BOOK CLUB
MARCH 2014
BOOK DISCUSSION GUIDE
Guest reader Emma Donoghue’s choice:
Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
About this month’s guest reader,
Emma Donoghue
Born in Dublin
in 1969, Emma
Donoghue is a
writer of drama,
literary history and
fiction who is best
known for her
novels, including
Slammerkin,
The Sealed
Letter, and Room
(Commonwealth
Prize, Canada and
Carribbean Region). She
lives in London, Ontario.
BOOK CLUB
amnestybookclub.ca
Welcome!
This past January, we launched the Amnesty
International Book Club as a way to engage more
Canadians in human rights issues and work.
Thank you for joining our book club and for being a
founding member in our first year!
Every month, a guest reader will recommend a book
which touches on the human experience. This year, we
have chosen to focus on books by Canadian authors.
Her new novel Frog Music
is out in April.
Our first guest reader, long-time Amnesty International
member Nino Ricci, chose Joseph Boyden’s Three Day
Road as our first book, which ran from January through
mid-February.
About Amnesty International
Our second book was recommended by guest reader
Emma Donoghue, and is Half-Blood Blues by Esi
Edugyan.
Amnesty International is a global movement of more
than 3 million supporters, members and activists in
over 150 countries and territories who campaign to
end grave abuses of human rights.
As of April, we will be on a monthly schedule with a
new book recommended every month (although in July/
August we will likely have one book for both months).
Our vision is for all people to enjoy all the rights
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and other international human rights standards.
At the end of this year, we will be asking book club
members like you a variety of questions, including how
often you want to receive book recommendations and
discussion guides, and how useful you are finding the
materials. For now, we hope you will bear with us as we
get this started and continue to evolve it throughout the
coming months.
We are independent of any government, political
ideology, economic interest or religion, and are funded
mainly by our membership.
Until everyone can enjoy all of their rights, we will
continue our efforts. We will not stop until everyone
can live in dignity; until every person’s voice can be
heard; until no one is tortured or executed.
We are in the process of adding on-line discussion
groups and hope to start a tradition in April of having
at least one town hall book club by phone every month
that anyone in the country can join. We will keep you
posted as these things develop.
Our members are the cornerstone of these
efforts. They take up human rights issues through
letter-writing, online and offline campaigning,
demonstrations, vigils and direct lobbying of those with
power and influence.
Thank you for being part of the Amnesty International
Book Club! If you have any questions or feedback to
pass along, please contact us at bookclub@amnesty.ca
or call toll-free at 1-800-266-3789. We look forward to
hearing from you!
Locally, nationally and globally, we join together to
mobilize public pressure and show international
solidarity.
Together, we make a difference.
The Book Club Team
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
2
BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION GUIDE: MARCH | 2014
Author Esi Edugyan
MARCH BOOK:
Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan
Esi Edugyan’s most recent
novel, Half-Blood Blues,
won the 2011 Scotiabank
Giller Prize for Fiction. It
was a finalist for the Man
Booker Prize, the Governor
General’s Literary Award
for Fiction, the Rogers Writers Trust Fiction Prize,
and was long-listed for the 2012 Orange Prize for
Fiction.
Guest reader Emma Donoghue on
Half-Blood Blues:
“I’ve read many novels set in Europe around 1940,
and Half-Blood Blues stands out in my mind for the
sophistication of its approach. Not only does it look
at ‘blood’ as a complex, muddy matter of cultural as
well as genetic inheritance and societal perceptions,
but it avoids the obvious in its ethical dramas too.
By focusing on characters who think of themselves,
above all, as jazzmen, it reminds us that human rights
has never been a simple matter and that simplistic
narratives are no help to us.” – Emma Donoghue
Edugyan has held fellowships in the US, Scotland,
Iceland, Germany, Hungary, Finland, Spain, and
Belgium. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia,
with her husband and daughter.
Suggested discussion questions for Half-Blood Blues
Questions from Esi Edugyan
1. What was your impression of the book when you first
began reading? What do you think of the use of the
vernacular?
