In 1865, six young men from good families in a provincial American town founded an organisation aimed at defending the purity of their race.
Hidden behind white hoods, they killed people, burned properties, raped men and women, and spread terror, gaining millions of supporters.
The defeat of the South in the Civil War, the economic recession, and the new policies regarding former slaves created the perfect socio-economic and political environment to scapegoat groups of people.
Later, in his memoirs, one of the protagonists wrote: “We thirsted for just one thing, the ability to have fun in some way.”
For some twisted minds, violence was, and still is, a form of entertainment. From the southern provinces of America two centuries ago to the glamorous Limassol of 2024.
Within one week, there were four attacks on foreign workers delivering food and drinks—known as delivery drivers—who rush up and down the streets to bring us our souvlaki, pizza, coffee, desserts, or whatever else we crave.
It’s a service we want, yet very few locals are willing to do it under the existing working conditions.
While we demand the service, just as we want someone to walk our dogs, clean our houses, harvest potatoes, scrub restaurant kitchens, or even take care of and clean up after our elderly, we don’t actually want these workers themselves around.
We want them gone as if we could handle all these tasks ourselves.
Groups of youths gather in public spaces with the sole purpose of attacking any foreigner unfortunate enough to pass by.
Sometimes, they even order through a delivery platform, waiting for their victim to arrive, whom they then assault, verbally abuse, and rob.
The frequency of these attacks—some of which are reported and others not—does not allow us to dismiss them as isolated incidents. Nor should we be complacent.
We have bred racists and fascists. We worry about the presence of foreigners among us, but we should be more concerned about the actions of locals against foreigners, against homosexuals, and against anyone whose lifestyle they dislike or disagree with.
To return to history: the Ku Klux Klan was disbanded (although decades later it was reformed by others) when the governor of the state where it operated deployed the militia and military to make arrests and impose punishment.