Tomáš Ščuka: Czech teachers do not know how to use literature by Romani authors about racism
Social media is full of negative reactions to a story about a book entitled O Božím Sidorkovi (in Romani, Pal le Devleskero Sidorkus - About the Divine Sidorkus) by Vladislav Haluška, a Romani author, in which this talented writer retells Romani fairy tales. A short story from the collection has been excerpted for use in a reader for sixth grade.
The collection itself was published more than 20 years ago in a bilingual edition. The Czech translation was provided by what used to be called the Department of Romani Studies at Charles University’s Faculty of Arts in Prague.
According to a post by an unidentified Romani mother on Facebook, her daughter came home crying from school because she had to read one of these stories, “Black Gypsy Skin” (Černá cikánská kůže), aloud in class. A significant part of the text in the reader is accompanied by photographs which make it possible to analyze that Haluška was interested in capturing how difficult it is to be a Romani child by telling a story about classmates swapping skin color.
I fully grasp that seeing “Black Gypsy Skin” in bold type might have too much of a harsh effect and spark strong emotions in the reader. The phrase is meant to be perceived as provocative and as unnecessarily sharp, especially in a school context, where it would be appropriate to be more sensitive in the approach to such subjects.
Nevertheless, if readers delve into the rest of the story, it becomes clear that the passages referencing “Gypsies who steal” are not targeting Romani people, but rather a specific situation in which a non-Romani boy finds himself. The young protagonist experiences for one day what it means to be different, to feel excluded, and to be unfairly accused of something just because of his skin color.
I perceive the editors of the sixth-grade reader to have been well-intentioned. Their aim was to highlight inequality among children in school.
However, I decidedly do not want to minimize the indignation of this mother or the feelings of her daughter about how the instruction of this material went in her case. On the contrary!
This case demonstrates that editors’ good intentions are not enough. The burden of antigypsyism is carved into Romani children at a level that is not just skin-deep.
To read a story about “black Gypsy skin” out loud in front of the whole class is, for a Romani child, just another test of their ability to bear the burden of anti-Romani sentiment. It basically does not matter what the point of the lesson or the story is when it is used this way.
Without professional training of educators during their university programs on how to work with such material, similar situations may arise in the future. The insufficient inclusion of Roma-related subject matter in school instruction is a problem that must be solved.
Such subject matter should be part of training future teachers so they can effectively approach instruction about the Romani minority and therefore transform society’s perceptions and prejudices toward Roma. Only with adequate teacher training is it possible to ensure the environment of the schools will be inclusive and open to all pupils irrespective of their ethnic origin.
