He responded to an online advertisement for a room to rent (300 euros a month) in a two-story four-room apartment in the scientific institutes area of Pavia. But the answer was negative. Menin Hubert Don, 26, a bioengineering student at the University of Pavia and athlete of the “Cento Torri” athletics club, is convinced that the no received hides a racial prejudice. The case was reported today by the newspaper “La Provincia Pavese”.
“The tenant who had published the ad told me that he prefers to look for an Italian boy: it is the preferred choice for all the members of the house – explains Don -. Too bad that I have had Italian citizenship since last September. More than a question of documents, I felt discriminated against because of the color of my skin”.
The young man is very sorry: “In 22 years of living in Italy I have felt the lashings of discrimination, but I have never received such racist treatment. It was enough to say that the room was already rented, I would have accepted it more easily. This hurt me: I replied to the message saying that I am Italian, I am a working student and that I don’t live with racists”.
The tenant who posted the announcement replied in a chat: “From your name I didn’t think you were Italian, it seems normal to me. We live with a foreigner and we are fine, especially me who shares the floor with him. But since he is learning Italian, he would like a roommate to talk to every day”.
The “Cento Torri” athletics club expressed solidarity with Don: “Hubert is an athlete who is part of our family – explained the president Franco Corona -. We are in solidarity with him given the discrimination he suffered. What happened was unpleasant “.
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