Roma of the
Czech Republic
the struggle for equality
by: Christy Schoenborn
schoencm@uwec.edu
Geography 308 (Russia and Eastern Europe)
Professor Zoltan Grossman
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Spring 2005
Introduction
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Roma (Gypsies) have been drastically
oppressed for centuries
Will talk about
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History
Present Issues
Possible Solutions
http://www.chgs.umn.edu/Histories__Narratives__Documen/Roma___Sinti__Gypsies_/roma___sinti__gypsies_.html
History - Distant
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Roma came from India in 1300’s
Middle Ages – Rumor woman had
relations with Satan
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All Roma (like Jews) thought to be evil
Not Christian when they arrived
Estimated that half of all Roma were
slaves in 1400’s-1800’s in Europe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Smyrne_Group_of_Gypsy.jpg
History – Past (cont.)
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Culture without a homeland (like Jews)
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Traveling bands
Nomads
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_people
History - WWII
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Genocide of Roma by Nazis
Nazi experiments in alleged Roma
“fertility” and twins
http://www.chgs.umn.edu/Histories__Narratives__Documen/Roma___Sinti__Gypsies_/roma___sinti__gypsies_.html
History – Communist Era
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Also sterilized Roma women
Forced Roma to settle; gave new
homes
Changed language and even their
names
Started many of the problems the
Roma of the Czech face today!
(housing, schooling, etc.)
History – Communist Era
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Took away ethnic identity
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Outlawed language
Closed newspapers and clubs
Yet economic improvement
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Made to work in factories
Paid wages; reduced poverty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism
Roma Stereotypes
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Liars, cheats, thieves
High birthrate
Musical
Hemingway writes, “The gypsy…is truly
worthless. He has no political development,
nor any discipline, and you could not rely on
him for anything.”
Roma Issues Today
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Schooling barriers
Unemployment
Housing shortages
Lack of Healthcare
Racism
http://www.pixton.org/TomsRomaniaGypsyPage.html
Where Roma Live
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Generally where population is dense
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/atlas_east_europe/czech-pop.jpg
Racism Today
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When polled, 36% of Czechs said they
did not care about racism
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6% actively opposed
6% actively supported
Can legally be barred from public
places (signs posted)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/voices/prejudice.shtml
Schooling
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75% of Roma children are in special
education classes
Roma are only group of children to get
psychological exam before admitted to
schooling
Fear of violence and cost of supplies
deter families from educating children
Unemployment
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Roma unemployment rate is 70%
(other Czechs—3%)
Usually don’t work service jobs
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Do “grunt” jobs
Roma activists have wired themselves
when going in to inquire about jobs
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When denied that positions were
available when they actually were, collect
monetary compensation
Housing
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Many Roma live in public housing (due
to bad schooling and high
unemployment)
Proposals to build wall around Roma
section of town in Usti
There are self-governed “Roma”
sections of town
http://www.so-utah.com/souteast/hovenwep/wall.jpg
Health care
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More Roma need state health care
due to low employment
Doctors have turned away Roma
emergency when busy
Some Roma parents are cautious
about government-mandated
vaccinations for their children
Shocking Misc. Facts
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¾ Gypsies in Central and Eastern
Europe are illiterate
Average Roma life is 1/3 shorter than
non-Roma
Roma are only ethnic group scanned
mandatory before allowed on airplanes
at British airport in Prague
150,000-175,000 (.3%) Czechs are
Roma, but only 11,000 actually claim to
be
Shocking Misc. Facts (cont.)
