Julius Zajac: The majority and the Roma have more in common than we believe. Why must Roma who are successful fear their fellow Roma in the Czech Republic?

We can frequently hear or read the majority society speculating that Romani people are just afraid for their welfare benefits. From Romani people, we hear that the state is supporting Ukrainians who just want to harm or even kill them.

I believe both of these opinions are out of touch with reality. The Ukrainians have been fleeing a war.

These people have decidedly not left their homes for EU welfare benefits. On the other hand, Romani people everywhere do know what life was like for Roma in Ukraine before the war.

Assaults were perpetrated against Romani people there of a kind that would be unthinkable in Europe today. However, even so, we can’t tar all Ukrainians with the same brush.

We Roma know very well what it is like to be the target of such generalizations. Now, if a “white guy” becomes a fascist (in the sense of an exaggerated nationalist), nobody is surprised here.

If a Romani man starts shouting similar slogans at a demonstration, though, it seems odd to everybody. The common factor as to why both of these people are behaving this way is the same, though.

You’ve probably correctly guessed that factor: Education. The uneducated succumb to the pressure of disinformation like butter gives way to a hot knife.

From my perspective, most majority-society people here believe we Roma are a band of folks who always have each other’s backs and think collectively. In a way, that belief tars us all with the same brush.

Those non-Roma are largely unaware of that, unfortunately. If Romani people start arguing among themselves, the non-Roma then become totally confused.

Have you noticed that the Roma who are uneducated here frequently hurl abuse at educated Roma who are successful and blame them for betraying the nation? These uneducated Roma allege the educated just want the Czechs to favor them, and that all they do is merely for money – and that’s just one example of Romani people not sticking together.

Black Power

I will never forget the scandal here over the Facebook group calling itself Black Power (Černá síla). The Czech media even wrote about it.

Nobody in the media was outraged about other groups that existed at the same time, though, such as the one called Gypsies to the Gas Chambers (Cikáni do plynu). Since then the Internet has changed (as far as racism goes) and some now understand they can’t break the laws at whim without consequences.

It is no longer common to read discussions online calling for Romani people to be sent to the gas chambers or shot dead with impunity for the shooter. However, recently the slogan “Black Power” appeared during the recent demonstrations by Romani people in Krupka.

Again, enormous surprise predominated that some Romani people are radicalizing. I absolutely agree with Patrik Banga when he said that it doesn’t matter whether this involves non-Roma or Roma.

These are moments when a fascist and a Romani man can stand shoulder to shoulder and “fight” for the same cause. Both will most probably have just a primary education, both will be frustrated and absolutely confused because they give credence to the disinformation scene.

Stupidity does not select people on the basis of origin or skin color. We are all more similar to each other than we believe in that respect.

The trolleybus in Ústí nad Labem

The media have now reported the news that the mass transit authority in the city of Ústí nad Labem is cancelling the trolleybus line that serves the excluded locality of Mojžíř. From my perspective, these are the problems that are more important – and they have lasted for decades.

I believe the current coexistence problems between Romani people and Ukrainians will die down, just as the demonstrations against Romani people did in North Bohemia before COVID-19. As for this trolleybus, why has it been cancelled?

Is it because Czech people are evil? Or is it because Romani teenagers don’t know how to behave on public transportation?

A few years back, Karel Schwarzenberg expressed his opinion about the excluded localities here on Czech Television. He said he would be glad if such places didn’t exist at all.

Those are nice words, and politicians have always had a full supply of them – and still do. Unfortunately, they never go beyond such words.

In the Czech Republic, for three decades now, enormous numbers of ghettos have been growing. Romani people have big problems when it comes to finding rental housing, that’s just the truth.

I have experienced such problems myself, so I know what I’m writing about here. I always laugh when I hear a non-Romani person start talking about this issue by saying “I have a Romani friend…”.

No. If you’ve never had to walk around in the skin of a Romani person, you don’t have the slightest idea about this problem.

During the last 20 years, an entire generation has grown up in the ghettos. Those young people have become the parents of children with whom they have to work, they have to tutor them, give them a better, different horizon than they had themselves.

If parents are unable to accomplish this on their own, or if they don’t want to do so (and as far as the outcome goes, it doesn’t matter which is the case), then the nonprofits should be taking action with far greater support than they currently have. The state should get involved with such education if it does not want to hand out welfare benefits until the end of time.

Furthermore, it is necessary that these young parents be employed. I swear to you all that most of the non-Roma who curse the Roma for not working would, paradoxically, never employ them.

In closing, allow me to recommend to everybody who is addressing these relationships between Romani people and Ukrainians as part of their professional responsibilities that they should try to help them become friends. There are many instruments to use for this, from children’s games, to cooking, to music.