Born in Dakar to a Senegalese mother and an Italian father, Cesarini grew up in Rome and says she is “very proud” to be Italian.
However, the actress said she received online harassment for the colour of her skin after it was announced she would appear as a guest at the festival.
“At 34 years old, I discover that it isn’t true that I’m an Italian girl like many others; I’m black,” she said to the audience in a monologue that was broadcast on RAI state television.
“Until today, nobody at school, at university, at work, on the tram ever felt the need to tell me; but evidently for some people skin colour is a problem, to the point that they wanted to let everyone know.”
Cesarini read some of the messages she had received to the audience, including: “She doesn’t deserve it, they only picked her because she is black” and “They must have called her to wash the stairs and water the flowers”.
During her speech, she posed the question: “Why are there those who get mad at my presence on this stage? Why are there people who have a problem with the colour of my skin?”
Cesarini concluded her monologue, in tears, reading a passage from Racism Explained to My Daughter by Tahar Ben Jelloun, who wrote that racism “has no scientific basis, because there is only one human race”.
Cesarini, who is known for her role as Isabel in the Rome crime series Suburra, drew applause from the Sanremo audience and praise from many commentators on social media.
However, she also attracted a wave of criticism online, with comments ranging from “annoying” and “pathetic”, and some claiming she was “playing the victim”.
Incidents of racism in Italy have drawn more attention in recent years.
Both public and private Italian TV have come under fire for the persistent use of racist language and imagery, and the failure to generally represent second-generation Italians of African or Asian descent as integral to society.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella called racism and antisemitism “intolerable aggressions” during his speech to parliament after being sworn in for a second seven-year term on Thursday.