2. Have you ever before read about the Afro-German
experience during World War II? What struck you most
about this perspective?
3. In your opinion, should Sid have stayed where he was
when Hiero was getting arrested in the Coup or do you
think he should have defended his friend? Why or why
not?
4. We know Hiero (and the rest of the characters) only
through Sid. Can we trust Sid as a reliable narrator?
Why or why not?
5. Who would you say is the protagonist in the novel?
Explain.
6. In the documentary about Hiero, a scholar says of
Afro-Germans, “Even so, many had their papers
confiscated, making them effectively stateless.” What
do you think of this statement in light of Hiero’s arrest
and considering what Sid did with Hiero’s papers?
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
7. What did you think of
Chip when he spoke
poorly of Sid in the film
for which they were
interviewed? Did you
agree with Chip?
8. Describe the relationship between Sid and Chip,
and Sid and Hiero.
9. Delilah is one of the few women in the novel, yet
she’s a major character. How do you see her? What
struck you most about her?
10. There are many examples of female authors who
have chosen to write from a male perspective,
and vice versa. To what end do you believe the
author chose to write this novel from a purely male
perspective? How might Half-Blood Blues be a
different novel if it were written using the female
voice—say, if it were told by Delilah—or using a
third person narrative?
11. Elaborate on what aspect you liked best about this
novel: the historical, the musical, or the exploration
of human nature.
3
BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION GUIDE: MARCH | 2014
Questions from Amnesty
International’s campaign staff
Discussion questions (Continued)
1.In Half-Blood Blues, Ernst helps smuggle Hiero, Sid
and Chip out of Germany into France. He provides
them with identity papers and the means to leave
Germany. Is Ernst any different from modern day
smugglers who provide people with the means to
irregularly cross borders in search of safety?
12. What do you think of the writing style in relation to
the culture, time, and style of music?
13. What did you think about the structure of the
novel, about how it went back and forth in time
and place?
14. What was the most powerful scene for you in the
book?
2. Having read the background on the Roma included
in this discussion guide on pages 7 and 8, do you
think there are similarities between the treatment of
the Roma in Europe today and their treatment in Nazi
Germany?
15. How did you feel when Sid finally confessed his
big secret?
16. What do you think of the ending of the novel?
3. What is the difference between discrimination and
persecution?
17. What would you tell someone this book is about?
4. Do you see Hiero/Thomas as a victim or a survivor?
What about Chip and Sid – do you see them as
survivors or victims?
FOCUS ON THE ROMA
More Jews were killed during World War II than
any other group of people, however many other
ethnic and social groups were also persecuted
by the Nazi regime. The history of persecution
of some of these other groups is not well known.
Half-Blood Blues brings to light the persecution
of the Afro-German population.
In this month’s discussion guide and action,
we have chosen to focus on the Roma; another
group persecuted by the Nazis and a group who
continue to face serious discrimination in many
European countries today. The Roma are one of
Europe’s largest ethnic groups. Almost 70 years
after the end of the Second World War, pockets
of discrimination and persecution persist.
This discussion guide provides information
about the serious discrimination against Roma
today and gives you a chance to take action on
their behalf.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Nazi police round up Roma families from Vienna for
deportation to Poland. Austria, around September1939.
Roma inmates at forced labor in Ravensbrueck
concentration camp. Germany, between 1941 and 1944.
