Although she got on the bus with her mother, only she was asked to show the ticket: Rebecca Pavan, a 21-year-old from Verona who plays for the Italian national athletics team, is a black girl, adopted, and for this reason she believes she has suffered a racist treatment by the controller. “She didn’t ask my mother, but only me, who was after her – says the athlete herself – of course asking to validate the tickets is right but what made me feel bad was the disgusted look and the annoyed tone of a person who, seeing a black girl (not black but black) getting on the bus, left with the idea that I wanted to get smart and not pay. It’s not the first time I’ve received this treatment, I often choose to ignore racists, but not my mother.”
“I know you, but I had never seen the young lady, so I asked her for a ticket, that’s all…”, justified the conductor. “But what does it mean? Just because she’s black? And me, had she ever seen me before? – the mother pressed – This is a complete lie, I never go up here”. Pavan recorded a video to tell the story on social media, and the story went viral. “These are things that have happened since I was little – concludes the 21-year-old – but they always hurt and it is unacceptable by anyone and even more, as in this case, by a public transport official, in 2022. Such behavior is unjustifiable”.
The company commented in a note: “We have launched an internal investigation – explained by the central offices of Arriva Italia – if the responsibilities of our employee are ascertained we will act accordingly on the disciplinary front. Obviously we condemn any form of racism and discrimination and our greatest solidarity goes to the girl and her mother, but we would like to point out that this type of check takes place for any complaint or dispute raised by one of our users ”.
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