Monday, August 23, 2004
Humbled by a hero - on immigrants in today's Europe
Humbled by a hero
John Hooper explains how the death of a young immigrant as he rescued a swimmer has left Italians to face some awkward truths
The Guardian - Monday August 23, 2004
Cheikh Sarr's wife told the Corriere della Sera newspaper that, when she first met him seven years ago, she thought: "This is a man with a big heart. He will make me happy. He will be the father of my children. And he will see me grow old."
Speaking to the newspaper from the only public telephone in her village, 120 miles from Dakar, in Senegal, she added: "Unfortunately, only the last of my premonitions was wrong."
Her husband died on Saturday August 21, in circumstances that have deeply moved Italians, making some pause for thought at a time when the latest summer upsurge in illegal immigration is being depicted by many politicians and commentators as a threat to the Italy's future.
Like millions of Italians, Sarr, a 27 year-old building worker, went to the seaside with a friend that day. They opted for the beach at Marina di Castagneto, near Livorno.
It was a blustery day and the sea was rough. Suddenly, they saw someone in difficulties in deep water. They plunged in. Sarr succeeded in reaching the man and pulling him towards the shore. But, in the last stages of his rescue effort, he was hit by a freak wave.
"I can still hear Cheikh as he held my hand crying out for help at the moment the wave carried him off," his Italian friend and workmate, Francesco Candeliere, said.
It was not until 8pm that Sarr's lifeless body was washed back onto the darkened shore. By then, the way in which he was perceived had undergone a remarkable transformation.
When he went into the water, he would have been looked on as a suspect "extracomunitario" (the Italians' odd term for foreigners - usually non-white - from outside the EU). He emerged from it as a hero.
The president of the province of Florence, Matteo Renzi, wrote to the mayors of its 44 boroughs, proposing that each name a street in their town after the young African.
Now, it is true that Italians - like everyone else - love a hero. A cynic might add that left-leaning Italians such as the provincial president of Florence are particularly fond of immigrant heroes, and never more so than when their political opponents are calling for tougher measures to stem the tide of illegal entries.
However, there is another reason for the deep emotions rescue incident has stirred: a common sense of having been humbled.
Italians pride themselves on being exceptionally civilised - and with reason. The very word civilisation was given to the world by their forebears. They have an unique history of cultural achievement.
Italians are elegant, refined and sensitive. But, as this incident showed, some of them can be capable of breathtakingly self-centred don't give a damn attitude that Italians themselves call menefreghismo (from "me ne frego", or "I couldn't care less").
It emerged that the man rescued by Sarr, an Italian, had simply left the beach after being saved without offering a word of thanks or consolation. Nor, despite the extensive publicity given to the incident, has he come forward to express gratitude to the stricken relatives of the man who saved his life.
Eyewitnesses described the man, who left without giving his name, as being around 40 years old, strongly built, with greying hair and a tattoo on his left arm. It is safe to say he is today the most unpopular man in Italy, a living, walking, yet anonymous embodiment of all that is least attractive in the national character.
What makes his stubborn refusal to thank all the more painful to his compatriots is the dignified and moving reaction of Sarr's elder brother, Khadim.
He denied that he felt any resentment towards the rescued man, but added: "I just want him to give me the opportunity to take him silently in my arms, because I am sure that, in him, I would recover a part of the life of my brother."
john.hooper@guardian.co.uk
Hazem Azmy
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