4
BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION GUIDE: MARCH | 2014
Esi Edugyan’s playlist for Half-Blood Blues
•“Mack the Knife,” Louis Armstrong
•“Non, je ne regrette rien,”
Edith Piaf
•“Basin Street Blues,” Louis Armstrong
•“Crazy Rhythm,” Diango Reinhardt
•“Sinful Blues,” Bessie Smith
•“Caravan,”
Duke Ellington
•“Moon Glow,”
Cab Calloway
•“Empty Bed Blues,” Bessie Smith
•“It’s Only a Paper Moon,” Ella Fitzgerald
•“Dream a Little Dream
of Me,” Ella Fitzgerald
•“Way Down Yonder in New Orleans,”
Bix Beiderbecke
•“My Favourite Things,”
John Coltrane
•“Milestones,” Miles Davis
•“ Almost Blue,” Chet Baker
•“The Way You Look Tonight,” Billie Holiday
•“Characteristic Blues”
Sidney Bechet
•“Blues in Paris,” Sidney Bechet
•“Petit Fleur,” Sidney Bechet
•“Chant in the Night,” Sidney Bechet
•“Blue in Green,”
Miles Davis
•“In a Sentimental Mood,” John Coltrane
•“Everything I’ve Got,” Blossom Dearie
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
•“Singin’ the Blues” Frankie Trumbauer and his
Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke
•“Bill Coleman Blues” Bill Coleman featuring
Django Reinhardt
•“The Horst Wessel Lied” The SA and SS Choir
conducted by Alfred Engel
•“Prayer (Oh, Doctor Jesus)”, Miles Davis,
from the album Porgy and Bess.
5
BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION GUIDE: MARCH | 2014
Background information: Half-Blood Blues historical context
liked it though. A savage talking like he civilized.
You’d see that old glint in their eye, like a knife
turning.“ (p.16)
“Foreigners,” said the short Boot calmly. “Hottentot”
“Stateless,” said the other.
“Foreigner,” he said. Jew, he said. Negro, he said.
(p 23)
African German mixed-race children were
marginalized in German society, isolated socially and
economically, and not allowed to attend university.
Racial discrimination prohibited them from seeking
most jobs, including service in the military. By
1937, the Gestapo (German secret state police) had
secretly rounded up and forcibly sterilized many of
them. Some were subjected to medical experiments;
others mysteriously “disappeared.” 1
The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in
January 1933, believed that Germans were “racially
superior” and that the Jews, deemed “inferior,”
were an alien threat to the so-called German racial
community. The Nazi racial polices led to the
Holocaust: the state-sponsored persecution and
mass murder of approximately six million Jews by
the Nazi regime and its collaborators.
The Roma
Although the Jews were their main targets, the Nazis
and their collaborators also persecuted other groups
for racial or ideological reasons. This included
political opponents and other groups because of
their perceived “racial inferiority”: Roma (Gypsies),
the disabled, some of the Slavic peoples, and
African-Germans like Hiero, who were the children
of German mothers and African colonial soldiers
in the Allied armies that occupied the German
Rhineland region after World War 1.
Persecution of Roma (Gypsies) in Germany, and
indeed in all of Europe, started before the Nazis
came to power in 1933. In 1933, police in Germany
began more rigorous enforcement of pre-Nazi
legislation against those who followed a lifestyle
labelled “Gypsy.” The Nazis judged such people to
be racially “undesirable” and persecuted the Roma.
Shortly before the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin,
the police ordered the arrest and relocation of all
Roma in Greater Berlin to Marzahn, an open field
located near a cemetery and sewage dump in
eastern Berlin. All over Germany, local citizens and
local police forced Roma into municipal camps.
Later, these camps evolved into forced-labour
camps for Roma. The camps were an early stage on
the road to genocide. Residents from these camps
were later sent to concentration camps. Roma
in the camps wore black triangular patches, the
symbol for “asocials,” or green ones, the symbol for
“professional” criminals.2
“But Hiero, he grown reckless as the occupation
deepened. He was a Mishchling, a half breed, but
so dark no soul ever like to guess his mama a white
Rhinelander. Hell, his skin glistened like pure oil.
But he German-born, sure. And if his face wasn’t
of the Fatherland, just bout everything else bout
him rooted him there right good. And add to this
the fact that he didn’t have no identity papers right
now- well, let’s just say wasn’t no cakewalk for him...
When Hiero’d cut in with his native German, well,
the gent would damn near die of surprise. Most ain’t
1
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Blacks During the Holocaust.
