I have been thinking about this thread in the last days, after the storm around Balotelli in Italy.
For those of you who don't know, he was blamed for Italy's demise and for tearing apart the team during the tie break of the last match.
He said he gave his all, and that "blacks" would have never blamed another "brother" the way Italians did with him.
There was a surge of comments on the Italian media about this, which made him more hated than ever.
But I feel for the guy - born and raised in Italy by an Italian foster family, he felt as an outsider most of his life, having an Italian name and surname, and black as coal.
I can imagine the times he was not famous and being called by name, with people telling him like he was dumb "We called Mario Balotelli, stand back", and him having to explain the he was Mario Balotelli, indeed.
His Italian mother loves him so much, and for sure she shed her baby as long as she could. He succeeded in his career, but nonetheless he is still seen as "the black one", the one "who is not really Italian because he is black".
Born by Ghanese parents in Palermo, Italy, he showed promising skills since a young age, and turned down Ghana's national team invitation because he didn't wanted to prejudge to be called in the Italian national team. (Note: he acquired the Italian citizenship only when turning 18 y.o.)
He was heavily insulted for being black throughout his life, and as a professional player, too. At the point that he left the playing field when I was just tired of being insulted. Basically, when he is a winner, he is one of us. When he loses, he's just "that nigga" and everybody feels like they finally have a reason to name-call him.
For sure, his temper is a huge issue, but I cannot but feel for him. I wish there was a little political correctness to shed him by the Italians.
