The Local (2014) informs on a prohibition sign at a bakery in Rome, which prohibits members of the Rroma minority any access. The bakery in the neighbourhood of Tuscolano had a sign with the words “entry for Gypsy strictly prohibited” (È severamente vietato l’ingresso agli Zingari) placed in the shop window. The Rroma organization 21 lugio criticized the sign as analogous to racist practices under National Socialism and apartheid. After the bakery received an anonymous complaint, they removed the sign from the shop window. However, it is very worrying how much approval the prohibition sign obtained, despite some protests: “But in some quarters of Rome the bakery owners got full support.“It’s right – they’re all thieves,” one city shop-keeper told The Local. “You have to be careful around them, how can you distinguish between a good and a bad one?” she said, not giving her name. Another shop owner lamented that only yesterday she had been robbed by someone from a traveller community.” The passive tolerance of such discrimination by a large part of the majority population is especially worrisome, as it is what makes such racism possible.

• The Local (2014) Rome’s ‘No gypsies’ sign sparks furore. In: The Local online vom 20.3.2014. http://www.thelocal.it/20140320/romes-no-gypsies-sign-sparks-furore

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