass cracker" was watching him and in response to a question from the defense about the possibility of Martin lying about his location, she said "that's real retarded, sir."

~3:30PM-Aaron Hernandez is arraigned and officially charged with 6 felonies, including murder and 5 other weapons charges. Prosecutors claim Hernandez orchestrated Lloyd's murder and have ample evidence, including text messages and surveillance video of Hernandez brandishing a firearm on the night/morning of the murder.

~3:45PM-Nelson Mandela, according to a report from CNN, is on life support. Jacob Zuma, South Africa's President, cancels travel plans out of fears of Mandela's death. The day before, Mandela's daughter, in an interview with CNN, said that she believes her father "is at peace."

6:14PM-Turkey protest continues, stemming from the planned demolition of Gezi Park, one of the last few green spaces in Istanbul. The government asks Twitter to open up an office in the country to better communicate, so that requests to take down material can be streamlined. Turkish Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan has railed about the sinister nature of Twitter calling it a "scourge" used to spread lies about the government with the aim of terrorizing society.

7:09PM-Since Snowden is technically not in Russia and only in the transit area, Vladimir Putin says he cannot honor the U.S. extradition request. Meanwhile, Ecuador is reviewing requests for asylum and asked the United States to submit any objections as part of Ecuador's "thorough review process."

June 27th:

9:08AM- President Obama, who is on a trip to Africa, and currently in Senegal, tells the press that he believes Snowden has more documents but didn't know exactly what documents they may be. He adds, somewhat nonchalantly, that he will not "be scrambling jets to get a 29-year-old hacker."

2:49PM-Aaron Hernandez is brought before the court and denied bail, after Superior Court Judge Renee Dupuis, mentioned the possibility of Hernandez being a flight risk.

5:39PM-Numerous outlets, including Bloomberg, report that a protestor from the previous day's demonstrations in Brazil died, bringing the total to six over the past three weeks

10:37PM-Numerous outlets, including NBC, publish reports that Hernandez is being probed for a possible link to two other murders. On July 16, 2012 two men were killed in a drive-by shooting after leaving a Boston night club, while a third man was shot but survived. Theories pop up that Hernandez may have killed Lloyd because of knowledge about the other murders, although there is no factual basis to support the claims at this point.

June 28th:

2:03PM-Ecuadorean President, Rafael Correa, is reportedly reconsidering whether to be involved in the Edward Snowden controversy. Correa was supposedly upset with the role that Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, was playing in the asylum request. Ecuadorean government officials were worried Assange would overshadow them, claiming it appeared as though Assange was "running the show." The result was that a temporary travel document, which could have landed Snowden in Ecuador, was revoked, greatly muddying the entire situation. Ecuador, as you would expect, has been and continues to receive great pressure from U.S. government officials.

2:08PM-A third man is arrested in connection with the shooting death of Odin Lloyd. Carlos Ortiz, who lives in Bristol, Connecticut, the same place where Hernandez was born, is charged with carrying an unlicensed firearm. Another man, Ernest Wallace, was also arrested in Florida in connection with Lloyd's death, ramping up speculation that plea deals, in exchange for testimony against Hernandez are possible. All three men have ties to Bristol, Connecticut.

3:35PM-Reuters reports that Mandela's health, according to his ex-wife, has shown "great improvement" but cautioned that he was still "clinically unwell." Meanwhile, President Obama, who is in Africa, stated he didn't want to be intrusive, while also noted that Mandela was his "personal hero."

~11:59PM-Huge protests erupt in Egypt, on the first anniversary of Morsi's inauguration. Opposition protestors clash with Morsi supporters as at least 85 are injured and 5 Muslim Brotherhood offices are burned. The opposition claims, and rightfully so, that they have been systematically denied the right to participate in the forming of the new government. Following elections in which Islamic parties won the majority of votes, the drafting of the new constitution became a debacle. Attempts by more liberal and secular groups to have influence on the drafting were thwarted, as Islamic groups, especially the ultra-conservative Salafists, aimed to insert Islamic law into every provision. Reports surface that 2 people have died in the protests, including one American. 21 year old Andrew Proctor, of Chevy Chase, Maryland was in Egypt as part of an internship teaching English. He was reportedly stabbed in the chest.

