{"id":1214,"date":"2014-11-21T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-11-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/%20rroma.org\/21-11-2014-stereotype-representation-of-rroma-in-hungary\/"},"modified":"2022-07-26T13:57:03","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T12:57:03","slug":"21-11-2014-stereotype-representation-of-rroma-in-hungary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rroma.org\/fr\/21-11-2014-stereotype-representation-of-rroma-in-hungary\/","title":{"rendered":"21.11.2014 Stereotype representation of Rroma in Hungary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the occasion of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tasylum application of 60 Hungarian Rroma in Switzerland, SRF-editor Marc \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLehmann reports on the conditions in Hungary and Miskolc (Voegeli 2014). In \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdoing so, the former Eastern Europe correspondent reproduces numerous \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprejudices and misinformation about Rroma that are not based on critical facts, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbut rather stem from stereotypical views. Lehmann claims: \u201cMost [Rroma] are poorly educated and no longer meet the demands of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttoday\u2019s working environment. That\u2019s why the unemployment rate in the Roma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcommunity is about 70, 80, maybe even 90 percent. Most live on welfare, which \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis indeed minimal: maybe about 150 francs per head. For children there is extra \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tmoney. Therefore, many Roma families have many children. […] They are indeed \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnot treated well in the current political climate. But one has to say that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthere have been many attempts to integrate them. However, Rroma cannot be \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\teasily integrated. They are certainly not entirely innocent of their situation, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twhat also has to be said.<\/em> Some like \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe support of the social system.<\/em> In \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\taddition, the Roma are simply not well organised.<\/em> They are not easily accessible for those who would actually like to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thelp them. They are divided into clans, each clan is just looking for itself. A \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsolidarity among the Roma cannot be detected.\u201d<\/em> Lehmann\u2019s assertions that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe Rroma do not want to integrate, and have many children to receive child benefits, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tare absurd. Likewise, is the statement that each Rroma group just looks for itself. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhile it is true that integration and social advancement also depend on the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tinitiative of the Rroma themselves, that does not mean that Rroma are not \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\texposed to massive discrimination in Hungary. Lehmann does not say a word about \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe Rroma-hostile policy and propaganda of the right-wing extremist Jobbik, the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsecond largest party in Hungary, which is tolerated by and sometimes even \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsupported by the other parties. He also negates the important fact that the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma he describes only constitute the marginalised, visible part of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tminority. Most seriously is probably the fact that Lehman simply ignores the entire \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma history, and the massive discrimination they suffered. Many Rroma are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twell educated and belong to the middle class or even the upper class, but are \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnot perceived as Rroma and therefore do not appear in the statistics cited by \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLehmann. Almost all Rroma want to integrate and have a better life, those who \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdeniy this, overstate the importance of self-initiative and underestimate the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpower of mechanisms of social exclusion. In addition, he denies the 80,000 to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t100,000 Rroma living in Switzerland their existence from, and instead equates \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRroma in Switzerland with harvest workers, construction workers, beggars and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tprostitutes from abroad, which de-facto only constitute a minority of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tminority: \u201cAlso in Switzerland, the fact \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tis that there are Roma who work here as harvest workers, or in construction; \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tyoung women, who are involved in prostitution. There are certainly beggars. And \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twhere compatriots are, it feels attractive to others.\u201d <\/em>That Lehmann does \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tnot succeed in conveying a differentiated notion of the Rroma, one can read in \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe comments section of the article. There, one rightwing-nationalist slogan follows \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe next. Furthermore, most of the houses in the Rroma district of Miskolc, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twhich are now being demolished, were in good condition, and anything but a \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tghetto, as Lehmann falsely claims (compare Odehnal 2014).<\/p>\n