{"id":1095,"date":"2014-10-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/01-10-2014-the-french-rroma-policy-and-the-public-image-of-the-minority-2\/"},"modified":"2022-08-21T07:33:18","modified_gmt":"2022-08-21T06:33:18","slug":"01-10-2014-the-french-rroma-policy-and-the-public-image-of-the-minority-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/01-10-2014-the-french-rroma-policy-and-the-public-image-of-the-minority-2\/","title":{"rendered":"01.10.2014 The French Rroma policy and the public image of the minority"},"content":{"rendered":"

Media Part (2014) \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdiscusses the public perception and representation of Rroma in France, and its \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tinfluence on the social interaction with the minority. The notion of Rroma is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcharged with so many negative attributes that already a small influx of Rroma provokes \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe anger of local residents. This disables an objective, unbiased interaction \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twith members of the minority as well as policies aimed at integration: \u201cThe most often mentioned stereotypes may \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tserve as evidence: these families, attracted by the wealth and the quality of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tour social security have behaviours not compatible with our lifestyles. Living \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\toff begging and theft, they contribute significantly to the growth of daily \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdelinquency that enrages our fellow citizens. They lack hygiene, their \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcollective behaviour makes their proximity unbearable. Their culture and their \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tway of life do not allow, without exception, to integrate them into our \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsociety. They do not know or do not accept our rules. In short, for the good of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tone as the other, they must return to their countries.\u201d<\/em> This polemic, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\treductionist perspective Mediapart rightly condemns as intellectual arson that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmaintains the exclusion of the minority. The author calls for a paradigm shift \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taway from polemical representations of the Rroma towards differentiated, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trespectful minority politics: \u201cWhatever \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tour faith, our political commitment, our affiliation, our heritage, our way of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlife, we have to show intelligence and awareness of the past. It is not naivety \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tor pity, but our ability to tolerance and the recognition of the right to allow \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tanyone to live with his\/her idiosyncrasies.\u201d<\/em> In response to the accusation \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof a one-sided, racist representation, it is often argued that this is not based \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tupon prejudices, but real tangible facts. The Rroma are made responsible for \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttheir marginalised status by their own behaviours. This justification is very \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdangerous as it represents exclusion and poverty as part of cultural \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcharacteristics, rather than recognising them as exclusion and poverty. In \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taddition, many Rroma are well integrated and form part of the middle or even \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tupper class. They are completely ignored in the public discourse about the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tminority. Most journalists do not recognise this last point.<\/p>\n

Debot (2014) points out \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tin his commentary to the article that despite the demand for a respectful \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tminority policy, there is still the problem that one mostly speaks about but \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnot with the minority. An adequate minority policy therefore requires a close \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdialogue with the concerned group. The problem of taking statements of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tindividual Rroma as representative for all of them continues, and does not \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trecognise the differences between the Rroma groups as well as individual opinions. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThis includes the recognition of stereotypes that cannot always be easily \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trecognised and deconstructed as prejudices by outsiders. <\/p>\n