U of C Voices from Abroad: Italy’s Two-Faced Liberties
The culture shock inherent in traveling does not spare you in Rome. Its ubiquitous police force comes in four easily identifiable divisions, including military police. They all patrol the city streets. The shocking numbers of police seem to parallel the crushing volume of tourists trawling the city. The small machine guns, toted by the police squadrons seem almost a right of initiation. Yet it has the opposite effect of making the uninitiated visitor feel more nervous than safe as the smiling policeman, machine gun resting against his leg, boisterously waves ‘Buongiorno’ to passing women.
The police act as de facto immigration officials- they are allowed to stop any foreigner on site and demand to see their passport. If you’re unlucky enough to have left yours in the hotel, you’re headed for an unpleasant visit to the station. Where you will be yelled at in rapid Italian, and may be bullied into signing unintelligible papers proclaiming your guilt. However this scenario is not very commonplace, and happens to only a handful of internationals. I’m still hedging my bets.
It would seem that from its intimidating police force, and the power vested in them, that Rome and ultimately Italy is an oxymoron of an industrialized country with severely scaled back liberties. However its staggering liberties for free speech also struck me in my first days in the city. In the heart of the city a Communist protest -albeit small- took place, lined by artists selling overpriced drawings to gullible tourists, and gorgeous old buildings.
One of the police forces that I have become fond of is the Carabinieri, or the military police. Some of my Carabinieri acquaintances complain that they cannot stop certain people because they will be accused of racism. Such is the consciousness and fear of being labeled racist among the Italians that I met- that they will profess their innocence for extended periods. This is at least one parallel to America- as the Henry Louis Gates Jr incident fades fast from popular memory.
While Rome is different from the rest of Italy, as New York is as different from the rest of the U.S., Romans don’t feel overburdened by its ubiquitous police. They simply dismiss it as ‘good for safety’. Its tolerance for Communists- something unimaginable in America, and the seemingly anti-racist public sentiments draws it inevitably into the industrialized pocket of the world, even if it may seem over-policed. They all register as Italy’s charming idiosyncrasies.
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