[SPLIT]The relationship between northern and southern Italians

[fratelloRocco]

I don't understand why there is a smiling green icon on this thread.

There is nothing to smile about Italy today. Even the division between North and South is grave and I have heard both Southern and Northerners speak with hate of the others in this late years, much more than in the past.

[Geopagan]

I will just say that there are differences.

Well, had it not been for Italy and Greece to take in the "undesirable" and non-European J-haplogroup agricultural-bearing migrants then Europe as we know it may not exist.

Farming was a critical and innevitable step towards founding civilization in Europe. Hunter-Gathering-Foraging is cool but agriculture was an unavoidable step that Europeans had to take.

[Haran]

I'm sicilian .
There's no fuckin split anymore ,
North is in troubles , economic crisis , South is familiar with crisis so we won't ever notice it , and about the immigrants well it's a process that none can stop.
And in my opinion we can't save the world thinking to split people .
One face one race .

[antonio]

A friend of mine has a Sicilian fiancee. At certain occasion we talk about Politics and I could help from expressing my admiration for Lega Nord (it's a symtom of Spanish irreversible decadence the absence here of a party like that). Of course, I inmediately tell her it's a pity and it's unfair their dislike for Southern Italians, but I want to see their presence on current Government Coalition as a signal of a reasonable change on that subject.

[poiuytrewq0987]

All I can say is if northerners continue to rag on southerners. There will be conflict, there will be a split and there will be only one country that will benefit from such conflict. Greece. A long time ago, Greeks colonized southern Italy (Taras) and Sicily (Syracuse) and they retained control of those two major cities and the surrounding territories until the Romans defeated Pyrrhus which brought an end to Greek rule in the region, but not the presence of the Greeks there.

[The Lawspeaker]

Sicilian ? In your profile you say Lebanese ?

[Eins Zwei Polizei]

All I can say is if northerners continue to rag on southerners. There will be conflict, there will be a split and there will be only one country that will benefit from such conflict. Greece. A long time ago, Greeks colonized southern Italy (Taras) and Sicily (Syracuse) and they retained control of those two major cities and the surrounding territories until the Romans defeated Pyrrhus which brought an end to Greek rule in the region, but not the presence of the Greeks there.

Greece is asking for help to Europe and you would rather... send her the South??

[John in Denver]

I'm more familiar with Southern Italians from the New York area, the Northern Italians that I have met expressed the stereotypical complaints towards Southerners about laziness, which, in my opinion, is more intellectual than physical.

The biggest complaint about Southern Italians is the Mafia, which is a collective reflection of their dishonesty towards one other, where the metamorphosis of that ancient Asiatic monster which lies within them manifests itself from time to time.

[Foxy]

Could the Italians speak a little more about the relationship between northern and southern Italians, i.e. is there a lot of antipathy and if so, why? Is it common for northern and southern Italians to (inter)marry?

Hi,
I'm from Italy (central-South). This is a part of our national anthem:

[I][We have been for centuries
stamped on, and laughed at,
because we are not one people,
because we are divided.
Let's unite under
one flag, one dream;
To melt together
Already the time has come/I]

In short it is written also in our anthem that we are not only one folk and it is true. Being from Centre, I am ok with both Northern and Southern Italians, but in general Southern see Northern as foreigners who wanted to create Italy (Italy has been created by the royal family from Piedmont, northern Italy, which is also of French origin, but they found a strong opposition in the South, at the time belonging to Spain) and now mistreat them, and Northerns see Southerns like lazy people with a closed mentality.
But we inter-marry very easy and we consider us all Italians. I think that there should be a federalistic system anyway, becouse a Sicilian has very little in common with a Milanese or a Sudtirolese.

Anyway in Italy there are 5 regions with a special status (they have more authonomies). These regions have been choosed on historical and ethnic facts and are:

Valle D'Aosta/ Vallée d'Aoste - becouse people there is ethnically French and speak French as their first language. Who wants to work in a public office there must know perfectly at least both Italian and French.
Alto Adige/ Sudtirol - because they are ethnically Austrians/Germans and speak German as first language, sometimes in its dialect form called "Tirolese". Friuli-Venezia-Giulia - because ethnically they are Ladins with Croatian influxes. Many people there speak Ladin, a mix of German and Italian.

In the South to have a special status are:

Sicily -because thanks to its geographical position and history, they have had a stronger mediterranean influence, in particular Arabic.
Sardinia- because thanks to its isolation they have mantained a strong identity. Sardinian people are ethnically different from Italians and constitute an own ethnicity as well as Sicilians

I hope I have been useful.
Anyway Bossi's wife (Bossi is the leader of Lega Nord) is Sicilian.

[Foxy]

No. We have a half Italian-American (can't remember her name for some reason!) and SPQR is also Italian-American. We should get more.

I am all Italian living in Italy... but I feel lonely... any other Italian here?