Europe Needs To Talk About Travellers
Posted: 04/12/2013 | Author: The Political Idealist | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Fascism, immigration, justice, prejudice, Racism, Romania, Sweden, Tolerance, Travellers |10 Comments »At any given point in history, there are always some ethnic groups that are subject to near-universal prejudice, usually a population that isn’t in the majority anywhere. In the past, Jews were the most extreme example. Fortunately, we live in enlightened times and violent racism is closer to dying out than ever. There is, however, an underlying racism that pervades even the most tolerant regions of Europe: that is, a prejudice against the Roma and Traveller community.
In Sweden, a secret list compiled by police of some 4,000 Roma was recently uncovered by a reporter. The official explanation for the list- that it was related to four families in Lund conducting a campaign of violence against each other- does not seem very convincing. Meanwhile, ghettoes of Roma are growing in France and Germany as tower block after tower block is handed over to Romanian immigrants who’ve used Europe’s open borders to migrate. In response, neo-nazi groups are flourishing. And now in Britain, legitimate concerns about the large numbers of Roma who might leave their poverty-stricken country of birth in favour of our “green and pleasant land” when controls are removed on the 1st of January are being exploited. They’re being exploited by racists determined to invoke fear and prejudice in fair-minded British folk.
I should at this point make the distinction between Romanians and Travellers, many of whom reside in Romania. It is the latter population which is in serious trouble- but the distinction is blurry in the eyes of many.
I’m simply stunned that in a 21st century Europe, a continent which has payed so much for the racism of the past, that we are still able to condemn an entire population due to toxic stereotypes. If you listen to a cross section of public opinion (something we should always do when we can: it keeps our political feet on the ground) you will hear all kinds of things about “The Gipsies”. They’re dirty, they’re ill-educated, they don’t respect the rest of us…. It’s truly shameful. It’s dangerous too. The far right is on the up in Greece, France, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and even the liberal strongholds of Sweden and the Netherlands. They’ll probably never get within a mile of power, but we can never be certain about the future. So let’s be a little more careful about what we say, before we help create a monster.
