Dear Sir,
I will reply to your questions as best I can.
The fault lies in great part in the implications of the phrasing. Take ''why ancient Romans and Italians were so good at warfare and also disciplined and stoic, but modern Italians are not?''
The part I have thrown into bold type essentially is interpreted by a native English speaker as saying to any passing Italian ''you are ill-disciplined and emotional''. I don't believe English is your mother-tongue and I quite accept that the nuances of a second tongue are hard to master (my German, French and even the real joy of spoken Latin has caused offence in the past).
Had the question stopped after ''stoic'' it would be interesting. It would invite a discussion on the virility and strength of Roman culture. I am a proud Roman pagan and have very strongly held rational convictions on the role of religion and culture in the decline of the Classical world but rarely share them on the internet for fear of causing a fight. However, the text thrown into bold is plainly offensive to any English speaker.
The effect of racialism is cumulative and could perhaps be missed by a foreigner. Asking whether the modern Italians are of the same stock as the Romans immediately after insulting those same Italians (however unintentionally) leads to the following interpretation -- the Italians are ill-disciplined and emotional, because they are not of the same stock as the Romans => the modern Italian race is less virile and manly, and so inferior, to the Roman race. This is unquestionably a racialist view (note the distinction between racialism, a disproved anthropological theory now in deserved odium because of its role in the excesses and horrors of the last War, and racism or race-prejudice).
It is also a racist view in the modern sense, as neither you nor I have seriously studied the moral fibre of the Italians. Referring to the last war, my great-uncle fought at El Alamein and retained a very high opinion of the quality of the Italian troops he faced. I am afraid it smells to me rather of ''dodgy Dagoes'' and ''excitable Latins'', the despicable caricatures of nineteenth-century racism. I will offer you the benefit of the doubt, though.
I will reply to your questions as best I can.
The fault lies in great part in the implications of the phrasing. Take ''why ancient Romans and Italians were so good at warfare and also disciplined and stoic, but modern Italians are not?''
The part I have thrown into bold type essentially is interpreted by a native English speaker as saying to any passing Italian ''you are ill-disciplined and emotional''. I don't believe English is your mother-tongue and I quite accept that the nuances of a second tongue are hard to master (my German, French and even the real joy of spoken Latin has caused offence in the past).
Had the question stopped after ''stoic'' it would be interesting. It would invite a discussion on the virility and strength of Roman culture. I am a proud Roman pagan and have very strongly held rational convictions on the role of religion and culture in the decline of the Classical world but rarely share them on the internet for fear of causing a fight. However, the text thrown into bold is plainly offensive to any English speaker.
The effect of racialism is cumulative and could perhaps be missed by a foreigner. Asking whether the modern Italians are of the same stock as the Romans immediately after insulting those same Italians (however unintentionally) leads to the following interpretation -- the Italians are ill-disciplined and emotional, because they are not of the same stock as the Romans => the modern Italian race is less virile and manly, and so inferior, to the Roman race. This is unquestionably a racialist view (note the distinction between racialism, a disproved anthropological theory now in deserved odium because of its role in the excesses and horrors of the last War, and racism or race-prejudice).
It is also a racist view in the modern sense, as neither you nor I have seriously studied the moral fibre of the Italians. Referring to the last war, my great-uncle fought at El Alamein and retained a very high opinion of the quality of the Italian troops he faced. I am afraid it smells to me rather of ''dodgy Dagoes'' and ''excitable Latins'', the despicable caricatures of nineteenth-century racism. I will offer you the benefit of the doubt, though.
Patrick J. Gray
'' Now. Close your eyes. It's but a short step to the boat, a short pull across the river.''
''And then?''
''And then, I promise you, you'll dream a different story altogether''
From ''I, Claudius'', by J. Pulman after R. Graves.
'' Now. Close your eyes. It's but a short step to the boat, a short pull across the river.''
''And then?''
''And then, I promise you, you'll dream a different story altogether''
From ''I, Claudius'', by J. Pulman after R. Graves.
