Romani experts sharply criticize Czech vice-mayor for antigypsyist remarks

Her remarks have sparked a sharp reaction from experts, and not just Romani ones. “The mentality of the Roma has not changed since the 13th century because of their absolutely different equipment, genetically speaking. Education is not their life’s aim. They have absolutely different aims. The itineracy that was seeded into them somewhere in India still persists in a certain way,” Pataky told Okraj.cz, a regional website, sparking a sharp reaction from experts on the education of the Roma.

Štefan Balog: Pataky should resign, her remarks are unacceptable

Štefan Balog, manager of the ROMEA organization’s scholarship program and a university-educated biologist, called Pataky’s remarks deeply unprofessional. “The vice-mayor is a social educator. I did not, however, suspect that she is also a philosopher and a geneticist who has obviously solved the long-controversial debate called ‘nature vs. nuture’, or inheritance vs. environment, which is a philosophical debate about what predetermines a person’s characteristics, whether it’s genetics or the influence of the environment,” Balog said, according to whom her simple statement describes the Roma and generalizes about them as people who do not have education “in their genes”.

“That pathetic statement by the vice-mayor is immediately followed by her saying the mentality of the Roma has not changed since the 13th century. Madame Vice-Mayor should publicly apologize and she should resign from office. I am horrified that this person is in charge of the schools in her district,” Balog said, referencing the fact that Alena Pataky is in charge of the school agenda and is also a member of the Committee for Education, Training and Employment of the Moravian-Silesian Regional Assembly.

Alena Pataky also claims in the interview that very few Romani people want to educate themselves and to study. “Once one follows the sociological aspect of this group in the population in-depth to understand their mentality, one realizes that in seventh grade, the aim of education ends for them in a certain way. The [Romani] pupils who want to keep going are in the single or double digits,” she told Okraj.cz.

According to Balog, her claim is absolute nonsense. “Every year there are more and more Romani pupils who properly complete their compulsory school attendance and continue on to secondary school. In the ROMEA organization’s scholarship program, since 2016 as many as 500 Romani students have received direct financial support for their studies and hundreds more Romani pupils and students are receiving support, for instance, through tutoring. These successes refute the vice-mayor’s statements, as do the successes of the other support programs for Romani pupils and students – she should have done some research on this subject before giving that interview,” Balog told news server Romea.cz.

Marian Dancso criticizes the remarks of Vice-Mayor Pataky, saying they contribute to the dissemination of dangerous prejudices

Sharp criticism of the vice-mayor has also been expressed by Marián Dancso, an educator who is the vice-chair of the Czech Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs. According to him, her remarks are not just untrue, but also deeply insulting.

“That opinion not only ignores the historical and social conditions which have formed Romani communities, but also contributes to disseminating dangerous prejudices,” Dancso told Romea.cz, referring to the historical repression Romani people have faced in the past which has had a fundamental impact on their current socioeconomic situation. “According to the academic literature and archival records, living on the road was not the free choice of Romani people, but the consequence of repressive legislative measures such as the Spanish laws of 1499 or England’s Egyptians Act of 1530. Those measures ordered Romani people to leave the territory or forced them to adopt a certain way of life under the threat of physical punishment or death. Decrees like the one made by the Diet of Augsburg in the Holy Roman Empire even facilitated the perpetration of violence against Romani people by anybody with impunity. These historical circumstances fundamentally influenced the position of Romani communities and led to their deep socioeconomic inequality, which persists to this day.”

The vice-chair of the Czech Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs also cast doubt on the vice-mayor’s claim that Romani people do not have the life aim of educating themselves. According to Dancso, this is an untrue generalization that is insulting and totally ignores human individuality.

“This cheap generalization ignores the fact that individuals set their aims according to their own discretion, not on the basis of ethnicity. Whether a person is non-Romani or Romani, his ambitions, educational aspirations and values come from his personal experience, his environment and the opportunities he has as an individual,” Dancso said.

In his response to the vice-mayor’s remarks, Dancso appealed to the necessity of taking an inclusive approach toward education. “Instead of promoting racist stereotypes, we should all be striving together for an inclusive approach based on respect for human rights, historical understanding, and efforts to create a fairer society,” he told Romea.cz.

Miroslav Klempár: Vice-Mayor Pataky’s remarks are an insult to all respectable Roma

Miroslav Klempár, founder of the Awen Amenca organization, which strives to create equal opportunities for Romani children in the Czech education system, called Pataky’s words about the Romani community insulting and unworthy of a public official. “Madame Vice-Mayor has insulted all the Romani parents with whom we have been collaborating who do take care to provide their children with a good education. She has spat in the face of all respectable Romani people in an indiscriminate, arrogant way worthy of a Nazi dignitary,” he said.

According to Klempár, such remarks have no place in modern society, to say nothing of politics. “For a moment I wondered whether these were really her remarks or whether Mrs. Pataky was quoting Mein Kampf,” he said.

Klempár stressed that generalizing claims such as those made by Vice-Mayor Pataky not only undermine integration efforts, but also humiliate those who are actively doing their best to improve the situation. “Such opinions have no place in modern society, to say nothing of politics,” he said.