Michal Mižigár: November 1989 brought Romani people freedom and opportunities, but without the aid of the majority society we will never fully take advantage of either
The November 1989 revolution in the former Czechoslovakia brought freedom, recognition of the Romani nationality, and new opportunities for education. Romani people became part of Civic Forum and 11 of them were seated in the first democratic Parliament. Despite that fact, 35 years after the revolution, the Roma still do not feel safe revealing their nationality to the state, segregation in the schools persists, and political populism and racism continue to encumber their lives. Freedom is an important win, but Romani people are still waiting for real equality and justice.
November 1989 brought us all unity when Romani people were also part of Civic Forum. From 1990-1992 there were 11 members of the national legislature who were Romani, but today it is popular to base one’s political career on populism and on racism against Romani people.
Recognition of Romani nationality was also a result of November 1989, but 35 years after the revolution Romani people still do not feel safe announcing their Romani nationality to the state.
November 1989 brought us all the opportunity to study the Romani language and to write in it, but today in Czechia just one-third of Romani children speak it fluently.
The truth began to be told in education after November 1989, but Romani children remain segregated in the schools, and 35 years after the revolution, the subject of desegregation still has to be addressed, but Romani people are still not considered equal partners for this and do not work on this at the Education Ministry. The role of the Roma is just to be advisors at meetings where information is extracted from them and the “qualified” people then do a “good job” of processing it.
November 1989 brought us all the opportunity to study at university, but it is still the case that many Romani university graduates today just happen to be the lucky ones who managed to avoid being assigned to the “special schools” that used to exist here.
Incomparably better medical care became available to us after November 1989, but many of the Romani women who were forcibly sterilized in the Czech Republic even after 1989 have yet to be compensated and the state administration is obstructing their applications for compensation.
November 1989 brought us all an independent judiciary, but those who murdered Romani people during the 1990s and who were motivated by racism frequently were not adequately punished and were set free.
Freedom and the opportunity to cooperate with each other on creating the Czechia we all deserve came to us in November 1989, to create a society where there will be no discrimination toward anybody who lives in Czechia and feels at home there.
November 1989 brought us all a freedom that we should appreciate, protect, and use to keep creating a Czechia where discrimination, populism, racism and xenophobia have no place.
We all won freedom and the opportunity for partnership in November 1989, so let’s take advantage of it and not rest on our laurels, because I believe we can still do a lot more good together.
