Romani activist Jozef Daniel calls on the Czech President: Stop tolerating discrimination and be the voice of bravery and equality!
Romani civic activist Jozef Daniel of the Brno tým [Brno Team] organization has sent Czech President Petr Pavel an open letter calling on him to take a public stance against the systemic discrimination of Romani people. He recalls that Romani people have been present in the Czech lands for more than 600 years and criticizes the fact that they are excluded from the life of society to this day.
“This is not about the failings of individuals. This is a longstanding, structural injustice that the state must finally stop tolerating,” Daniel writes in an open letter sent to news server Romea.cz.
The letter describes how Romani people in the Czech Republic are disadvantaged systematically. Daniel states that while the Roma have been living longer on the territory of the Czech Republic than most of the rest of its population, the state treats them “like foreigners in their own country”.
Daniel references specific problems in the areas of education, employment, housing, and health care. “The Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms cannot be said to apply to us in practice, because for us, justice, equal opportunities, and dignified treatment are not automatically acknowledged,” he writes.
At the same time, Daniel criticizes political representatives who use the Romani minority only when it suits their own purposes: “The politicians remember us only when it will score points for them – otherwise our voice and our existence is invisible to the system.“ The letter directly calls on President Pavel to become a conveyor of the values of civil rights and equality.
“We are asking for our children to have the same chance at a dignified life as anybody else,” Daniel writes. He asks President Pavel, as the country’s highest constitutional officer, to send the clear message that the Roma are equal citizens of this country: “Therefore, we are asking you to become that voice – a voice of bravery, of unity, of equality.”
News server Romea.cz is publishing Jozef Daniel’s open letter to President Pavel in full translation:
Open Letter to the President of the Czech Republic
Dear Mr. President,
I am writing you as a Romani man and as a citizen of this country who wants to live in a society where each person has an equal place irrespective of origin, skin color, or surname.
We Roma have been living on the territory of what is today the Czech Republic longer than most of the rest of the population – more than 600 years. Despite that, the state treats us like foreigners in our own country. The Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms practically has nothing to do with us because justice, equal opportunities, and dignified treatment are not automatically acknowledged for us. Our Romani children end up disproportionately frequently in “special” or segregated schools, our adults face antigypsyism on the labor market, in housing, and in health care. Instead of real interest in our living conditions, we are exploited as bogeymen during election campaigns. The politicians remember us only when it will score points for them – otherwise our voice and our existence is invisible to the system. This is not about the failings of individuals. This is a longstanding, structural injustice that the state must finally stop tolerating.
We are asking you – when will the clear, strong voice of the highest constitutional officer in this country recognize publicly and without hesitation that we Roma are equal citizens of the Czech Republic? When will the President of the Republic loudly, openly stand up against the persistent discrimination and systematic exclusion of our community?
We are not asking for privileges. We seek justice. We seek the recognition that to be Romani means being a citizen of this country like any other. We are asking for our children to have the same chance at a dignified life as anybody else
Esteemed Mr. President, we believe the president’s voice has the power to set the values of this country. Therefore, we are asking you to become that voice – a voice of bravery, of unity, of equality.
Respectfully yours,
Jozef Daniel
Brno tým z.s.