Editor's note: Times are approximate and often reflect the posting of the article onto the Internet. They are not meant to express the exact time that the event occurred. If there is a mistake please alert me.
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Some thoughts on the stories:

Aaron Hernandez: 

What a sad fall from grace. Obviously, the real tragedy is the death of a 27 year old man, but Hernandez, at least for Patriot's fans, is especially troubling because of the organization’s belief that Hernandez was a changed man, raising an infant daughter, and becoming a rolemodel for young Hispanics. This was manifested in the $40 million contract Hernandez signed just last year, but also in the comments made by Patriot’s owner, Robert Kraft, after Hernandez signed the deal. Kraft said, in part, that Hernandez was "a super player, and a really first-class guy...Some people might see all the tattoos on him and think...Maybe 10 years ago I was in the class, (now) I think 'Wow, this guy's a good guy.' And we made a big commitment to him." After Hernandez signed the huge deal, he donated $50,000 to Kraft's charity and said that Kraft "changed my life."

What is so saddening about the Hernandez situation, besides the iniquity of murdering another human being, is that Hernandez, his two accomplices, and Lloyd have now become another statistic or will become another statistic in the inexorable violence that has plagued minority communities. Yet, this case is especially baffling because while the statistics would suggest that minorities are particularly violent, this is untrue; the most common thread is socioeconomics, and Hernandez just signed a $40 million deal. Why throw it all away by murdering (allegedly) an acquaintance just ½ mile from your own home? It leads you to believe that this murder is not some facile killing, but rather goes much deeper and involves a number of other people, and may relate to an unsolved double murder from 2012. Now, in all likelihood, Hernandez’s infant daughter, who he said had greatly changed him, will become just another number, another child growing up while her father sits in a jail.

Hernandez’s murder indictment coincides with the NFL's rookie symposium. It also coincides with two other incidents involving NFL players in the past week. Browns (now former) rookie linebacker, Ausar Walcott, was charged with attempted murder after punching a man in the face, sending him into a coma. Colt's safety, Joe Lefeged was arrested in Washington D.C. on weapons charges, after a semi-automatic pistol was found in the car he was riding in. It would seem that the travails of Hernandez could be didactic for the young and impressionable rookies at the NFL symposium, who have committed to a sport which pays very well, but brings a number of possible consequences, not the least of which is one’s health. But it is too simple to preach rectitude and expect it to occur. These young men often come from troubled backgrounds, living in troubled neighborhoods, growing up in broken families, and are often accustomed to violence. Now, they will, in all likelihood, spend their careers playing the world’s most violent sport, in which the strongest men on Earth bang heads against each other causing long-term irreparable harm. Couple that with the huge influx of cash and many young players are set up in a position to fail. Don’t forget, Aaron Hernandez is just 23 years old. My age. Thus, my point is simply that guns and violence is not something that will dissipate into thin air. It will continue. As long as these young men, who come from troubled backgrounds, thrust themselves into a sport in which they are expected to be violent, violence in the NFL is inevitable.

George Zimmerman trial:

This trial and others like it that have received major notoriety, like Casey Anthony, Scott Peterson, and Michael Jackson, are so utterly American, it is hard to imagine a better encapsulation. The drama, the media, the privacy invasion, the openness, the adversarial nature, the embodiment of larger societal issues; all of it wrapped in a small room in Sanford, Florida, revolving around one man: George Zimmerman.

The story is well known now. George Zimmerman is a neighborhood watchman. He sees a young man, wearing a hoodie, walking “suspiciously” in his development. He calls 911. He tells the dispatch operator about the situation and tacitly confirms he is following Martin. Martin is also on the phone with someone, a friend, mentioned above, by the name of Rachel Jeantel. Martin tells Jeantel that someone is following him, calling Zimmerman a “creepy-ass cracker.” A fight ensues. Zimmerman sustains facial and head injuries and Martin is shot dead. I think my initial thoughts were that Zimmerman was a white Jew and I was a tad bit worried. As it turns out, Zimmerman is Hispanic, but once the story hit the news, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson had already trumpeted the tragedy of another example of the ubiquitous racism that permeates society.

The truth about this whole trial is that the incident itself, in which Martin was killed, says far less about race (if anything at all) in America than the reaction to the shooting. The reaction shows the constant and persistent bubbling of racial tensions, percolating just below the surface, waiting for a small crack with which to leak out. The reactions often feel pre-planned, even prescient, with slight alterations depending on the nature of the incident. The unfortunate reality is that racism still exists, often in a systematic nature, a sort of languid evil, and we should work hard to eradicate it. But when it comes to violence and guns, it is not white people that pose the biggest danger to young black men, like Travyon Martin; the real danger to young black men is other young black men. While the murder of Martin is tragic, it has received far more attention than the other murders taking place in our country's inner cities. Yesterday, a man was shot and injured in Chicago; the man is a suspect in a double murder that left a 5-year-old child and his 31-year-old mother dead. Nobody seems to care. Our society seems content in allowing entire neighborhoods to become war zones, cutting down innocence at every turn. This is where our focus should lie, not on some media circus; a fabricated drama which is less the result of racial prejudice, and more the consequence of an atrocious and detestable gun law which ensures that trivial arguments, which at worst leave someone bloodied (like George Zimmerman) turn into deadly shootings, leaving a 17 year old dead and a family ripped apart.

