Shock in Italy over the death of a former Milan promise

The news of the death of former footballer Seid Visin shocks Italy not only because of the youth of the former player of the inferiors of clubs such as Milan and Benevento, but also because of the reprehensible social context in which this tragedy is framed. At the age of 20, the Ethiopian-born decided to take his own life and at his funeral a note was read in which he had denounced the racism that currently afflicts Italian society.

"Wherever I'm, I feel on my shoulders, like a stone, the weight of the skeptical, prejudiced, displeased and scared looks of the people," reads in a section the letter that was written in 2019 and released this Saturday the Corriere della Sera newspaper, a day after Visin was found dead in his room.

The protagonist of this story had been adopted in his early years by an Italian couple. His childhood was spent in Nocera Inferiore, a commune in Campania. His dream was to become a footballer and that is why he moved to the big city. He played in the youth divisions of Milan and came to share a team with goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, however before the 2016/2017 season his time at the Rossonera entity came to an end.

According to Italian press reports, Visin played some more time in the Benevento formative categories, until he decided to give up his illusion of being a professional footballer. Anyway, he never gave up his passion for sports: until very recently he worked for Atlético Vitalica, a futsal team.

The letter he wrote recounting his drama

After his premature death, the letter in which he laid bare the terrible consequences of the wave of racism that is being experienced in Italy and in other parts of Europe moves the public opinion of the Old Continent.

“Faced with this particular socio-political scenario that looms in Italy, I, as a black man, inevitably feel questioned. I'm not an immigrant. I was adopted when I was little. Faced with this great migratory flow, I remember with a bit of arrogance that everyone loved me. Wherever I was, wherever I was, everyone turned to me with great joy, respect, and curiosity. Now, however, this atmosphere of idyllic peace seems so far away; It seems that everything has mystically turned upside down (...) Now, wherever I go, wherever I'm, I feel on my shoulders, like a stone, the weight of people's skeptical, prejudiced, disgusted and scared looks ”, Wrote the former Milan youth squad to his therapist and a group of friends.

In another passage of the note, he spoke of the discrimination and hatred of which he was a victim: “A few months ago I managed to find a job that I had to leave because too many people, mainly the elderly, refused to be cared for by me and, as if that That was not enough, as if I no longer felt uncomfortable, they also pointed me out as responsible for the fact that many young (white) Italians could not find work ”.

“After this experience something changed within me: as if unconscious automatisms had been created in my head and through which I appeared in public, in a society different from what I really am; as if I was ashamed to be black, as if I was afraid of being mistaken for an immigrant, as if I had to show people that they didn't know me, that I was like them, that I was Italian, that I was white. Which, when I was with my friends, led me to make jokes in bad taste about blacks and immigrants, even with an uproarious air I said that I was racist with blacks, as if to affirm, as if to emphasize that it isn't me", revealed Visin.