2
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Persecution of Roma (Gypsies) in Pre War Germany 1933-1939.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
6
BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION GUIDE: MARCH | 2014
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. The
Declaration recognizes that the “inherent dignity of
all members of the human family is the foundation
of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”
Inherent in the Declaration is the principle of nondiscrimination.
It is estimated that between 220,000 and over one
million Roma were victims of the Nazi holocaust.
At the end of the Second World War, the
international community vowed to never again
allow atrocities like those seen in that conflict.
World leaders agreed to guarantee the rights of
every individual everywhere. This resulted in the
Racism and xenophobia in Europe today: the Roma
street, in the media and in political debate. The daily
discrimination against Roma in particular shows that
much work still needs to be done to obtain equality
for one of Europe’s largest ethnic minorities.
Almost 70 years have passed since the adoption
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
much work still needs to be done to enshrine antidiscrimination standards into government laws and
practices.
An estimated 6 million Roma now live in European
Union (EU) countries. Most of the Roma in Europe
(80- 85%) live in or near the communities in which
they were born, although they are often wrongly
described, including by authorities, as being a
people who are constantly moving.
European countries have been at the forefront of
the development of international anti-discrimination
standards and have some of the most advanced
anti-discrimination standards in the world.
Discrimination, however, has not been eliminated;
racist, chauvinist, homophobic, Islamophobic and
anti-Semitic discourse is still common -- in the
Today, on almost all human development indicators,
Roma informal settlements, Lyon
Amnesty International
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
7
BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION GUIDE: MARCH | 2014
informal settlements do not have access to water
and proper sanitation.
Roma fall far below the national average in the
countries in which they live. Eight out of 10 Roma
in Europe live in households at risk of poverty which
results in severe ill health. Roma are less likely
to complete post-secondary education than nonRoma. Only one in 10 Roma has completed postsecondary education in France, Greece or Romania.
Tens of thousands of Romani students in Europe
attend segregated Roma-only schools or classes.
Some of these schools or classes teach a reduced
curriculum for students with “mild mental
disabilities.” Following a reduced curriculum
increases the chances of being excluded from postsecondary education and perpetuates the cycle of
discrimination from one generation to the next.
On average, half of all Roma are victims of racial
discrimination, which prevents them from finding
a job or receiving high-quality education. Romani
individuals and communities are targeted with
racially motivated violence. Authorities in Europe
rarely collect data on hate crimes against the
Roma; and they often fail to investigate such crimes
thoroughly.
Slovakia
Romani children are over-represented in special
schools and classes for students with mild mental
disabilities in Slovakia. In 2010, the United Nations
Development Programme found that 65% of
‘special’ schools contain almost only Romani
students and that 90% of special classes in
mainstream schools are almost exclusively attended
by Romani students. In October 2012, the regional
Court in the city of Prešov ruled that such separation
of Romani students was discriminatory. In Slovakia,
only two out of 10 Roma students complete postsecondary education compared with nine out of 10
non-Roma students.
Hundreds of thousands of Roma in Europe live in
ethnically segregated, informal settlements because
of policies that deny them other housing options.
They are often forced to move from their homes to
places where their health is at risk. Many Roma in
More action needed to end
discrimination
More must be done to ensure that equality, nondiscrimination and respect for human dignity
are more than empty words. The many forms of
discrimination, racism and other human rights
violations experienced by the Roma in Europe must
be addressed by both the EU Commission and its
member States.
Amnesty International
The EU Commission is the guardian of EU antidiscrimination laws, and must take legal action
against member countries if it finds evidence of
systematic discrimination.
Roma breakfast at the Berlaymont,
Brussels. 26 June 2013
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
8
BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION GUIDE: MARCH | 2014
TAKE ACTION
Take action to end discrimination and segregation of Romani
children in education in Slovakia
The discrimination and segregation of Roma children in
schools is wrong. It is also prohibited under international
human rights law and EU law. The good news is that laws
exist in Slovakia to stop this from happening, but unfortunately
the government is failing to enforce laws that prohibit the
discrimination and segregation of Roma children in schools.