Torino, Italy, and Europe: Contradictions Galore

Five whole weeks have elapsed since my arrival in Torino on an overcast and rainy Thursday afternoon. Within a few minutes of my arrival, I quickly oriented myself to the boundless rain that had drenched the city all spring. Every resident I met seemed eager to sneak in some remark, in broken Italian, about how “this most rain we see in 200 hundred year,” as they cuffed their fingers towards the sky at no one in particular. For the first week it rained, in some capacity almost every day. The rain was always steady, never a downpour and never a drizzle, but rather a constant diet of frustration and demoralization. And then, a week after my arrival, possibly in an effort to mollify the city’s residents, the sun showed his bright and beautiful face, and with it, an inexorable increase in the city’s collective happiness.

Torino sits in the Northwest corner of Italy, not far from the borders of Switzerland and France, hugging a handful of the innumerable and majestic mountain ranges that make up the Alps. It was once the site of the first Parliament and the capital of a newly formed Italy, although that title would last just 4 years. It is in many respects an isolated city, self-sustaining and untouched, with a hint of banality compared to other Italian cities. That is not to say that Torino is lacking in charm, but rather that it feels somewhat normal compared to the inexhaustible splendor one may find on the streets of Rome, Florence, or Venice. Torino is Italy’s fourth largest city, with around 1 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area about twice that size. The closest major city is Milan, about 90 miles to the west, but there is little within the general vicinity of the city that would come up as "must-see" in an Italian travel guide. The notoriety the city has received is mostly due to it being the site of the famous Shroud, its hosting of the 2006 Winter Olympics and for being the headquarters of Italian car giant, Fiat.

My experiences thus far have come through two prisms. The first is through my experience at the University of Torino, where I am doing research for a professor about the vast intricacies of comparative health law. The second is through my experience living in the center of the city, renting an apartment from a 70 year old woman named Silvia who also lives next door and who I think is convinced that I am her long lost grandson.

Torino recently built a brand new, enormous, and stunning campus on the banks of one of Torino’s three rivers. The building is shaped somewhat like the exterior of a tennis racket, surrounding an outdoors area with elevated patches of grass and intersecting walkways. It gives off the feel of a research laboratory or office building with dark, reflecting windows and a very uniform design. The most noticeable aspect is probably the white roof, which extends over the sides of the building and looks kind of like a flying saucer. The enormous structure can be seen from the outskirts of the city standing out from the rest of Torino’s somewhat monotonous architecture.  I work mostly in an office, which is supposed to be for the head of the Legal department. But since the building is brand new and the school is in flux, nobody was using it, so I get a nice, corner office with a view of the entire campus.

My apartment sits on the far side of the river in Gran Madre Square, a lively piazza, which is home to a magnificent and luminous church, modeled after the Pantheon in Rome. I have a view of the main body of water in the city, the Po River, and if the clouds stay in hiding, the snow tipped mountains can be seen in the distance. I am on what is oft described as the “bourgeois” part of town, with the rolling hills behind me, spotted with the ostentatious residences of the city’s wealthiest and most powerful. Indeed, the professor whom I work for owns a house in the hills, which is too marvelous to describe in words. The gated house on a narrow, windy road looks down upon the city and has a spacious yard and blossoming garden, providing views of the Alps that could leave the most talkative man feeling slightly laconic. About twenty minutes walking from my apartment, directly uphill, a beautiful park is tucked neatly to the side of another windy and narrow road, and possesses remarkable views of the city and the countryside, with a tree covered walkway reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland.

In addition to the unparalleled scenery and landscape, my experiences with the residents of Torino have been eye opening. My first visit to Italy was during a semester abroad in Florence during spring of 2010. There was nothing about my visit to Florence that I would alter in any fashion; it would be a disservice to my memory to bear any regret about my time there. But Florence is a city that is built primarily to serve the visitors who flock in droves to see the birthplace of the Renaissance. The visitors overwhelm the city most of the year, and most residents, in their interactions with Americans, seek little more than casual talk or the exchange of monetary instruments. In addition, I had almost no interactions with Florentine college students who were mostly non-existent. While I was always aware I was physically in Italy, the number of study abroad students could easily mistake you into thinking you were living in a very upscale college Shtetl. It was perfect for what I wanted at the time, but it prevented a full immersion into the lives of everyday Italians. Torino, on the other hand, provides a welcome contrast.

