Problem Rooted Deep Within People

O úroveň výš

The Qatari television station Al Jazeera had broadcast a very interesting studio debate on the topic of Roma minority in the Czech Republic.

The main reason for the interest in the situation of the Romani people is the recent outbreak of anti-gypsy sentiments in some of the towns in northern Bohemia.
The towns of Rumburk and Varnsdorf are located in the north of the Czech Republic close to the border with Poland. Few weeks ago both places experienced a heightened level of hostility against the Roma communities inhabiting the region. Local people marched out in order to protest against the attacks on the ethnic Czech people which took place days before. Although at a first glance it may seem that the main motivation behind the marches was a regular urge for retaliation for a particular incident, there is a flipside which was described as: “one of Europe’s best kept dirty secrets”, namely the anti-gypsyism, according to Gwendolyn Albert from Romea.cz.

During centuries the Roma people were persecuted and discriminated as they were always the “easiest scapegoat” or so to speak the “scapegoat of choice” in many European states. Any tensions and frustrations caused by different factors could have been easily blamed on the “gypsies”, as they were an unwelcomed guest without any rights. This however, is just one of the fundamental reasons explaining the hostility towards the Romani. Another problem is exclusion. In the Czech Republic there was a policy placing the Romani children in special schools for developmentally disabled. The main assumption of this policy was that these children were inadaptable to standard education and incapable to handle the requirements. The curriculum of the special education system is designed in such a way that a graduate would not “exceed the mental capacity of a twelve year old person”. As a consequence, most of those who managed to complete this education became completely unemployable due to lack of basic skills, says Albert.

This opinion is also shared by Radoslav Banga, leader of the Romani hip-hop group called “Gipsy.cz”, who himself being a Romani, thanks to his mother’s effort had a chance to complete the standard education and nowadays fights for the advancement of the Roma people. Banga openly blames the “easy route” which the Czech majority of people usually choose when it comes to address the minority problems, that is judging through the lens of stereotype of a “purse-snatching gypsy”. He firmly believes that this problem can be tackled by creating more positive examples of Roma minority in culture, particularly in music. Furthermore, Banga encourages both local and international authorities to focus more on real “on the street” action, rather than on soft legislation on paper. Although this seems a fair point, he did not specify the exact way to achieve this. His view is supported by Gwendolyn Albert, who also calls for an increase in the participation of educated Romani people, as there is a significant lack of organizations representing the minority. There is a need for the change in the perception of the Roma people from “the national” to “the European”, as clearly they have been a part of Europe for centuries.

Adriano Farano from “Tactilize.org” sees the problem also in the relatively new nationalism growing in the eastern and central European states. In his opinion, in the Czech Republic which is a relatively new country there is a “rising national or sometimes nationalistic feeling and pride”, and “people are trying to establish their national identity and whoever is beyond that is seen as a potential threat”. This is the time and place for the political leaders to step in and inspire people to build a safe society based on universal human rights, but unfortunately very often populists who feed on negative emotions of the society come to voice and incite hatred and hostility towards the minority.

Finally, the “highest” authority to which the Romani can turn to are the European institutions like Council of Europe, but unfortunately there is not much that can be done apart from making the problem visible in the media and change the so-called “soft-law”. In conclusion, a lot of effort and cooperation is required both from the local and international authorities. This however is only a half of the solution. The rest is in the hands of the Czech people who choose their leaders and in the hands of educated Romani to step up and cooperate in the name of the wellbeing of their nation.

Watch the discussion here.

Datum: 21.10.2011

Zdroj: In IUSTITIA/Grzegorz Fraś

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