A sample letter is provided below, but your appeal will
be most effective if you write it in your own words.
Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico
Email: premier@vlada.gov.sk
Úrad vlády Slovenskej republiky
Námestie slobody 1
813 70 Bratislava
Slovak Republic
Dear Prime Minister Fico,
I am writing to you concerning the segregation and discrimination endured by Roma children. Your government
has acknowledged that school segregation of Romani children is a problem and committed to ending it. However,
segregation goes on unchecked.
The Slovak government continues to ignore wake-up calls by international human rights bodies, the European Court
of Human Rights, and most recently, the landmark decision of regional court in Prešov that held that separation of
Romani children into ethnically segregated classes violates Slovakia’s anti-discrimination law.
I urge you to immediately end the unlawful segregation and discrimination of Romani children across Slovakia by:
• Developing and providing training on equality and non-discrimination for educational staff, including definition of
what acts amount to ‘segregation’, utilizing the definition provided by the case law of the European Court of Human
rights and of the Prešov Court.
• Ordering schools to desegregate and provide support so that all children – including Roma – can develop to their
fullest potential within integrated mainstream schools ;
• Reforming the State School Inspectorate and/or other monitoring bodies to be able effectively enforce the
prohibition of segregation;
• Ensuring access to effective remedies for all victims of discrimination.
[Sign your name and add your address or city/province]
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
9
BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION GUIDE: MARCH | 2014
DID YOU KNOW?
MORE ABOUT THIS ISSUE
More than 300 Hungarians (most likely Roma)
were found to be Convention Refugees in Canada
between 2009 - 2013. In 2012 Canada changed
its refugee laws and listed most EU countries as
‘safe’ countries of origin. This severely limits the
opportunity for Roma from the EU to successfully
seek refuge in Canada.
Amnesty International:
People seeking safety who arrive in Canada today
and who are believed to have arrived with the help
of a smuggler can be automatically put in jail for
one year, with limited opportunities to be released.
If they are found to be people who need protection
(refugees), they cannot apply to be reunited with
the rest of their family for another five years.
Unfulfilled promises: Failing to end segregation of Roma
pupils in Slovakia. 4 September 2013
www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR72/001/2013
Roma: Demanding Equality and Human Rights
www.amnesty.org/en/roma
Fight Discrimination Campaign www.fightdiscrimination.eu
Human rights here, Roma rights now: A wake-up call to
the European Union. 4 April 2013
www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR01/002/2013/en
Op-Ed: Europe’s Roma discrimination shame. 26 October
2012 www.amnesty.ca/org/en/news
Other resources:
Universal Declaration for Human Rights:
www.un.org/en/documents/udhr
What is discrimination?
Videos:
Discrimination occurs when a person or group is
treated unequally without justification because of
race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age or
disability.
CBC News Documentary: Seeking Safety A look at the
Roma of Hungary; their struggle and their hopes to seek
refuge in Canada.www.cbc.ca/thenational/indepthanalysis/
roma/
What is persecution?
I’m a Roma Woman: www.youtube.com
Produced by Romedia Foundation for Care International
North West, 2 minutes
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an
individual or group by another individual or group,
usually for religious, ethnic or political reasons.
Gypsies of Svinia – National Film Board of Canada –
directed by John Paskievich.
Unfortunately, many Romani people living in
Europe today are likely to be the victims of both
discrimination and persecution.
Organizations:
Roma Community Centre Toronto www.romatoronto.org
European Roma Rights Centre www.errc.org
Coming up April 2014!
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
recommended by guest reader Yann Martel
The story of three people trying to survive in a city rife with the
extreme fear of desperate times, and of the sorrowing cellist
who plays undaunted in their midst.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
10 Author Steven Galloway
BOOK CLUB DISCUSSION GUIDE: MARCH | 2014