Six people dead and four injured, all from the South of Italy or almost. The Taliban preferred young boys from the South for their bombs, the Italian army is mostly composed of young men from the southern part of Italy. Young men who cannot choose much, because jobs are like a needle in a haystack. So army, police, carabinieri, guardia di finanza. Or school, professors, principals, etc.

When people from the south wear a uniform, they are just Italian. And if they die, their origin just disappears. Everybody talks about their good qualities, devoted to their job, people who believe in what they are doing and respect their mission. The Italian institutions and the leaders of political parties talk about them like heroes, in order to compensate their sacrifice, the lives they lose. If Italy has a good reputation all around the world, thanks to the army, which is not an easy thing, it is thanks to these young southern men who choose to wear a uniform because they cannot find a better job. The stereotype of the lazy, uninvolved, apathetic man from the South of Italy is changing recently. Many years ago a lot of people made fun of this stereotype, but in the last twenty years, since the creation of the Northern league, next to bad taste remarks and prejudices, there is also the desire of some Ministers to send back home southerners, in order to keep borders separate.

It is very anachronistic and damaging for the country. Soldiers from the South do not just create a prestigious picture of Italy in the world panorama thanks to their dedication, but they also give to that part of Italy in which they were born the credibility that it deserves.

Translated by Chiara Nunnari from John Milton Institute