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Roma women in Czech Republic are
pressured to be sterilized to stop
“unhealthy birthrates”
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Cases in ’90s where women did not give
consent and it was done anyway
Cases where women were asked if they
wanted to be sterilized while giving birth
Cases where women were bribed or
blackmailed into getting it done
Economic and cultural reasons for large
Roma families
Racist Skinheads
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5,000 active Czech skinheads in the country
Perform acts of violence on Gypsies to get
their point across
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Stabbings
Random attacks
452 racial crimes
in 2004
http://www.skinheadz.com/images/posters/defenders.jpeg
Possible Solutions
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European Union admission – need to
guarantee minority groups
Activist groups
Education
Government/Law
Police
Roma political parties
http://www.romove.cz/en/clanek/18241
Solution - Activism
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Activist Groups
 Websites like romove.cz
Bury Me Standing by
Isabel Fonseca
 Presents Gypsies’ stories of
hardships
Difficult for Roma in different countries to unite as one
force
Also difficult to unite within the country due to
differences among Roma
http://www.pwf.pragonet.cz/1998/fonseca.jpg
Solution - Education
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Do have a long-term plan to integrate
Have head-start like programs to get
Roma children admitted to regular
schools when they are 5
Getting more Roma
teachers assistants
More scholarships
for higher education
http://www.romove.cz/en/clanek/18241
Solution - Government
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Integrated housing project starting in
Ostrava
Have cases pending on racial
discrimination in bars
12 suits filed on school system
discrimination
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11 turned down, but have 1 suit pending
Solution - Police
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More racial crimes are being reported
each year
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Sign that the police are noticing there is a
problem and reporting it correctly instead
of ignoring it
Trainees being trained on Roma
language and culture
European Union
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Roma can take human rights cases to
European Court of Human Rights
EU disapproves of Czech treatment of
Roma
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Said no to the wall-building expedition
Hard to say what changes will occur, as the
Czech Rep. was just admitted in 2004
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_union
European Union
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Put out report for Czech authorities stating:
“As regards the overall situation of the Roma in the Czech
Republic, further efforts are needed, in particular to combat
anti-Roma prejudice and to strengthen the protection provided
by the police and the courts. Estimated Roma unemployment
remains very high at 70-90 %. Health and housing conditions
are still much worse in the Roma communities than amongst
the general population. Attitudes at local level are largely
unaltered, as illustrated by some recent district court
judgments.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_union
Solution – Political Parties
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Many Roma political parties popping
up
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Romani Civic Initiative
Democratic Alliance of Roma in the
Czech Republic
Most parties started around 1998
Some members already represented in
Parliment
Emigration
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Most of these “solutions” are not
working yet
Roma are leaving in mass numbers for
Canada and the UK, filing for refugee
status
http://www.swans.com/library/art8/2002pics/yugo6a.jpg
Sources
Breathe. Prod. Elizabeth Thompson with Independent Television Services and
Thompson Productions. 2000.
“Challenging Coercive Sterilizations of Romani Women in the Czech Republic.”
European Roma Rights Center. 20 April 2005.
<http://www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=2228>.
“Communism.” Wikipedia.com. 17 April 2005.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism>.
“European Union.” Wikipedia.com. 17 April 2005.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_union>.
Fonseca, Isabel. Bury Me Standing. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.
Kenety, Brian. “ ‘Wired’ Czech Romani women win racial discrimination case.” 23
March 2005. <http://www.romove.cz/en/article/20447>.
“Multi-ethnic States and the Protection of Minority Rights.” World Conference
Against Racism. 17 April 2005. <http://www.un.org/WCAR/ekit/minority.htm>.
Sources (cont.)
Ridgeway, James. Blood in the Face: The Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, Nazi
Skinheads, and the Rise of a New White Culture. New York: Thunder’s
Mouth Press, 1991.
Robinson, B. A. “The Religion and the Culture of the Roma.” 3 November 2004.
Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. 21 April 2005.
<http://www.religioustolerance.org/roma.htm>.
“Roma.” Wikipedia.com. 17 April 2005.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_people>.
“Roma & Sinti (Gypsies).” Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. 17 April
2005. <http://www.chgs.umn.edu/Histories__Narratives__
Documen/Roma___Sinti__Gypsies_/roma___sinti__gypsies_.html>.
Sever, Ivan. “The Czech Gypsies.” February 1999. The Never-Ending Roma
Question. 17 April 2005. <http://www.furious.com/perfect/gypsy.html.>
Skinheadz. 20 April 2005. <http://www.skinheadz.com/index.html>.
Sources (cont.)
United Kingdom Country Information and Policy Unit. Czech Country Country
Assessment. April 2001.
United States Department of State. Czech Republic. March 31, 2003.
Any Questions?
http://www.romove.cz/en/article/18199