SAMUEL L. JACKSON & MAGIC JOHNSON MISTAKEN FOR LAZY IMMIGRANTS IN ITALY AFTER RACIST MEME GOES VIRAL
Famed actor #SamuelLJackson and NBA legend #MagicJohnson are in the middle of a discussion about race and prejudice after taking an innocent picture in Italy. After going on a shopping spree at #LouisVuitton, the two men were sitting on a bench together in Forte dei Marmi in Tuscany when fans flocked to take pictures with them.
Italian journalist #LucaBottura later created a meme from one of the pictures and likened the celebrities to African migrants which read: “Government funds at Forte dei Marmi…they go shopping at Prada with their daily allowance of 35 euros.” The caption then encouraged viewers to share if they were “indignant” to the claims in the meme.
Once the image was circulated enough, a well-known singer and model named #NinaMoric attracted more people to the meme after sharing it to her page. She said, “To see migrants lounging around on benches in places like Forte dei Marmi, living off the 35 euros a day that they get from us, is really too much.” Later, she insisted that her post was a joke and that she would never confuse Samuel and Magic for migrants since she’s lived in the U.S.
The issue with all of this is that Moric, along with many people who engaged with her post, supports an anti-immigration movement called #CasaPound. Italian citizens just aren’t interested in being taxed in order to provide the €35 a day for migrants, because it costs them too much. According to the #Telegraph, many West African men are rescued from the Mediterranean after escaping from the grip of Libyan smuggling gangs. Last year 181,000 migrants settled in Italy and over half that amount have settled so far this year.
Some of the comments under Moric’s post read, “This is the Italy where we prefer to give 35 euros a day to Communist cooperatives in order to support layabouts rather than make them work and produce wealth,” “Immigrants go home” and “Don’t tell me these people are fleeing from war, because I don’t believe it.”
Once the image was circulated enough, a well-known singer and model named #NinaMoric attracted more people to the meme after sharing it to her page. She said, “To see migrants lounging around on benches in places like Forte dei Marmi, living off the 35 euros a day that they get from us, is really too much.” Later, she insisted that her post was a joke and that she would never confuse Samuel and Magic for migrants since she’s lived in the U.S.
The issue with all of this is that Moric, along with many people who engaged with her post, supports an anti-immigration movement called #CasaPound. Italian citizens just aren’t interested in being taxed in order to provide the €35 a day for migrants, because it costs them too much. According to the #Telegraph, many West African men are rescued from the Mediterranean after escaping from the grip of Libyan smuggling gangs. Last year 181,000 migrants settled in Italy and over half that amount have settled so far this year.
Some of the comments under Moric’s post read, “This is the Italy where we prefer to give 35 euros a day to Communist cooperatives in order to support layabouts rather than make them work and produce wealth,” “Immigrants go home” and “Don’t tell me these people are fleeing from war, because I don’t believe it.”
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