Torino is a city that enjoys relative anonymity, compared to other parts of Italy, but has worked and continues to work to become another major Italian tourism powerhouse. There is no better example of this than the 2006 Winter Olympics. Torino hoped the event would provide a platform to promulgate the city’s vast offerings, in addition to improving its aging and outdated infrastructure. While precise numbers are impossible to quantify most speculate that the city saw a modest bump immediately following the event, but now 7 years later, Torino remains low on the list of Italian tourism destinations. Once again, that says little about Torino other than it is situated in a neighborhood with stiff tourism competition. But, nobody here seems to mind, and neither do I. In fact, the lack of tourism is reason alone to cherish what the city has to offer. The city provides a welcome respite from other Italian cities which have a myriad of foreign tour groups at every corner, with their ridiculous matching flags or visors, and a guide who leads them with that darned raised umbrella. The city feels unspoiled and true, tucked away from the rest of the country, surreptitiously hiding among the mountains. 

But while there is certainly much to celebrate regarding Torino’s scenery or lack of tourist inundation, my interactions with the people have shaped my thoughts more so than anything else. Since the first day of my arrival, every person has been genuine, warm, and inviting, extending a hand to help in any fashion I deemed to be necessary. Every student I have been introduced to not only says hi to me in the hallway, but will make an effort to invite me for drinks or to get a coffee, just to see if everything is going okay. A law student who I was introduced to at the University, invited me to his house during my first week and introduced me to all of his friends, graciously driving me around the city. Silvia, the 70 year old woman who I am renting an apartment from (I call her my host-grandmother) is constantly inviting me to events and giving my number and email to different relatives, all of whom have invited me to their house. Oddly enough, Silvia revealed to me that she is actually half-Jewish. Her father was originally from Poland, but immigrated to Canada and Silvia was raised Catholic, solely by her mother. Just last weekend, I was invited to dinner at the house of one of Silvia’s daughters, who served fresh bread, Greek Salad, two types of Risotto, and Veal. My professors have also showed me incredible hospitality. Bianca, who is the professor I am working for, graciously invited me to her house for lunch, serving delectable fresh salad and gnocchi. Another professor, who I have been helping to proofread a document on legal drafting, has brought me to her house twice for lunch to feast on gnocchi, risotto, fish, veal, and fresh fruit. And then, without really asking, she took me on a tour of the area where she lived, in the “bourgeois” section of town, showing me the church where her children were baptized, with stunning views of the countryside and the Italian town of Chieri.

There is something about Italy that strikes a chord with me, something difficult to describe, enigmatic in a sense. In Boston or New York you can go to the North End or Little Italy, but it leaves a void; it wets your appetite but leaves you yearning for more. In all honesty, and I know it sounds so obvious, the beauty and wonder of Italy is simply being in Italy. It is a country so quick to mesmerize, leaving wide-eyes and blank stares to fill the ancient cobblestone streets.  Italian customs and traditions, seemingly so alien upon your arrival, yet so quickly accepted as normal you forget there was even an alternative. The drivers, who seem to not understand basic traffic rules and functions, routinely running red lights, cursing the car behind them making loud noises that just so happens to be an ambulance. The local businesses, who operate on no specific schedule, open when the owner decides to arrive. The supermarkets, leaving you to wonder whether America invented the idea of having more than one cashier line. The food, my God, the food surprises and bewilders me after every taste. Whether it be the rich flavor of Gelato, the crispness of a freshly made Cappuccino, or creamy, homemade Risotto from an Italian mother, your taste buds are always feeling enlivened. The cigarette smoke, which envelopes your every movement and the buds that litter the ground, your constant reminder that Italians do indeed cling to tradition. The artwork, monuments, and sculptures, adorning ordinary buildings, creating a mundanity bordering on the absurd. The immense history underneath your toes; the previous home of today’s modern world. I love it all.

In short, my experiences with Torino and its people have been nothing short of stellar.

