Italian athlete Daisy Osakue was out and about on Monday when a motorist hurled an egg at her. According to BBC, the 22-year-old discus-thrower suffered damage to her cornea. 

Osakue, who holds the country's record for discus-throwing under the age of 23, posted pics of her injured and tearful face on social media.

"I do not want to use the race or sexism card, but in my opinion they were looking for a black person,” Osakue said.

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Osakue also noted there were other people nearby at the time, but says she was singled out for the attack.

"They didn't want to attack me, as Daisy. They wanted to hit me as a young woman of color. That's an area used by prostitutes, and I was mistaken for one of them," she added.

As PBS NewsHour reports, many young refugee women from sub-Saharan Africa are forced to into sex work in Italy. A Nigerian human trafficker told the NewsHour in a separate report that 90 percent of the young women he smuggles into Europe end up in sex work.

Osakue's traumatizing experience is just one example of a larger issue of racism in Italy. Members of the current government, including Italy's new prime minister Giuseppe Conte and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini have been accused of inciting such a bigoted climate, according France 24. Citizens have noticed Salvini's open use of World War II Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini's rhetoric. 

"There have been 33 assaults of a racist nature in the past two months,” noted associate researcher at the University Paris 1 Ludmila Acone. “They have resulted in an impression that this behavior is now tolerated. Previously these racist attacks caused outrage, but now they are just part of everyday life.”

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Things may have gotten worse since Salvini and a populist government have taken power, but racism has been a brewing issue in the country for some time — this ain't new.

"Racism has exacerbated since Salvini came to power, but it has also been developed for a long time. Racist remarks are the norm in Italian football stadiums," remarked Marie-Anne Bonucci, a professor of contemporary history at Paris 8 University.

Salvini, on the other hand, has rejected the idea of "racism emergency," and argues he is focused shedding light on immigrant crimes. 

However, a 2018 study by the London School of Economics found that the number of crimes committed by immigrants has decreased over the last ten years despite an increase in African immigration. 

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Black-AthletesDaisy Osakuediscusinternational racismItalyNigeria