Patrik Banga: Who is thinking of the Romani children who are spat on? They've been spat on since 1989, Minister Rakušan!
I don't want to be mean here. I don't want to belittle what happened to the little Ukrainian girl who was abused by her classmates. That incident is horrible, if only because it seems that little boys were ganging up on her. However, I consider it correct to say that those children are really not the ones responsible. After all, they just reflect their parents. If their parents are cursing about the Ukrainians at home, then the children naturally do so as well. If there is any solution, it is for the school to levy penalties and for the parents to reach an agreement on this that will be emphatic - even though nothing works with some parents. Making an agreement has never worked with morons.
One is forced to wonder, however, what the differences are between those who become the victims of bullying here. I comprehend the kind of trauma that little girl has experienced, and I am forced to recall how many times I myself experienced a similar situation – and my friends, and my relatives, and my neighbors. All of us. My sister refused to go to school because of such treatment. If we went to the playground, we went just to those parts of it where more Romani children were playing, because everywhere else we would have become the target of exactly the kind of bullying as this little Ukrainian girl has just experienced.
Fast forward 20 years and my own daughter has experienced the identical situation. Children at school also yelled at her that she’s a ‘gypsy’. She also came home in tears. She didn’t want to go back to school, just like my sister more than 20 years ago. Sure, I gave them hell for it at the school, but otherwise basically nobody took any interest then, and nobody takes any interest now, even though this is happening somewhere in this country every single day. I bet you a month’s salary that some Romani children experience a similar situation every day.
In their case, though, no Interior Minister responds. The public does not respond either. There is no pressure for bullying in the schools to be penalized far more emphatically than it is. Not until this case, involving the little Ukrainian girl, was published did we see such a reaction, a girl who has become the target of the same children who assault Romani children every day – and everybody considers that to be absolutely normal. For this one child, somebody is (finally!) taking an interest, but for others, not. Is this selective solidarity? You bet. It’s also the coarsest kind of hypocrisy.
I have nothing against the refugees. Anybody who knows me knows I’m oversensitive as far as refugees go. I’ve seen the results of war with my own eyes. I’ve given aid as much as I can. I’m the last person who would whine about refugees. Enough is enough, though.
Romani refugees (from that same Ukraine) were forced to sleep on the floors of railway stations here, or on the street in the center of Brno – and the majority of people here were unmoved. Weren’t children among those refugees too? Nobody cares. If they weren’t sleeping at the railway station in Prague anymore, it was because they’d been given tents, where they slept in the mud next to the Blanka tunnel. Weren’t those conditions undignified? Nobody cares. Zero personal hygiene? Nobody cares. A Ukrainian who was white was integrated within a matter of days, living in dignified housing with a financial contribution from the state, most with the immediate opportunity to go to work. Add to that a half-year reprieve from paying car insurance, a half-year of free transportation, and until recently, almost CZK 5000 [EUR 230] per month per person. By the way, try sending a Romani child to preschool or primary school without the compulsory vaccinations. You’ll see what kind of a fuss that causes. The Ukrainians who are white have taken advantage of all this and remained here, while the Romani Ukrainians have preferred to return to Ukraine because they didn’t get the opportunity to live in humane conditions. Solidarity? Sure, but just for some.
For more than 20 years we Roma have been pushing for minority programming on public broadcaster Czech Television, or for Romanes, the language spoken by the country’s largest minority, to make it into the mainstream. The result? Nothing. The conflict in Ukraine began in February 2022. Czech Television’s main news broadcast began to be available in Ukrainian 27 days later. To be clear: I’m not angry that Czech Television is broadcasting in Ukrainian. I am angry that for 20 years I’ve been hearing how something can’t work – but if they want to do something, it can happen in just 27 days!
If I compare these situations, I’m being forced to feel like more of a “guest” than the refugees are in my own home (where I was born, where I’ve been paying taxes and contributing to everybody’s pensions since the age of 18). If I draw attention to the bullying of Romani children, nothing happens (usually). If somebody draws attention to the exact same bullying, but the victim is Ukrainian, there’s a radio program about it and most of the rest of the media in the country is talking about it too.
Yes, it’s correct for them to pay attention to bullying. It may aid that little girl for us to begin speaking about the bullying that goes on between children. Bad grades will be given for behavior, the parents will have to deal with the child protection authorities, and maybe something will actually change. However, if the rules are going to be enforced, they should be the same for everybody! The selective approach has never solved anything – and never will.
