In the context of Knox, Guede and Sollecito, which this thread is about, AFAIAA no EU country has racism enshrined in its constitution and laws, nor slavery for prisoners, unlike the U.S.A.
That is not to say Italy has a clean conscience. However, being only established in 1882, it hasn't colonised as extensively as the UK, France, Spain and Portugal. It committed atrocities in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Libya before and during its Mussolini era and it has a new far right government in power.
Of course systemic racism is embedded in the UK, having been a major coloniser of one third of the world, with the ruling classes having acquired their wealth in generations past from the plunder of vast resourses - gold, ivory, tea, sugar, human labour, tea, coffee, jewels, etc, from India, the Americas and Africa. The class system is rigid, with little social mobility. In that respect it is systemic in the UK.
My answer could not have been plainer and starker.
What is the source and significance of the date 1882 with respect to Italy as a nation?
The Kingdom of Italy was established on 17 March 1861. Rome was captured from the Papal States in 1871 and incorporated as the capital. See, for example:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_of_Italy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Rome
There's a Wikipedia article on the topic of Italian racism, which does exist. See, for example:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_Italy
However, there is no concrete evidence that racism influenced any of the court judgments in the Knox - Sollecito case. However, IIUC, one of Mignini's arguments for the conviction of Knox and Sollecito was that since their alleged colleague in the murder/rape of Kercher, Guede, had already been convicted and happened to be Black, Knox and Sollecito should also be convicted, even, apparently, if the alleged evidence against them was unreliable.
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