Slaves of Europe – the cultural shock
If you have any knowledge of or speak Italian, then most likely you have heard the expression Lavoro duro come un Negro.
The N-word has or, became a racial slur; we all know that. But that’s the way this Italian expression goes.
Literally: work hard as a Negro (or, work hard as a black, if we want).
Don’t we have the same expression in English when we say work hard like a slave? The same expression, work hard as a slave, exists in Italian, too-lavoro duro come un schivo, which helps put a kind of colour stereotyping on the side. However, probably, to be more expressive, to put more emotion, or for emphasis and energy into what they want to say, many Italians prefer the former: work hard like a negro.
Question: What does such an expression mean?
As a child, we used to sing a song, “Slave, slave, slave, in America”, talking about the unbearable lives of those black slaves in America who worked day and night on sugar and tea plantations under such inhumane conditions.
“I’m not your slave” is another commonly used phrase, referring to a situation where one is being made to do something that makes them uncomfortable, or maybe a job that’s not their responsibility or their turf or a job way too hard to do.
You say, “I’m being worked like a slave,” when you find yourself doing way more than you should or have the ability to do.
All these expressions, in the end, refer to the same thing: working hard, a tedious job, maybe, endless or long hours, under unfavourable circumstances; but what choice do you have?
Which takes back to the Italian expression, work hard like a negro.
To be offended by certain expressions is to be overly sensitive. Something that can happen to anyone.
Being black, an African, or, in my case, a dark-skinned woman in places where you are referred to as a minority has its challenges. But how do you deal with those challenges?
Do you keep your head down forever, confront each word you think is offensive to you head-on, or try to understand the reasons behind certain people’s behaviours?
I was born and grew up in Kampala, Uganda, but for the last 20 years, Italy has been my home: family, work, and a citizen.
So, just imagine, as a dark-skinned person, what in Italy is called (una persona di colore), a person of colour (as it is in English, too), you heard the expression lavoro duro come un negro (work hard like a negro), right in your face, first time, especially, if were not yet well conversed with the foreign language from which the expression was said.
How would you react?
Would such an expression sound offensive to you? Why?
The very first time I heard this expression, I was new to Italy, yet to learn the traditions, culture, language, expressions and gestures, the people, you name it. I was standing amongst a group of Italians talking about their jobs, livelihoods, and families. And then one person in the group – who more than the others – was speaking melodramatically about how hard they work; they put in long hours, the job is unbearable and tedious, yet the returns are unfavourable – suddenly said, io lavoro duro come un negro (I work hard like a negro).
I hadn’t been paying that much attention to the conversation, especially since, being new to Italian, I was finding it hard to follow everything being said, but upon hearing this expression, I found myself looking up in amazement.
What did you just say?!
I asked, without opening my mouth, but looking first at the speaker and then around the group. But as dumbfounded as I was, no one seemed to notice that anything unbecoming had been said.
Why would they?
Personally, I find this expression in particular a little outdated, given that it must have originated from, for example, Italians, watching or observing the gruelling pace of manual and forced labour imposed on black African slaves in the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade period dating back almost two centuries.
Think about it: Minus seeing what was happening to those black people, their livelihoods, how hard they worked under inhumane circumstances, the lack of freedom or a way out, what was known particularly of black people? How many black people were, for example, on the European continent back then? And if any, what were their conditions of being on the continent?
To date, let’s face it: manual labour in many European countries is still predominantly done by immigrants-not only from Africa- especially when talking about jobs that, in many cases, Europeans don’t want to or no longer wish to do themselves.
However, the world has become a global village. Multiculturalism is on the rise. We see people from all walks of life daily, across many professional circles, and in the shared nature of existence. So, doesn’t that make that expression a little outdated?
But let’s face it, aren’t we all slaves to something? We are slaves to our jobs, families, living conditions, habits, our addictions, social norms, obligations…the list goes on.
So, who are the slaves of Europe?
A person known to me from a country outside Europe, after spending some time in a house in Italy, on returning home, said that, according to them, the First World is not in places like
Europe, for example, but elsewhere entirely. This was after staying in this house
with no house help services, no guy on call, and no help whatsoever. Meaning, they had to do all their house chores by themselves.
Why? I asked?
It’s just that in Europe, women are like slaves. They work all the time, with no help at all, and you have to do everything by yourself,” was their answer.
Isn’t that right? And if you understand what I mean, isn’t that a cultural shock?
Because usually, wherever we go or whenever we talk about cultural shocks, we mostly think about the languages and cultures of the people we meet, their customs and traditions, the way they dress up, or maybe how they eat, walk and talk.
No one ever mentions things like not having the Help available to you, or the simplicity of calling the guy.
And isn’t that cultural shock?
In many countries in Africa, Asia, and South America, because of political instabilities, social insecurities and imbalances, unstable economies, poverty, unemployment, and the list goes on, cheap labour is easy to come by. For a livelihood, for survival, for the well-being of family, or simply to belong somewhere, people will do any job. This makes having house help the order of the day; it’s almost a societal norm, especially for those who can afford it.
And in fact, most houses or homes are equipped and/or designed to host the Help, as the Help largely stays on the premises, and for some, they become part of the family. You find families with a housemaid, a gardener, a driver, a cook/chef, maybe a child caregiver. Your Help is your responsibility; you take care of their accommodation, pay their medical bills, their meals are part of the package, and they receive a salary mostly considered fair.
Apart from the help, there’s always the guy. You can literally call the guy for anything, from deliveries, repairs, fixing the smallest things, anything, and you will have the guy.
In most Western countries, these services – House Help, or the Guy – are hardly available, as finding such labour is almost impossible. But apart from that, most houses or apartments hardly have enough space for their families, which would make live-in help impossible to have, let alone affordable. Many people, minus special cases, families can hardly afford the Help on a 24/7 basis, let alone daily.
In homes generally, there is so much work to do every day, usually little time to do it all, no help at all, and what choice do you have?
Not having these services means that within the family, someone, usually, but not only, the woman- be it a career, employed, freelance, or stay-at-home mum- has to take care of the bulk of household chores. And especially when kids arrive, one partner may have to suspend working, work fewer hours, or quit their job entirely to take care of the household requirements.
This leaves the woman (or the caregiver) generally stressed, almost always in a rush, and with hardly any time for themselves. All because of too much to take care of, making it feel like a slave to their family.
Their day doesn’t end.
Little paid help here and there (especially immigrants looking for small–time jobs now and then) might be available, but on a very occasional basis.
Whoever has family, grandparents, or even parents might be available for a little help.
One lady, for example, told me that her mother does their cooking and laundry to lessen her burden when she goes home. However, the husband constantly complains why it’s the mother–in–law that does their cooking and not the wife herself.
“Io arrivo a casa dal lavoro stanca e, con tutte le cose che ho da fare, devo anche cucinare?” She said (“I get home from work tired and, with everything else I have to do, I also have to cook?”)
“Che lo faccia lui se vuole. Se no, si arrangia,” she added. (“He can do it himself if he wants to. Otherwise, it’s his problem.”)
Too much to take care of, too little time, and mostly with no help at all.
In Italy, for example, single men, especially with full-time jobs, for the most part prefer staying at their parents’ home in what Italians call “Hotel Mamma”. It’s comfortable. They mostly don’t pay rent, and the parents, especially the mother, take care of the bulk of the house chores (cooking, washing up, the laundry, doing the shopping, going to pay their bills, and so on). Comfort.
So, slavery might have existed elsewhere, but to many, it still lives amidst us.
How about you, what are you a slave to?
Special appreciation to all the Help around the world. You make many lives easier. So, thank you.
Edith MN Kyazze
