A re-edition of an article of a while back of a Vlach Romni from Slovakia who is teaching in a school. Unfortunately, all stereotypes are present: arranged early marriages, patriarchal society, etc…
Or how tabloids perpetuate stereotypes about Roma.
When a school child said he wants to become a senator, the teacher was shocked…
Another one of those articles … It is always from the same places, and gives the impression this is prevalent.
Bad.
An article highlighting the new generation of Roma activists, and of the importance of art in breaking down stereotypes.
A TV reportage in one of the largest Roma camps in France near Nantes in Western France. What is good, is that they say that these Roma only make about 20’000 people in the entire France, and that they are an essential pool of workers for the French agriculture… This is a real change of tone.
Other news are more of the usual: The government policies on Roma are being criticised (the news is that there seems to be one); the month for Roma action with a few events; a camp near Paris near a waste treatment centre; a project of a new site for Roma abandoned in Western France; and near Marseilles, some politics regarding drugs and Roma camps.
The employability of Roma in Slovenia remains a challenge, as they face high levels of unemployment and limited employment opportunities. According to data from 2002, about 15% of Roma were employed, while 85% were unemployed. They are for bright exceptions that prove that this is also possible. This is the case of Đani Stojanovič, who works at Komunala Novo mesto.
Why no journalist ask how one gets at such numbers if governments do admit they do not know how many Roma live in a country?
After the fall of communism, in the early 1990s, a significant number of Roma migrants from Romania appeared in Poland. According to this article, they engaged in organised begging (and other stereotypes). But the result was that for many Poles, Romanians and Roma were two interchangeable terms, i.e. all Roam are Romanians and all Romanians are Roma…
No comments.
In discussions about the Roma community, there are constant warnings about the need to improve the educational picture. Available estimates on the involvement of Roma in education show that the gap between Roma and the majority population is very large. Despite this, the situation has been slowly improving in recent years, and there are big differences within the Roma community. There is no official data.
“The myth that Roma are uneducated is not true,” Jože Horvat Muc, president of the Roma Association, told STA. As he estimated, there are “quite a few Roma who are educated” in Prekmurje. In the southeast of the country, however, the reality is different, as there are more Roma who do not finish school, he admitted.
A long reportage about the Western Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod. Beside speaking to residents, refugees, people getting rehabilitated, they also looked at Roma from the city. 6’000 of them lived there prior to the war, and now almost 600 of them are enrolled in the Ukrainian Army. In addition, there are Roma refugees from currently occupied territories.
Unfortunately, they also speak about “barons” (which do not exist), and other stereotypes.
Quite a number of articles this past week in France about Roma. A conference on the “Gypsy practises” mentioning nomads; another one on the persecution of Roma, Sinti, and Yénisches, which perpetuates some of the stereotypes; and an action to help Roma from a slum.
After that, a small commune in Western France which doesn’t want to expel Roma without a more permanent housing solution; and finally, a plethora of articles of a false rumour that a small village next to Nantes would see 500 caravans and Roma resettled there.
A reprint of a Guardian article in the Ukrainian press about Roma palaces in Hășdat.
Both articles pander to sterotypes…
More news this week about Roma in France. First, a photography exhibition about Roma in the Balkans. The issue, they speak of “nomad” populations, which is totally wrong in the Balkans. Second, it shows the usual pictures of poverty and many children, which is a result of exclusion, not Roma traditions. In brief, these exhibitions strengthen stereotypes.
A reportage in Nantes focuses on a new camp near the city and the controversies that it generates there. The story of a premature baby who was abbducted by its parents recently made the headlines in France. The parents were later stopped in Belgium. Here, the article says that the father and mother are Roma, that the father is a petty criminal and the mother a toxicoman.
The other news are more common: A camp near Paris and one near Toulosue were dismantled.
A Ukrainian translation of the article of the Economist about Roma in the Ukraine which, unfortunately, is not exactly up to the standards of this publication.
It states, for example, that almost half of the Roma who lived in Ukraine before the war fled Ukraine. But actually base themselves on Transcarpathian Ukraine. And anyhow, one doesn’t know how many Roma lived in Ukraine before the war…
Journalism on Roma is nearly always bad.
An article with all the kitsch one can imagine, about Vlach (Olah) in Slovakia. The ones featured there are not poor, and they show it off.
Bad.
The illustrated book Jekh, duj, trin! [One, two, three!] introduces children to the everyday life and traditions of an ordinary Roma family and prepares them to enter school.
Well, with a few stereotypes…
The association Divé maky [Wild Poppies] wants to bring the beauty of Roma art closer to the residents, contribute to breaking down stereotypes and prejudices against Roma, increase tolerance and give space for gifted Roma children to present their skills together with professional Roma artists.
Well, nice aims, but what they present reinforces stereotypes…
An Interview with Igor Andre, a Slovcak from Bratislava who worked in the office for the plenipotentiary of the Roma and moved 10 years ago in Eastern Slovakia and taught in a Roma school.
Well, his view of Roma is stereotypical. He states: “The debate about the Roma in our country is influenced by the woke ideology”; that the debate is “automatically based on the principle that the majority is the oppressor and the Roma are the victims.” He continues and says that Roma are gifted in crafts… In brief, he knows and sees only a part of the Roma community and thinks he knows it all.
An article about Vlach Roma (called Olah in Slovakia) and their lavish customs for weddings. It is bad on both sides, the press dwelling on stereotypes, and Roma just showing off.
A seminar for representatives of local institutions on the topic of Child, early and forced marriages was held in Vranje, within the framework of the Roma women’s activism project in the protection of Roma girls from violence caused by child marriages.
The goal of the project is to reduce the number of child marriages in the Roma community in Serbia, that is, to protect the human rights of Roma girls, as well as to raise awareness that child marriages are not part of Roma culture.
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