Martin Selichar, who shouted racist abuse at a Romani journalist, apologizes, says he doesn't consider the word "gypsy" to be derogatory
Martin Selichar, the man who shouted racist abuse during a demonstration against public broadcaster Czech Television in Prague last week at journalist Richard Samko, has apologized for his behavior. At the same time, he has said he does not consider the term "gypsy" (cikán) to be derogatory.
“At the outset, I admit that my actions were not entirely in accordance with good manners, and that addressing Mr. Samko in this way was inappropriate on my part, but in point of fact, the term of address that I used is not derogatory, the expression ‘Gypsy’ is explained in several documents as commonly used in colloquial Czech and is non-derogatory,” the businessman from Roudnice nad Labem, who ran as a candidate for the “Freedom and Direct Democracy” (SPD) movement of Czech MP Tomio Okamura in this year’s local elections, has written in an email to news server Romea.cz and Samko. Selichar shouted racist insults at Samko as he was covering the protest against Czech Television and the Government in Prague, convened on 17 November by Ladislav Vrabel.
“Hey, there’s that bastard, dude, the gypsy one, dude. You’re here with us today, yeah?” Selichar shouted at Samko, according to video from the scene.
The Czech Police began to investigate the incident on Saturday. Selichar sent his apology Sunday evening.
Samko has accepted the apology, with reservations. “I’m quite glad this gentleman decided to apologize. However, it would have been enough just to write the apology, I do not need his explanation of the concepts of the terms ‘gypsy’ or ‘Romani’. I am a proud Romani man, the word ‘Rom’ comes from our language and our nation’s traditions. It is not a neologism,” Samko told news server Romea.cz.
The form of the term “Gypsy” (Cikán) used today arose during the 11th century, when Romani people were mistaken by non-Romani people for members of a religious sect called the Athinganoi. From the beginning, this denomination had a connotation that was negative, and most Romani people do perceive it negatively today, unequivocally so.
” ‘Gypsies’ is a designation for a déclassé group in society, but ‘Roma’ is the name of the nation,” the one-time chair of the Roma Civic Initiative, Emil Ščuka, previously told Czech Television. News server Romea.cz is publishing Selichar’s apology in full translation.
Dear Mr. Samko, Romea organization,
Allow me to greet you and try to give a written explanation and subsequent apology for my actions at the demonstration on 11/17/2022 at the location in Opletalová street in Prague 1.
At the outset, I admit that my actions were not entirely in accordance with good manners, and that addressing Mr. Samko in this way was inappropriate on my part, but in point of fact, the term of address that I used is not derogatory, the expression “Gypsy” is explained in several documents as commonly used in colloquial Czech and is non-derogatory, the term can also be found in the dictionary or Wigipedia [sic]…another shared text “The word gypsy in and of itself does not carry any meaning that should offend someone.[sic] It was actually created similarly to the designations of “German” or “Austrian” and is roughly similarly neutral from a linguistic point of view.
I would also like to state that as a child I grew up in the Košíře district of Prague 5, where Roma were my regular friends and classmates at school, and the expression “Gypsy” was quite common among children at that time, which is also why it is “stored” in my head, and during Thursday’s incident, I used it logically as a common, colloquial expression, but with emotion… even nowadays, I meet and greet Roma people and everyone is different, some people are proud of the term “Roma” and others of “Gypsy”, so I believe that the expression I chose did not offend Mr. Samko….. I am sorry, and for combining the address with an obscene word, I would like to hereby apologize to Mr. Samko.
As evidence, it is possible to use the reactions and comments of the Roma themselves, e.g. on Stream, where they themselves write that the term Roma does not actually exist and that the correct term is therefore “Gypsy”. I would not like to explain further, there are many opinions on this topic and everyone should choose the right one for themselves.
In my defense… nowadays there are many verbal attacks not just from ordinary people, but also from high-ranking people, e.g. politicians, on social media, it is probably due to a certain frustration in society and the uncertainty about what level one will live at in the future. I do have a social sensibility and I have never had any such verbal incident with anybody else.
In the mentioned video, you can see that I realized immediately after those first words that I was not behaving well, and I began addressing Mr. Samko formally and asking him what are important questions for me, what he will do “when it all goes down”, because we probably all feel that the current situation is not good for ordinary people and it is uncertain… and from you, Mr. Samko, I feel that you like to go to crowds, and that you perceive and feel the tension between people, so you should know that just such a situation can happen as occurred to me at the mentioned moment….furthermore, I think that on the Seznam.cz and Novinky.cz servers some of the expressions in the headlines and in the text of the articles are exaggerated, but I understand that they are chosen precisely to “attract” as many readers as possible….
Allow me to conclude…..I apologize to you, Mr. Samko, and I can do it in person or in public, I am ready for it, as well as to everybody who heard our conversation, whether live on the spot or later from the recorded video.
I believe that my apology to you will not be without effect and that it just proves that even in today’s difficult times, a person can make a mistake in this way, but if he will find self-reflection in himself and be able to apologize in the way that I am doing now,since I have a bad conscience towards you, that’s why I carefully wrote this apology and attempt at reconciliation, thank you for your understanding.
With respect,
Martin Selichar
