{"id":1079,"date":"2014-08-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/15-08-2014-stereotypes-rrom-sentenced-for-burglary-and-copper-theft\/"},"modified":"2022-07-26T14:00:58","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T13:00:58","slug":"15-08-2014-stereotypes-rrom-sentenced-for-burglary-and-copper-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/15-08-2014-stereotypes-rrom-sentenced-for-burglary-and-copper-theft\/","title":{"rendered":"15.08.2014 Stereotypes: Rrom sentenced for burglary and copper theft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Schleer (2014) reports \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ton the trial against a Romanian Rrom in Rheinfelden. Because of repeated \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tburglaries, the 24-year-old was sentenced to two and a half years of jail by the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tL\u00f6rrach district court. As witnesses, four other Rroma, with whom the defendant \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tallegedly committed the crimes, were questioned. The culprit was granted \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmitigating circumstances, as he confessed all committed crimes. Mentioning the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tethnicity of the perpetrator is not necessary as it only encourages racist \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tstereotypes about a \u201cculture of crime among the Rroma\u201d. Rroma are not more \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcriminal than any other ethnic groups, but this is exactly suggested by the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmedia through an explicit thematisation of Rroma in connection with various crimes. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA cultural interpretation of the offences is necessarily racist, as it ignores \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand discredits the majority of Rroma living a respectable and integrated life. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe idea of \u200b\u200bhierarchical family ties goes back to the projection of a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmedieval caste system onto Rroma. This is wrong. While it is true that the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfamily has an important place among the Rroma, its organisation remains largely \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tegalitarian. Rroma are also often used synonymously with Romanians or the Romanian \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlanguage. While Romania has indeed a large Rroma minority, an estimated one and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ta half to three millions, Rroma make up only a minority of the total population \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof 22 million. However this fact is often interpreted one-sidedly by the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRomanian side, who quite often state that Rroma are indeed responsible for many \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcrimes, whereby the difference between Rroma and ethnic Romanians is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\texaggerated to that of good Rumanians versus evil Rroma. That Rroma are often \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmade \u200b\u200bresponsible for crimes, this without any evidence, can be seen in the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tarticle of the Basler Zeitung about a burglary series. On the ptential \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tperpetrators, the article states at the end: \u201cOn the identity of the perpetrators, the conjectures go apart. Some \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsay they are adolescents, others burglary tourists \u201cor Roma\u201d\u201d<\/em> (Gygax 2014).<\/p>\n