Sunbathers ignore dying children on Italian beach because they are gypsies...?

Question

Found this story on CNN and the US version of Yahoo just now (I'm in England)

It's really shocking - racism in Italy against Roma has got to this level http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/07/21/italy.drowning/index.html

What is your view?

If you can't get this link, go to CNN homepage.

Answer 1

Most young people are oblivious. They will watch someone burn to death trapped in a car and it won't even occur to them  to place a call for help. Those under 40 simply do not have any brains any longer.

Answer 2

Being the poor dead people Gypsies have nothing to do with that; during the last ten or fifteen years I heard the same happened twice; the people sunbathing acted the same way, but in both cases the victims were Italians...

And it's also not a strictly Italian disgusting habit; news reported the same at least once in Australia and once in the US (if I manage to remember exactly where and when, I'll tell you).  

But anyway, what happened had nothing to do with race, nationality or ethnicity of anyone.

Answer 3

bit sad - shows how we care less for others and more for ourselves now

Answer 4

I'm sad to say I'm not too surprised. I lived in Italy for a while and experienced racism first hand and saw how the Roma people are treated. I understand when people above are saying life goes on etc. but if you were on a beach and there was two dead bodies within a short distance of you you wouldn't be sitting topping up your tan without batting an eyelid. You'd at least move well well away from them and you'd be quite upset that you'd seen the bodies x

Answer 5

I think this is being blown way out of proportion. Everyday, people are killed on the roads and drivers drive by as if nothing happened, allowing the authorities to do their job. Life goes on, I'm afraid

Answer 6

I dont know what is more disgusting - sunbathers ignoring them or someone actually taking pictures of dead children

Answer 7

If you look at the photographs you will see that these children are clearly dead as the were completely covered. It does appear that the sunbathers were being uncaring but there was nothing else they could do. As far as I see it every effort was made to save these children but regretfully although 2 were saved they were unable to save the other 2 due to the very rough seas at the time.

Answer 8

so?

why should a couple of dead gyppos ruin someones day out?

Answer 9

Well, however much the poor lasses' ethnic origin had to do with the sunbathers' attitude, that attitude STINKS!

Answer 10

How on earth could any right thinking person continue to sit there sunbathing after seeing something so upsetting as two young children drown?How would those two in the picture feel if that had been their own children and others had been so callous?Beggars belief.

Mystery man- road accidents get cordoned off or traffic redirected.There's no comparison.Common decency tells you you should make yourself scarce.

Answer 11

I doubt that everyone on the beach knew that they were romas. my point is that SOMEONE would have tried to help whether they knew or not. the article mentioned something about violent waves. it can't be assumed that no one risked their lives for these girls just because they are romas.

eating lunch beside two dead bodies and not even moving to let the authorities go past with the coffins is very inconsiderate and unusually passive though...

Answer 12

Its a terrible thing.

If you want to be very politically correct then "Gypsies" is a racist term as it applies to a stereotype the correct term is "Gypsy Travellers". I'm not implying that you are racist but its a mistake that many people make, including myself

Gypsy Travellers suffer huge levels of discrimination for a terrible stereotype. It is disgusting.

Answer 13

I don't think we should presuppose what the sunbathers were thinking or feeling by looking at this picture.  It is tragic that two young girls drowned, and the pictures do give the impression of a callous, aloof attitude by sunbathers, but I'm not so sure that they are as indifferent as it appears.   Also, the article states that the call for help was made from the beach, and lifeguards did rescue two of the other swimmers.  If no one else made an attempt to rescue, they were smart; as an untrained person attempting to rescue a drowning person often becomes a victim as well.  In fact, we don't know - maybe lifeguards specifically instructed people to not interfere with rescue efforts, not to panic, stay calm, etc. etc. And, maybe this pictures does not depict the emotional shock that people may have been experiencing.   We just don't know the whole story.

Answer 14

How could anyone ignore children that are dying on a beach.... how cruel is that..... when all said and done we are supposed to be humans and we are also all Gods Children.!!

Answer 15

Tragic story but there's no way anyone on the beach knew the kids were "gypsies".

CNN should be ashamed for turning this horrible incident into a supposedly racist plot.

Answer 16

seems like a typical event, disgusting i know, but how times do you read that people drive by someone on a road who has been knocked down and do you approach someone who is sprawled on a pavement, perhaps drunk, most do not.

I must say that i think it reprehensible, but why did they lie there so long i wonder.

Answer 17

I saw it on the Telegraph page earlier. Very sad.

If it was in the UK the beach would have been cleared and at least that would have shown some respect.

Answer 18

I think the fault here lies more with the authorities who didn't arrange for the immediate removal of the bodies.  Maybe the people in the background of this photo weren't aware that these girls were dead???

Answer 19

you know,about 15 years ago in brazil,on COPACABANA,the police was still shooting, point shooting/sight shooting ,those

nasty homeless people.then bill clinton stepped in.they shoot no more,on copacabana.only on favelas.and at 12.13 years age,a roma girl is prone to spawn.that.s a fact,not a disenthery of a disturbed mind.are u prone to spawn more "difficult" questions?like "when the oil will end?"

Answer 20

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this coverage.  On the other hand, I has just watched a re-run of a 60 minute program talking about Darfur and how the world just sits by because they have no natural resources to sell like Iraq.  And then I watched a story about Chinese families whose children are kidnapped and sold for the s*x trade.

What has happened to basic decency....?  I try to teach my children to be polite and kind, but I find that even in school in our neighborhood people behave cut-throat and disgusting in so many ways.

Answer 21

Come on, I dont believe those people in shot were aware there were dead bodies nearby.  You dont take a blind bit of notice on a beach of people lying under towels and in Italy you walk about with everything hanging out and no one looks.

Sorry but I think this has been misintepreted.

Also Roma gypsies are pretty disgusting - in the UK they hassle and beg - its not right that they are doing this and bringing up their kids to do it.

The kids should be placed on care and this terrible cycle of theiving and begging broken.  Its fine to be a Roma but not a thieving and begging one hassling people.

I feel sorry for those kids.