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However, there is much more to tell. And unfortunately it is not all positive. I chose to ignore my surroundings when I visited Florence in 2010, locking myself in my own bubble of study abroad utopia, pretending the cities I visited were erected solely for my enjoyment. Now, three and a half years later, I have opened my eyes to the realities of the situation here, in an effort to understand not only the museums and monuments, but the people, the politics, and the social cohesion. I wish I could tell you that everything here is perfect and that the people are jovial, but that is simply not the case. What I have found is a country and continent rife with intolerance attempting to battle the endemic racism and xenophobia that permeates society. As the recession continues, and worsens, leaving many without jobs, tough times have given rise to politics reminiscent of Europe’s darkest days. In all honesty, it is difficult for me to write about all this, given my affection towards Italy and the rest of Europe. The truth is that I feel somewhat selfish since I have never personally been a victim, and instead I travel around Europe in relative comfort simply as another American tourist. There are so many warm, kind, and caring people that I have met, but as is often the case, the only voices you hear are a small impassioned few.

My experience in Italy has revealed a deeply fractured society, struggling, in many respects, to reconcile tradition and modernism. The Catholic Church, whose adherents number over 1 billion, is omnipresent in a country in which nearly 90% of its residents are Catholic. The results are predictable. While Europe and the United States have liberalized their views on gay marriage (France legalized it just last month) Italy still doesn’t protect homosexuals under anti-discrimination laws. The question isn’t whether gay marriage will be legal anytime soon in Italy, but rather if it will even become a topic of debate. Italy’s conservatism, which emanates from the Church, is pervasive and entrenched in Italian society, championing traditional familial structures and the gender roles that follow. Within the government, Italy’s female ministers have been the target of death threats, with an upsurge recently due to a large influx of women into the new government. Italy’s former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has made a series of offensive remarks directed at women, stating in part, that women are “God’s most beautiful gift to men” and that in order to prevent rape “we would need as many soldiers as there are beautiful women”, not to mention calling Angela Merkel, Germany’s Chancellor, a “unf**able lard-ass”. Italy has also struggled to protect women, with estimates suggesting that 1/3 of Italian women are victims of domestic abuse (the number is probably higher). Italy has also seen a spate of deadly violence against women. The UN estimates that in 2012, 120 women were killed by their husbands, exes, or boyfriends, approximately 1 murder every three days. After the brutal murder of a fifteen year old girl in Calabria just last month, Italy’s chamber of deputies ratified a treaty which aims to combat violence against women, taking a small, but important step towards tackling the problem.

To complicate those efforts, the divide between North and South has added an almost intractable element. While the two regions are connected and part of the same country, their relationship is disparate, pitting the industrialized North against the underdeveloped and crime-ridden South. The corrosive influence of organized crime, which has infiltrated vast areas of Italy’s politics (Silvio Berlusconi has often been associated with the Mafia)  and economy, has its stronghold in the South, in places like Sicily (Cosa Nostra), Campania (Camorra), Calabria (‘Ndrangheta), and Apulia (Sacra Corona Unita). Naples, the capital of Campania and Italy’s third largest city, is ground zero for Italy’s woes; the city is essentially controlled by the Mafia. The city suffers from high unemployment, elevated crime levels, endemic drug use, and serious health and environmental issues stemming from illegal waste dumping. I was recently told that organized crime has begun infiltrating Milan and Torino, seizing on poor oversight of government projects, essentially stealing public money. Poor oversight has also led to almost non-existent tax revenue from areas of the South, resulting in a giant burden being placed on Northern residents. To add insult to injury, the North often subsidizes large swaths of the South’s impoverished areas, even as the Mafia eats away at a shrinking economy. This creates a predictable animosity and frustration, leaving Northern residents feeling helpless, unable to penetrate the often opaque use of public funds and unable to hold anyone accountable. It is eerily reminiscent of Franz Kafka’s classic, The Trial, except adjusted to fit an entire country.

While these issues are of grave urgency, the most salient and pressing problem is intolerance, in the form of anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and racism, which have presented itself as a major problem in Italy and across Europe.

Relating Judaism to my experiences is always interesting in Europe for a number of obvious reasons. My experiences with Judaism actually began in the States, with my professor who set me up with this internship, and who is originally from Torino. She has an odd fascination with Jews, which became apparent during both classes I have taken with her. Not only does she have an obsession with Justice Benjamin Cardozo (Yeshiva law school is named after him) but she always seemed apt to mention if an important legal thinker came from a Jewish background (and there are a lot). What I didn’t know, and would later find out, is that Bianca, who my professor in the States set me up with, is Jewish, 1 of maybe 1,000 Jews in the entire city. When I visited her house, I couldn’t help but feel that I was in some American suburban Jewish home, which was adorned with different Jewish symbols. When I asked for a book to read, she gave me “The Lost” by Daniel Mendelsohn, which tells the story of the author’s quest to find out what happened to his relatives during the Holocaust. Her husband was travelling at the time, attending a Jewish conference in Vienna.

