(Feel the beautiful game. Forza Juve!)

I entitled this blog after the Juventus theme song the fans sing before every game. It means, “Juventus: A Story Of Great Love”. You will soon find out the reason to why Juventus is such a legendary team; a team that represents and promotes the unified Italian nation.

Since birth, I have had dual Canadian and Italian citizenship, and was raised by primarily Italian parents. Being Italian is not just a culture, it’s a lifestyle, and football is a very large aspect of that lifestyle for most Italian boys. It is almost intrinsic, and one of the major aspects of Italian nationalism as a whole to this day. My Pirlo Juventus jersey, and Juventus as a whole, symbolizes Italian unity in a nation torn by regional, racial, and cultural barriers.

(Say no to racism. A legendary handshake between two legends of the game. To the left: Del Piero, the best Juventus player of all-time. He is one of Italy's greatest players, and is in Pele's top 100 footballers to ever exist. To the right: Ronaldo, a Brazilian leader and Ballon D'Or winner. He is also one of the best players the world has ever seen)

Why Juventus? I’m from a small town known as San Giovani in Fiore, which is located in Calabria, a Southern region. Juventus is a very northern Italian team, as it is based in Torino (Turin in English), yet many of their players are from the South of Italy. This comes as a surprise for most due to the ancient rivalry between the Northerners and Southerners, as the North was considered the upper class and the South was considered the lower class. This whole problem originated around the time of industrialization, as the North reaped the benefits of a centralized economy. The North became primarily urban, and was developed as a center for Italian politics and industry. On the other hand, the South comprised the bulk of Italian agriculture, and its people were proud farmers and fishermen. This was partly because of the land, as the South of Italy encompassed mountainsides, valleys, and was the closest to the Mediterranean Sea. Because these regions were so vastly different in economic, political, and geographical structure, Italians became more nationalistic towards their region of birth. As you may expect then, the North and South divided because of these differences.

Eventually, the North became a culture of its own, a place that promoted a certain look. Due to the media promoting racial stereotypes of whiter Italians, racial whitening occurred. Yes, racial whitening, even amongst Italians who are considered Caucasian by origin. Regarding this topic in Latin America, writers Appelbaum and Rosemblatt state, “In defining and organizing their nations as composed of distinct regions and races, Latin American elite intellectuals did not overcome their own desires for whitening and homogenization.”(1) Racial whitening occurred in Italy because physical appearance varies from region to region, especially from the North to the South. Northerners are typically lighter skinned and have fair hair and features. Southerners are typically dark or olive skinned, have dark hair, and have more rugged features. As a result, the whiter, Northerner look became idealized, and soon became the norm for what was considered attractive, wealthy, and contemporary in the eyes of the media. Evidently, racial whitening was prevalent in Italian society.

While the North was more prosperous financially, they suffered culturally, at least in the opinion of the South. The North was viewed by the South to be less Italian, as they were influenced by foreign business and countries around the world, especially those close to the Italian border (i.e. France). Southerners consider themselves “untainted” because of this, which I feel is a pretty harsh word to use between people of the same race and culture. They say this since the South was never truly consumed with global affairs, and simply lived like “native” Italians. On the topic of natives in Canada, writer Mackey states, “Aboriginal people are necessary players in nationalist myths: they are the colourful recipients of benevolence, the necessary ‘others’ who reflect back white Canada’s self-image of tolerance.”(2) Southern Italians are often viewed like the aboriginals in Canada, as they were the most historically Italian people in Italy. Additionally, Southerners are the furthest away from the borders of other European nations, and as a result, were the least susceptible to external European influence. Eventually, Southerners adopted the name of the “native Italian”.

As you can see, there is extreme racial and regional divide in Italy. Undoubtedly, racialization played a primary role in this. All of this is important to know if you are to truly grasp why my artifact is so important to me, and to Italian nationalism. Juventus was the first Italian team, and Italians originally bannered under the bianconeri. It is also known as “la vecchia signora”, or “the old lady” in English, because it is the oldest Italian football club. What makes it special is that every Italian, Northerner or Southerner, can support Juventus. Everyone has an old lady, a nonna so to speak, which makes us all equals. This formed a special kind of unity amongst the regions, as football caused Italians to disregard cultural barriers and discrepancies for the love of the beautiful game. I view this as a testament to the power and importance of sports in de-racializing nations and promoting equality. To say it bluntly: Juventus created Italian unity between Northerners and Southerners as they cheered and played together on the team.

(Juventus' new 2014/2015 kit. Notice the Italian national crest, bright and center)

On the Juventus jersey itself, there is an Italian crest placed in the center, next to the team crest. Note that Juventus is the only Italian team to do so, and one of the only football clubs in the world to have a national crest on its jersey. Juventus advertises and takes pride in the Italian flag and its colors. This is because Italy comes before Juventus; it is the team where Italians from any region belong to. It is also the team with the most Italian national team players, which emphasizes how nationalistic this football club really is. To brag, it is the most successful Italian football club and is in the top ten best clubs in the world.

Soon enough, fans and players alike were calling each other Italians instead of regional titles like Calabrese. That’s how powerful a sports team can be, especially when the nation and its culture revolves around it. For Italy, this was definitely the case. Overall, Juventus, and Italian football for that matter, unites Italy and bridges the gap between regional and racial divides.

(Italian legend Andrea Pirlo’s book is entitled, “I think therefore I play”, which in itself speaks volumes to how significant football is to Italian nationalism)

Footnotes:

1) Appelbaum, Nancy P., Macpherson, Anne S., and Rosemblatt, Karin Alejandra, eds. Race and Nation in Modern Latin America. Chapel Hill, NC, USA: University of North Carolina Press, 2003. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 9 October 2014. Page 21.

2) Mackey, Eva. House of Difference: Cultural Politics and National Identity in Canada. Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 1998. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 9 October 2014. Page 15-16.