The New Italians

The term "Creole" (criollo, kriol, créole), rarely used in our lexicon, is well known in the societies of Latin America and the Caribbean, where it indicates individuals born from the union of French, Spanish or Portuguese parents with Native Americans or people of African descent.

But physical "creoleness" is just a starting point. The point of arrival is the simultaneous presence of multiple cultural elements, now the norm in any corner of the world and in any person, regardless of genetic origins.

The whole world is becoming creolised, because cultures in contact with one another cannot resist the constant exchange of mutual influences. We walk the streets of our cities and dance Zumba, eat couscous, and listen to rap music; girls braid their hair in African style. Our new heroes have colours and features unlike the familiar local archetypes.

Does planetary multiculturalism catch us unprepared? One wonders whether integration in Italy will follow a different, less confrontational path than in nations with a strong colonial past. Let us assume we have overcome the problems tied to recent massive immigration. We must acknowledge that we are already dealing with subsequent generations and face the imperative to learn to live alongside others in full openness to their presence and the transformation they bring.

The Creoles, bearers of difference, are symbols of the evolution of world societies. They exemplify how to thrive in diversity, far from the uniform and the identical, opposing universality and schismatic purity with the conscious harmonisation of difference.