I also asked her about anti-Semitism in Europe and more specifically in Torino. She commented that her family and the Jewish community had never really experienced any problems in Torino, pointing to their small stature (they make up 1/1000^th of the population) and the tolerant nature of the community. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for other parts of Europe. In 2010, during my first trip to Italy, I was made aware of an incident in Florence a year earlier, in which a bomb was left outside of the Chabad House, a half a block from the Synagogue. When I travelled to Paris in 2010 I visited a Parisian friend who used to attend my overnight camp. His last name is Israel, a pretty easy giveaway of his religion, and he explicitly mentioned how much of a problem anti-Semitism was in France. He even suggested that at some point he would have to move, either to Israel or the United States, because it was so bad. Much of the recent trepidation among French Jews can be traced initially to the brutal kidnapping and murder of Ilan Halimi in 2006 by a Muslim gang. But since 2006, anti-Semitism has only gotten worse, culminating in another brutal attack by a Muslim extremist in Toulouse, which killed a Rabbi and three children, in March of 2012. Just a few months later, a Jewish supermarket was attacked in Sarcelles, a suburb of Paris. In 2012, according to a report by the SPCJ (the security unit of France’s Jewish community) anti-Semitic acts increased 58% from the previous year, to an astonishing 614.

But, this trend is not confined solely to France. Now, three years after my first trip, anti-Semitism is rapidly increasing across all over Europe prevalent among a growing contingent of resurgent right wing groups and immigrants, mostly Muslim, from Africa and the Middle East. Huge upsurges in anti-Semitism have been seen in the Swedish city of Malmo, which has a burgeoning immigrant population, in Hungary, where the right-wing Jobbik party is the country’s third largest, in Greece, where the Golden Dawn party has gained popularity, and in Ukraine, with the nationalist Svoboda party. Last month, one of Britain’s first Muslim ministers blamed his sentencing follow a driving accident on a “Jewish conspiracy."  And to see how it’s all come full-circle, in Germany, just a couple weeks ago, a rabbi was attacked near Frankfurt and called a “shitty Jew."

Some have said there is ample room for comparing Europe in the late 1920s and early 1930s, when the Great Depression hit, to Europe in the present day. Certainly, the economic situation is as dire then as it is now. Unemployment continues to rise throughout Europe, reaching over 25% in Spain and Greece and youth unemployment is even worse. In Italy, youth unemployment has reached 40%; in Spain the number is over 50%; and in Greece it is nearly 60%. This is especially problematic because young minds, when times are bad, tend to turn to ideas they do not fully understand. In Europe, these young minds are far more likely to turn to the far right of the political spectrum looking for someone or something to blame. In many instances they blame the government, but fringe groups seize on fear and uncertainty, enabling them to grow, ultimately blaming outsiders or immigration with the Jews being thrown into the mix. But, the threats to Jews are not the same existential threats of the 1930s. Instead, it is a more a persistent, inchoate threat, which continuously raises fear and apprehension but will likely never reach the same level as it once did; there is no threat of another European Holocaust. This, of course, does not make European anti-Semitism any better now than it was 75 years ago; it is rather that our recognition of the need to be prescient and our understanding of the iniquity of placation have given us an ability to react differently than we did in 1938.

I don’t mean to sound morbid, or to suggest that the situation here, as a whole, is dire. But in some areas, for many Jews, particularly religious Jews who wear Kippot or Tzitzit, it has, as Lyon’s Chief Rabbi remarked, become “unbearable.” France, however, is somewhat unique. France has the largest Jewish population in Europe, and the largest outside of Israel and the United States, with somewhere between 500,000 and 600,000 Jews. As my professor noted, the size and visibility of the Jewish population makes a big difference. In Italy there are only about 30,000 Jews, with half of them in Rome, so Italians are not intent to focus on the community. Instead, Italians have focused on another minority group, recent immigrants.

Due to its proximity to North Africa, Italy has seen a major influx of refugees, none of whom are white and many of whom are Muslim, which has rankled a country well known for its homogeneity. In Torino, for example, a number of refugees were essentially dumped in the city barely speaking a word of Italian, with no place to go and no money. I was invited to see the situation by Silvia’s granddaughter, who helped organize an event for the recent immigrants to provide food and other donations. They were all wearing donated clothing and lived in the now abandoned Olympic village as squatters, ignored by the community, and left to sit around all day. One of the recent immigrants spoke some Italian and engaged a couple of Italian students who I was talking to. He appeared to be high or drunk, and I later learned he was lamenting the treatment he and many others had received. They couldn’t find work and nobody seemed willing to help them. They were living in very close quarters in what were essentially abandoned buildings, with many making their living selling knock off leather goods or umbrellas. To put it in perspective, while Torino’s residents decry the incessant rain, its recent immigrants depend upon it.

