28.02.2014 Social marginalization of the Rroma in France

Brigaudeau (2014) addresses the relationship of French citizens towards the Rroma, referring to the new publication Roms & riverains: Une politique municipale de la race by Eric Fassin et al. She notes that in the French media the problems arising in connection with this minority receive massively more space than their discrimination and exclusion. The publication of Fassin et al. offer answers to this one-sidedness and thematises the political issues behind the unwillingness of the majority society to integrate the Rroma. First, there is the problem of local politics, which is entirely focused on the needs of local residents, because they re-elect the mayor. This leads consequently to shifting the Rroma from one place to another: “The state is content to answer the needs of the local voters. And when the mayoral elections approach, the mayors hand the responsibility for their decision down to the residents: the representatives are content to answer to the demands of their voters!” Because of this, Rroma are made the scapegoats of local politics, usually to their disadvantage. On the other hand, there are positive examples of towns and villages that have been actively trying to integrate the minority. When taking these actions, the politicians rely on the hope that voters will reflect on their intelligence and not on their emotions. Fassin also notes that the evacuation of a camp costs more than to equip one with water electricity etc. It is therefore also the French voters, and not only to the French politicians, who contribute to the marginalization of the Rroma: “The question that those responsible must ask themselves is: is it really in our interest to keep a population, who has settled down in Europe, in such a marginality?”