Cartarescu (2012) provides information on the situation of Rroma in post-socialist Romania. He notes a massive dumbing down and dehumanizing among sensationalist mass media and their consumers. The eviction of a Rroma settlement is commented by a TV channel with the statement that this eliminated “a source of danger and of hostile acts against society”. In connection with the blatant racism against Rroma, Cartarescu reminds of their enslavement in Romania after their arrival from the East. But that it is this forced settling which led to today’s Rroma plight, and eradicated their culture and beliefs, as Cartarescu writes, is historically doubtful, as nomadism can only partially be seen as a natural way of life and is rather a product of persecutions. But that the enslavement led to flagrant abuses for Rroma cannot not be denied. Cartarescu presents these facts movingly, even though he reduces the Rroma too much to the role of victims. He further criticises the still used method of distinguishing between established lower and higher ethnies. This method also leads to racism against Romanians themselves, as they often rely on their differences towards Rroma using them as a counter-concept for their own identity. Cartarescu notes: “How easy is it to make the Roma responsible for Romania’s bad image in the world! Constantly one complains that foreigners mistake Romanians (honourable citizens, peaceful, industrious, preserver of all ancestral virtues) for Roma, the “ersatz-nation” as they appears in our stupid and racist jokes. […] Bound as serfs and multiplying like animals, the Roma population from the Romanian principalities has increased here more than elsewhere in Europe. We have therefore created the problem of our Roma. It is our historical debt.”
Source:
- Cartarescu, Mircea (2013) «Gebt uns unsere Karren zurück». In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung vom 27.5.2013.
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