The Roma in Europe have been discriminated against since the middle ages not only because they look physically different, but also because of their one time nomadic lifestyle and the absence of any cultural homeland. They are the only group of people that at no time in modern history could be called indigenous. They are not only Europe's largest minority, but also the most systematically discriminated against minority in Europe--and by many accounts the world. They were also the second largest ethnic group targeted by the Nazis. Recently there has been an amazing amount of progress in bettering the plight of the Roma in Europe. Last year the European Court of Human Rights ruled that exclusion of the Roma from mainstream European schools is discrimination and had to be ended. States have as a rule been slow to comply with the decision and desegregation has other hurdles not inherent in other desegregation programs like the one we had here in the US. Today the BBC had an article on the reality of the education situation in the Czech Republic.
It begins with Berta Cervenakova's daughter, who was forced to go to a school for the mentally retarded even though she herself was not mentally retarded. Now 18 she does not know how to read, nor does she have sufficient skills to support herself in any job that is not manual labor--this type of discrimination keeps the Roma in extreme poverty and near helpless to protect themselves economically in some cases (according to Cervenakova her daughter lakes the skills even to do the marketing). Eight years ago Cervenakova filed suit to put her daughter in mainstream schools, the result was that she was given a 4,000 Euro award in compensation. There is no way that a onetime payment of 4,000 Euros will make up for being able to read and write sufficiently to acquire a job that will lift her out of poverty. No way that paltry 4,000 Euros will help her ensure that her employer is not shorting her paycheck. That award itself is so low it screams discrimination to me. My uncle (white, American) won more than that when he was injured for life by a state vehicle in Germany--an injury that in no way relegated him to subpar employment. Before the fact that these are two different countries is pointed out I want to remind all that this was a /European/ court, not a Czech court that did the awarding, and that my uncle's award happened well over 40 years ago. Inflation alone should have made it higher.
The racism of the headmaster of the Czech school for Romani children is so blatantly thick I do not think I could breathe in the same room with him:
""In the first grade in a normal school, the kids can count to 20. Here, they can only count to five - although we want to teach them numbers up to 10," says headmaster Jindrich Otzipka at the Ibsen school.He takes me on a tour. In the eighth grade, a classroom for 14-year-olds, a brightly-coloured alphabet is on the wall.
"Normally the children would learn this at fourth grade. But these kids keep forgetting things, so you have to keep repeating them," he says.
"I blame the parents. They don't read to their kids. The Roma have no appreciation that you have to apply yourself to get on. They just live for the day."
It does not seem to cross his mind that the parents do not read to their children because they can't or because they are exhausted from attempting to fend off poverty. He blames the children for forgetting things but later states that they cannot get rid of subpar teacher because then the entire system would collapse. This tells me that not only are Romani children being funneled in to 'special' schools but that the schools are staffed with unqualified 'teachers.' To blame the kids and their (likely undereducated) parents for the failings of school system is absurd. That quote alone makes one hella strong case for affirmative action.
The article goes on to talk about the de facto segregation in many German schools where the Romani and Sinti (a subset of Roma) are loathe to leave the schools they historically attend. Other than the obvious comfort we all have when our surroundings do not harangue us for our race, many Roma still hold religious beliefs that prolonged contact with non-Roma will pollute their beings. There is in the Romani religion a code of actions that must be adhered to in daily living. Simplistically this is like eating Kosher or Halal but far more extensive. According to this believe not only can committing a taboo upset your balance, but so can contact with others who do not remain 'pure.' This complicates desegregation, but should not affect the quality of education at the schools the Roma chose to attend.
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I studied abroad in Hungary, where I took a course on the situation of the Romani people. You would not believe how openly I heard people make racist comments about the Roma, as if it were no big deal.
The Romani people are basically doomed from the time they enter the education system. Almost always, teachers and administrators find ways to segregate them in schools for the mentally retarded. Some of these children cannot even go to school because their parents cannot afford books or even warm clothes for the winter. They cannot escape extreme poverty because they are denied access to education, and many employers refuse to hire them even for manual labor jobs. In turn, they are blamed for being unemployed.
It is also important to note that the Romani are by no means a uniform group. While some may speak a common language, the overwhelming majority speak the language of their country. Communities differ greatly on customs and religions. Many do not even self-identify as Romani, but may be identified as such by other citizens.
