How the "Tengo nombre" campaign fights racism

Recently in Spain, an initiative for social inclusion has gained visibility aimed at combating what is considered a problem of "micro-racism." In this country as well, it is quite common to refer to shops and restaurants solely by the nationality of the owners. For this reason, some businesses in the central Poblenou neighborhood of Barcelona have displayed signs at their entrances stating, «I am not 'the Chinese' on the corner» or «I am not 'the Pakistani'.» The campaign is called Tengo nombre (I have a name) and was created by two students from a public relations school in Barcelona, who, like an increasing number of people, see these expressions as a small form of racism – although sometimes perpetuated unwittingly, having effectively entered common language.

How was the Tengo nombre campaign received?

The campaign's Instagram page, launched a few months ago, has nearly 10,000 followers and immediately made an impact. «It was shocking,» commented one of the two students, referring to how quickly the initiative was embraced by merchants. In an interview with The Guardian, the president of the Federation of Chinese Workers in Spain confirmed that people's reaction to the phenomenon has been very positive. In recent weeks, signs similar to those seen in Barcelona have also appeared in some shops in Madrid and Galicia. Indeed, the project creators have made it possible to download and print campaign posters, both in Spanish and Catalan, which has helped spread the initiative. However, the problem that Tengo nombre seeks to highlight and counteract is not only confined to Spain. Referring to certain businesses by the presumed nationality of the owners is a deeply ingrained habit in other countries as well, not just in Europe. In Italy, expressions like "the Chinese," "the Bangladeshi," or "the Paki" are often heard to refer to restaurants and businesses run by generally Asian people. The same happens in France, where the term "Arab" is often used to refer to shops run by people of North African origin. "We realized that expressions like 'shopping at a Pakistani's' or 'eating at the Chinese' are racist. We had never thought about it, but they categorize that person into a certain group and stigmatize them," said one of the campaign's promoters to the Spanish newspaper El Diario. "I thought it wasn't a big problem, but it is."

When Italians were discriminated against

Racial prejudices change over time, yet they remain similar in the effects they provoke within communities, in terms of stigma and social injustice. This is demonstrated by the history of Italians in the United States, who went through a period of ghettoization. Before integrating and being considered part of the white American population, Italians – especially those from Sicily – faced violence and discrimination, as did (and still do, to varying degrees) other minorities, not only in the United States. Italians were effectively regarded similarly to African Americans, who were also heavily marginalized, because they performed, among other things, jobs considered typical and exclusive to that community, as reported by The New York Times. Therefore, it was common to hear the n-word preceded by "white" to refer to Italians. But the insult "wop" was also common, which can be interpreted as "uncouth spaghetti eater". Their situation began to change only from the second half of the 19th century, albeit very slowly. The complicated history of Italian identity in the United States still resurfaces from time to time. In 2022, during a debate for the Los Angeles mayoral elections, Italian-American Democratic candidate Rick Caruso corrected one of the event's moderators who had called him "white," specifying that he was "Italian" and therefore "Latino." And again: in an episode of the well-known satirical program Saturday Night Live from a few years ago, host Colin Jost, discussing alleged accusations against the Italian government regarding the spread of ideas about white supremacy, concluded by saying, «Absurd. Now we consider Italians as white?»