Unsurprisingly, the plight of these recent immigrants has been met mostly with apathy, but there are many who are opposed to immigration completely. The most vocal political group is probably Lega Nord, whose main focus is on splitting the North and the South of Italy, but who invariably reject the legitimacy of immigration. The group routinely undergoes offensive campaigns to espouse support for their views. During a poster campaign, the group compared the perils of immigration to the plight of American Indians. The posters show a picture of an American Indian with a caption that says, “They suffered immigration. Now they live in reservations.”  On their Facebook page, the group once had a game called “Bounce the Illegal Immigrants,” in which players had to click on boats of illegal immigrants in an attempt to make them disappear. Following the historic appointment of Cecile Kyenge, the country’s first black government minister, the response was quick and vitriolic. Petitions were signed denouncing her and her effort to make the country more hospitable to recent immigrants. Mario Borghezio, a Lega Nord member, was recently kicked out of the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group for disparaging remarks made towards Kyenge. Barghezio said in part that she wanted to impose “tribal traditions” on Italy and that “Africa hasn’t produced great geniuses as anyone can see from a Mickey Mouse encyclopedia.”

The debate sizzled just last month when a Ghanaian immigrant, Mada Kabobo, killed one and injured four during a rampage with an axe in Milan. Milan is in the Lombardy region of Italy, a stronghold of Lega Nord, and their offshoot Lega Lombarda. The reaction was swift, especially towards Cecile Kyenge. Matteo Salvini, a Lega Lombarda politician, was quoted as saying, “The illegal immigrants the colored minister wants to regularize, kill people with pickaxes.” Following his arrest, Kabobo’s first words to police were allegedly, “I am hungry.” While it appears as though Lega Nord’s prominence may be slightly decreasing, their party is actually in power in the region of Piedmont, where Torino is located. While Torino has always voted towards the left, the rural areas around the city have propelled Lega Nord representative Roberto Cota to the Presidency of the region. The same is true for Lombardy, Italy’s most populated region. While Milan has voted towards the left, the president of the region, Roberto Maroni, is also from Lega Nord.

In Italy there is an open, accepted racism that can often feel somewhat surreal. This is no more evident than in sports. Soccer is, like every other European country, a national pastime. Yet, Italy has been mired in racism problems for years. The tend to center around a small number of hardline fans, known collectively as “Ultras”, who make up just a fraction of a team’s fan base but are the loudest and most vocal group in the stadium. They often yell racist epithets at players and display repulsive posters and banners aimed at Blacks and Jews. This behavior goes back decades, a haunting reminder that a small number of Italians appear to have learned nothing from the days of Fascism.

The team most notorious for their section of “Ultras” may be Lazio who has a fierce rivalry with Roma due to both teams location in Italy’s capital city. The full name of the soccer club is Societa Sportiva Lazio, but it is often initialed as S.S. Lazio and its symbol is an eagle, a constant reminder of the club’s ties to former Italian leader, Benito Mussolini.  Mussolini was a well-documented supporter of Lazio and elements of the club still retain some Fascist leanings, evidenced by a litany of racism and anti-Semitism. Ultras at Lazio will often display swastikas, Celtic crosses and other Fascist symbols during home games. In 1998, Ultras unfurled a banner reading, “Auschwitz is your country, the gas chambers are your home.” In 2000, they unfurled another banner which read, “Honor to the Tiger Arkan,” an homage to Serbian war criminal, Zeljko Raznatovic. One of Lazio’s former stars, Sinisa Mihajlovic, was an outspoken supporter of Raznatovic as well as former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic. In 2000, Mihajlovic was accused of calling Patrick Vieira a “black bastard” and “black monkey” but he denied he did so instead saying he called him “black shit.” Following his playing career, Mihajlovic got into coaching, eventually becoming the head of Fiorentina in June 2010 (just two weeks after I left Florence) and then taking a job as head coach of the Serbian National Team in 2012, a position he holds today. In 2005, another Lazio star, Paolo di Canio, inserted himself into a whirlwind of controversy when he appeared to give the Fascist salute to Lazio Ultras after scoring a goal. After major blowback from soccer officials, di Canio sought to clarify his behavior, stating, “I am a fascist, not a racist,” and praised Mussolini in his biography, saying he was, “basically a very principled, ethical individual.” Di Canio has a tattoo of the word Dux on his arm which is the Latin equivalent of Duce and is the current manager of English soccer club, Sunderland. In September of 2012, Lazio was fined after its fans taunted black players from English football club, Tottenham. Just two months later during another match with Tottenham, Ultras directed their ire towards the Jews, chanting “Juden Tottenham, Juden Tottenham.” Tottenham is often a target from clubs all over Europe because of their large Jewish following. In November of 2012, fans from Tottenham were attacked in Rome, greeted with Nazi salutes, resulting in one fan being stabbed. Just a few months ago, supporters of Tottenham were attacked again, this time in Lyon, greeted by more Nazi salutes. The list goes on.