I did research on the situation of Romani women, and it is even more tragic. While not true in all communities, discrimination against women within their own communities, coupled with outside discrimination, results in drastic inequalities for Romani women. Throughout Europe, they are at higher risk for breast cancer, HIV, and problems related with childbirth. Even when they seek medical attention, they can be outright refused by doctors. Additionally, family expectations and concerns with purity can lead girls to leave school before boys, giving them even less opportunity.
Very few Roma today actually travel as nomads. Their discrimination is based on racism and a misunderstanding of their economic situation. Most Romani families, at least in Hungary, DO believe that their children could benefit from de-segregated schools. Cultural difference can be used against the Roma. For example, a Romani man who repeatedly raped and captured a Romani girl who he wanted to claim as his wife was proven innocent on the grounds of cultural difference.
This individual was allowed to define his culture, while the young girl he victimized, who clearly did not agree with that culture, was effectively silenced.
Sorry for the long post, but I spent much of my study trip focused on these issues, and I am so grateful to see someone raising awareness on this site!
KRex, your comment reminded me of the article "Roma rivalry over child bride ban" by Malcolm Brabant, BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3168638.stm :
"One of Romania's rival gypsy kings has thrown his weight behind the campaign to stop child marriages among the Roma.
"In his first decree, King Tortica has banned his subjects from allowing their children to wed until they come of age.
"His decree follows the controversial marriage in Romania on 27 September of the schoolgirl daughter of Tortica's main opponent, self-proclaimed Roma king Florin Cioaba.
"King Tortica, based near the Romanian town of Pitesti, describes himself as a gypsy monarch for the 21st century.
"He says young girls should be given sweets, not men to marry.
"In his decree, posted on his website, Tortica says girls should not be allowed to wed until they are 16 and the age limit for boys has been set at 17..."
I registered just to write this post. Actually the development of the discrimination against the Roma was the focus of one of my two undergraduate theses. One of the big problems currently is the fact that when Romani 'experts' are called on to help governments they are very rarely acctual Roma. In fact i had a conversation with one of the most well known Romani experts, he administer and put together the largest library on the Rroma in the world and is Rroma, but is rarely invited to invitation only conferences on the 'Rroma problem.' In fact he told me that most of these conferences are Gadje only.
tmlong,
Interesting piece. As a black woman living in Italy, I have often drawn parallels with the predicament of the Roma community in Italy to the treatment of African Americans, especially during the times before the civil rights movement.
I admit to be pretty ignorant of their history and culture, but I'm learning.
Their story is indeed complex. I had one woman Roma woman asking me for money, address me as "sister". That really made me stop for a second and to this day I'm still not sure where she was really coming from with that, other than she was probably hungry and trying to make out the best she could in her circumstance.
spike the cat,
That is very interesting. historically the Roma are described as black in Europe. they were a mix of non Aryan Indians and North African warriors who in the fight for India against
encroaching Islam just sort of kept going and created their own ethnicity with out a homeland.
I see my privilege as a young white person in that I tended to recognize the similarity and then dismiss it as superficial because of the extreme length of the Romani persecution. I see the direct correspondence to the post slavery pre-civil rights black experience to the present Romani experience, but until your comment I did not think of the depth of similarity between past Romani situations and pre Civil War black-slave experience. I realize you may not have meant to bring about this epiphany, but thank you for doing so; I needed that swift kick in the head.
As to her words, my mind too is all a boggle at the possible connotations--including that she may have simply wanted to increase her chances of success.
full disclosure-
My user name is tmlong, I wrote the post. I wrote it signed in as viewfromabook because I was cross posting from my blog 'Saving The Lighthouse.' I do not know why it is signed tmlong, it was supposed to be signed viewfromabook. In addition the username tlong-which I thought was lost when site changed to this new format seems to still work. As I have a horrid habit of allowing my computer to auto fill my username and password, I did not know it was switching back and forth. I apologize and will try to delete the other accounts to use only the viewfromabook which apparently signs as tmlong when I post an entry. I really am sorry, I noticed this just as I posted my last comment to spike the cat and am trying to correct it immedeatly.
I blog infrequently at the moment, since I am new to blogging (yeah, I'm a dinosaur), but I hopefully will post a bit more frequently as time goes on. Anyway, my last post is my life story - in a 4000 word nutshell. If you read it, pay attention to the paragraph about how some hostile elementary school administrators treated my IEP when they finally implemented it and set back my education by more than a year. I know what it's like to be held back from learning and forbidden to sit with the "other" kids.
I can't even begin to imagine what it's like for Roma children who are set back in learning by as much as a decade or more from what I've read here. Anyway, these people do need a voice.
http://patriautism.blogspot.com/