Commentary

Commentary: When socialists give up on equality

Prague, 25.11.2014 18:54, (ROMEA) The Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) is sitting in a Government that has now frozen welfare, supports discrimination against Romani children and refuses to address a local coalition with the extreme-right DSSS. In this context, it is understandable that people are now tending to vote for parties outside the system.  full story

Does the new Czech reality TV show frame Romani children as ineducable?

Prague, 21.11.2014 18:06, (ROMEA) A new reality show called "Class 8 A" (Třída 8. A) has just been through its fifth Thursday episode before 10 PM on Czech Television's channel 1. The show is a spinoff of the very successful Swedish program "Klass 9 A", where several charismatic teachers arrive to teach a class of immigrants and, after roughly half a year of duelling with cultural models and their pupils' personal deficiencies, reach a happy ending as girls in headscarves and black guys with the crotches of their pants down by their knees fall into the arms of the Nordic-looking intellectuals/teachers.  full story

Michal Miko: Czech Deputy Ombud's remarks on Roma in the schools reflect his incompetence

Prague, 20.11.2014 23:31, (ROMEA) According to a statement by Deputy Ombud Stanislav Křeček broadcast on the TV Prima news on 8 November, the level of the entire Czech school system would be lowered if what he called the "special" schools are abolished. What's more, the Deputy Ombud said that this society is "traumatized" by being labeled racist because of this issue.  full story

Why Kristallnacht matters to European Roma today

Budapest, 18.11.2014 16:57, (ROMEA) We have just marked the 76th anniversary of the Night of Broken Glass (Kristallnacht or Novemberpogrom). In different cities across Germany and Austria a series of pogroms were perpetrated against Jewish civilians, stores and synagogues on the night between the 9th and the 10th of November while German authorities did nothing to prevent them. Those attacks were the prelude to the criminal racial policy that led to the Holocaust, in which six million Jews and five hundred thousand Roma were murdered.  full story

Štefan Horvát: Should Romani residents of Duchcov be afraid now?

Duchcov, 12.11.2014 22:18, (ROMEA) As everyone has probably noticed, the town of Duchcov is now a hot topic. Television news has reported on the local government coalition formed by the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) and the Workers' Social Justice Party (DSSS) here.  full story

Commentary: What Roma Pride is about, and why it's not working

Prague, 29.10.2014 19:03, (ROMEA) At the start of this month, the third annual Roma Pride took place in the Czech Republic and many other European countries. This event is coordinated by the European Grassroots Anti-Racist Movement (EGAM) as an attempt to create a Europe-wide platform for civil rights on the model of the North American civil rights movement once led by figures such as Martin Luther King.  full story

Commentary: Zeman, consciously dividing Czech society, is no President

Prague, 29.10.2014 18:13, (ROMEA) We Czechs always manage to find something that will reliably divide us and invoke our emotions - and with them, our intransigence full of resentment towards others. Let's recall the presidential elections, when one camp attacked and the other counter-attacked.  full story

Breaking News No More: Life for Roma in Greece a Year after “Maria”

Greece, 27.10.2014 23:50, (ROMEA) For Lefteris Konstantinidis, a 34-year-old lawyer, a normal day in his new office is busy. The phone rings often; he runs around printing new case files and continues to take on new clients. His schedule is exhausting, but he still enjoys his work.  full story

Commentary: Fascist pixies, come out of the Czech moss!

Czech Republic, 24.10.2014 23:50, (ROMEA) Fascist rhetoric was used by candidates from various groups during this year's municipal and Senate elections in the Czech Republic. To what degree was it ultimately successful?  full story

Commentary: Guide to the discussion of the Czech children's groups law

Prague, 23.10.2014 22:52, (ROMEA) Discussion of the law on children's groups that has been vetoed by Czech President Miloš Zeman is continuing. According to some professionals and those who work with such groups, the various conditions of that law posed a threat to some clubs, nature preschools and organizations.  full story

Commentary: European fanaticism redux

Prague, 22.10.2014 20:31, (ROMEA) My most recent commentary here was about European and Islamist fanaticism. I forgot to discuss one important thing in that context, and that is the wars in the former Yugoslavia.  full story

Karel Holomek: Czech MP in charge of education amendment is unqualified

Brno, 20.10.2014 18:37, (ROMEA) Recently I have tried not to comment on Romani affairs, as I have the feeling it could be perceived as an obsession. However, I must respond to a recent article by Martin Shab (Varování: romské děti nejsou zvláštní - "Warning: Romani children aren't special").  full story

Commentary: Islamic fanaticism is repulsive - and so is European fanaticism

Prague, 15.10.2014 19:47, (ROMEA) We are horrified by the blind violence of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and most recently by the so-called Islamic State. We are right to be horrified, as their merciless recklessness combined with fanaticism and the conviction that they own the one and only truth is repulsive, and we are all dealing with this - discussing it, theorizing about it and writing about it.  full story

Gyulla Banga: Roma Pride or a cheap circus?

Prague, 11.10.2014 1:03, (ROMEA) This year, just like last year, I did not attend Roma Pride. Just like hundreds of other Romani people in Prague, who should completely logically outnumber other Roma from around the country, I wasn't there.  full story

Commentary: Mayors and racism in the Czech Republic

Prague, 9.10.2014 0:28, (ROMEA) The "inadaptables" are once again scoring points in the runup to the local elections. Just as they did four and also eight years ago, many local politicians are competing to see who can promise a more aggressive intervention against the "inadaptables", subliminally understood to mean homeless people, migrants, Romani people and anyone else not favored by society (for various, often irrational reasons).  full story

Commentary: Czech mayoral candidate would use EU money on the wrong problem

Prague, 7.10.2014 18:54, (ROMEA) Martin Štěpánek, a candidate for mayor in the upcoming local elections in Ostrava, has recently explained the vision behind his campaign slogan, "I reject trafficking in poverty", in an interview for the Czech daily Mladá fronta DNES (published Monday 22 September). At first glance it might seem that this striking slogan is aimed at the abuse of welfare by the owners of residential hotels for the socially vulnerable - the "traffickers in poverty".  full story

Violeta Naydenova: Jourová must be more active on Romani issues than her predecessor

Brussels, 2.10.2014 23:42, (ROMEA) Violeta Naydenova, a Bulgarian Romani analyst for the Open Society Foundations, has commented in the EU Observer that Věra Jourová, the Czech EU Commissioner-designate for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, should be much more active when it comes to addressing Romani issues in EU countries. Naydenova says Jourová should do more than her predecessor to combat anti-Romani attitudes and discrimination.  full story

Czech ultra-right leader rails against Arab spa clients

Teplice, 29.9.2014 22:15, (ROMEA) Several people were arrested by police on Saturday during an assembly convened in the town of Teplice by the Workers' Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS). Police spokesperson Dan Vítek announced the arrests.  full story

Vienna names square after Romani celebrity

Vienna, Austria, European Union, 28.9.2014 2:08, (ROMEA) Earlier this month a square in the Viennese quarter of Neubau was named after one of its celebrated, recently deceased residents, Ceija Stojka. A Romani woman, Ms Stojka survived three concentration camps, lived a travelling lifestyle for years after the war, and made her living as a carpet seller.  full story

Czech town's bulletin intentionally racist in runup to local elections

Albrechtice, 26.9.2014 19:33, (ROMEA) Albrechtice in the Jizerský Mountains may just be a small community, but we too have a municipal bulletin. If it were to be read by someone impartial, he or she would probably see it as a cross between a 1950's magazine promoting the "building of socialism" and a tabloid paper.  full story