The controversy over Veltroni's book distributed by the mayor in schools
At the center of the issue is Walter Veltroni's book La più bella del mondo, dedicated to the Italian Constitution. A book that is at the center of a controversy because in recent days the mayor of Buccinasco, Rino Pruiti, accompanied by councilor Martina Villa, distributed it to several fifth-grade students as part of a reading project in schools.
The controversy began to spread on citizens' social media and has meanwhile reached Parliament. The reason? The book, according to some parents, would be a vehicle for propaganda on gender issues and other left-wing positions. Among the first to raise the issue, relaunching an open letter from some parents, was the minority councilor of the League Manuel Imberti, but the deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini also expressed his opinion on the matter.
The open letter from parentsThe first to raise the issue were some parents, who published an open letter on social media. “The text has little to do with the objective explanation of the first articles of the Constitution. On the contrary, it is being used improperly and instrumentally to promote LGBT and gender campaigns,” they wrote.
The letter also refers to the stories reported in the book: “It explains Article 1 of the Constitution with the story of a homosexual boy who, during the Fascist era, sent his little sister to deliver love notes to her boyfriend. Article 2 with the story of a Sicilian boy, a victim of the Mafia, who in conditions of extreme poverty used his aunt's high heels (this is the true story of the childhood of Pio La Torre, a politician and trade unionist murdered by the Mafia, ed.). Article 3 is explained with the story of two lesbian girls beaten because they were caught red-handed, and so on up to Article 12. The book also refers to the influence of the Church on the Italian State”.
“A great idea,” the parents’ letter continues, “on the part of the mayor, the councilor and part of the teaching staff (some of whom are his staunch supporters), intent on manipulating parental consent by playing unfairly and underhandedly to indoctrinate children in the gender and rainbow theories that are so dear to the left.”
The mayor's replyAsked about the issue by MilanoToday, the mayor of Buccinasco Rino Pruiti called the issue “surreal”. “My administration has not chosen any book,” he defended himself. “Fortunately, municipal politics does not have the power to decide which books should be read in schools. As an administration, we limited ourselves to purchasing a text that had been chosen by the fifth-grade teachers, who are taking a course on the Italian Constitution”.
Pruiti then explained that it is a project included in the right to education plan, which has been ongoing for about ten years. “Personally, I would not have chosen a book by Veltroni, but for personal reasons, because he is not an author I like. However, I think that Veltroni is free to write what he wants and that school teachers are free to choose whether or not to use his books”.
The case in ParliamentIn the meantime, the case has reached Parliament with a question presented by Fabrizio Cecchetti, a member of the League and secretary of the Office of the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies.
Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini also spoke out on the matter: “It is extremely serious that a mayor enters schools to give 10-year-old children (without their parents' consent) politically oriented books, which deal, among other things, with topics that should not be allowed in classrooms. Why were the mayor and councilor there? Who financed those books? I hope that clarity will be shed soon.”
Inspectors at schoolIn the meantime, inspectors are at work at the school in Buccinasco. “The Regional School Office of Lombardy has started a verification of the correctness of the distribution of the text,” the ministry said in a note.
milanotoday
