By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Magic Johnson was enjoying his vacations in Forte De Marmi, Italy together with his friend and Bible reciter extraordinaire Samuel L. Jackson. After a day spent in shopping, the two decided to take a rest on a bench and, naturally, attracted the attention of several passersby that wanted to photograph the two celebrities.
The NBA legend posted some photos on Twitter writing “Sam & I chilling out on a bench yesterday in Forte Dei Marmi, Italy. The fans started lining up to take pictures with us.”
Luca Bottura, an Italian journalist and radio presenter, used one of the photos and created a meme that was meant as a joke, as he personally said afterward, posting it on his Facebook page.
The caption translates to: “Boldrini’s resources in Forte dei Marmi shop at Prada with our €35. Share this picture if you are outraged.” and refers to Lura Boldrini, President of the Chamber of Deputies in Italy who is known for her progressive policy on migrants and refugees. The Italian government pays immigration centers 35 euros for each person per day for food, housing, clothing and other needs of the many migrants/refugees that have escaped in the country.
While the picture went viral pretty quickly, the purpose behind Bottura’s comment was heavily misunderstood with many critics expressing their anger with their state “spending 35 euros on people to go on a shopping spree” and others characterizing the duo as “lazy migrants”.
Bottura then posted: “The meme has been shared thousands of times and 40 per cent of people understood the provocation, 30% were outraged and 20% thought it was a racist meme and that I had failed to recognise Samuel Jackson and Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, (I will not reveal the 10%).”
When model Nina Moric (a well-known supporter of anti-immigrant movements) shared one of the pictures of Magic and Jackson on her own Facebook page, she wrote: “To see migrants lounging around on benches in places like Forte dei Marmi, living off the 35 euros a day that they get from us, is really too much”. What followed was an abundance of comments from people confusing Magic and Jackson for migrants that came to “take our money” and asking them to “go home”. Others commented that 35 euros per migrant are a “waste of money that could be used elsewhere” or “Immigration is crushing us”
Moric later said that her comment intended as a “social experiment”.