Within Italy as a whole, the racism debate often revolves around one man: Mario Balotelli. Balotelli was born in Southern Italy to Ghanian parents, and ironically enough, raised since the age of 3 by Jewish Italians in Northern Italy. Balotelli is actually younger than I am, born in 1990, and thus has been subjected to abuse since he turned professional as a teenager (and probably before). Due to Italy’s strict rules regarding citizenship, he had to wait until his 18^th birthday to officially become a citizen, although he was born in Palermo and has lived his entire life in Italy. Balotelli is widely considered Italy’s best offensive player, but even in a country deathly obsessed with soccer, some Italians are reticent to accept Balotelli simply because of his skin color. He has been subjected to racism that is rarely seen in America’s professional sports, constantly watching fans wave bananas at him and referring to him as a monkey or hearing actual monkey sounds whenever he touches the ball. Upon his signing to Italian soccer powerhouse AC Milan, team official Paolo Berlusconi, the brother of former Italian President Silvio Berlusconi, referred to Balotelli as a “little black boy” (in 2008 Silvio Berlusconi famously referred to President Obama as “suntanned”). Fans from Juventus, one of the two soccer clubs in Torino, once infamously chanted, in reference to Balotelli, “There are no black Italians.” Some believed that all of this may have come to a head when Kevin Prince-Boateng, a Ghanian midfielder playing with Balotelli for AC Milan, walked off the field following racist abuse. The game was a friendly, essentially meaningless, and against a lower level team, but the action of walking off the field was far from meaningless. It signified a player and his teammates finally taking a stand, instead of simply meandering around the issue. But, the real question remained, would players take a stand during a game of significance, during a match where a spot in the standings were at stake? The answer came definitively just one month ago. During a match in Milan between AC Milan and Roma, Roma Ultras incessantly taunted both Balotelli and Boateng, forcing officials to briefly stop the game in the second half. Roma was fined $65,000. The list goes on.

To combat the issue of racism, actions cannot be confined solely to the offenders. Not everybody is chanting. Not everybody is holding banners. In fact, it is but a handful of fans. Thus, it is essential to recognize the importance of the fans who remain silent, realizing that indifference is the driving force behind soccer’s inability to rid itself of discrimination. Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, soccer’s governing body, and a man who has never strayed far from controversy, stated in 2011 that there was no racism between players and that it could all be settled at the end of the game with a hand shake. Lazio executive Claudio Lotito, defended his team, saying it would be impossible to “control the attitude of individual fans.” There are signs that Europe is waking up to the dangers of racism, beginning with tougher penalties enacted a couple weeks ago by FIFA, but it remains to be seen what, if any, the difference will be. I listed a number of incidents, but a simple Google search can reveal I barely even scratched the surface. Racism is extensive in all of Europe and it requires an extensive response. If Europe is unwilling to take bold action to combat racism’s ubiquity it is, in essence, a tacit acceptance of its inevitability. If that is the world Europeans are content to live in, then there is little anyone else can do. Ultimately, the final decision will rest with their gaze each morning, staring at their own reflection.

It is impossible to say if the economic situation in Europe will improve but as debt continues to grow and economies continue to shrink, the outlook is bleak. If Europe continues to deteriorate, the people will elect new leaders, but worsening times leaves the inevitability of a power vacuum, ready to be filled. The issues with anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and racism are real, and show no signs of dissipating. Europe will have to face the issues head-on, acknowledging their existence and devising a strategy to eradicate them. This is no easy task, and the climb will treacherous, and will be met with vociferous opposition but the alternative may be much more dangerous.






Editor's Note: All of the information was derived from various reputable Internet sources, which I double and triple checked. In addition, a number of the events I researched came after reading Wright Thompson's brilliant piece about racism in Italian soccer. If you want information on my citations, ones which I did not link to the piece, please let me know.