Am gasit doua texte excelente si foarte informative pe subiectul anti-discriminarii dar si gasirii de solutii: primul, o lucrare academica in limba engleza, prezinta o perspectiva istorica a minoritatii roma printr-o comparatie cu minoritatea afro-americana din Statele Unite si al doilea, in romana, discuta gandirea si discursul public prejudiciate si alternative la acestea.

..................

http://hiphi.ubbcluj.ro/JSRI/html%20version/index/no_4/mihaela_mudure-articol.htm

"From the Gypsies to the African Americans"

de Mihaela Mudure

Abstract: This paper is an analysis of comparative multiculturalisms. Starting from the historical reality that both the Roma and the African-Americans were reified through slavery and discriminated against because of their racial visibility, the author analyses the position of the two groups in the Romanian, namely, the American society. The lead of the African-Americans in overcoming the racial stigma is explained by the author through: the opportunities offered by a powerful and consolidated democracy, and by the existence of an elite of the minority group. These factors should be envisaged by Romanian society when trying to make both the minority and the majority cooperate in order to avoid the transformation of the Roma into an under-class group, a great challenge with a view to Romania’s integration into the EU structures.

For centuries both Romanian Gypsies and African Americans have occupied a problematic space in their respective societies: they have been a negative Other on which the majority could throw most of their fears [1] . The Romanian Gypsy [2] and the African-American problems have had a common cause: slavery by an outsider group coupled with visibly racial otherness. For both groups, the legal status of slavery ended in mid-19th century, and since then, both groups have had to fight for full emancipation and full respect in their societies, which they still do not enjoy. Even though these two communities have grown in different

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 58

historical environments--the Romanian rural society lacking strong democratic traditions, and the U.S., a highly industrialized society with a democratic tradition— the attempts at solutions are strikingly similar: mutual efforts both by the minority and the majority for fullest emancipation at all levels of society.

A reading of the Romanian Gypsy situation in comparison to the African- American experience facilitates two different kinds of comparisons. On the one hand, I will discuss the historical reality that the Gypsy situation was often indeed read in Romanian nineteenth-century history through African-American lenses, with the appropriate nuances, of course. On the other hand, I claim that in the contemporary circumstances the African-American community has accomplished a lot more in its effort for full emancipation and acceptance at all levels of society than has the Romanian Gypsy community. By reading the situation of the contemporary Romanian Gypsies through African-American lenses and comparing the two groups at the beginning of the 21st century, I hope to point to some possible solutions for the still very problematic position of the Gypsy community in Romanian society.

The Romanian intelligentsia of the 19th century followed with great interest and empathy the evolution of the Abolitionist movement in the USA. They raised the problem of Gypsy slavery in Romania, a question they became acutely aware of through Masonic channels. Already during the 18th century, the idea of the Gypsy and Black slaves’ manumission appeared in the Masonic Lodge of the Nine Muses. This Lodge, among whose members were Franklin and the famous La Fayette, and whose president was the French revolutionary Brissot, focused both on the Black slaves of America and on the Gypsy slaves of the Old World. Since many of the important Romanian militants of the 1848 Revolution were Masons, they became particularly sensitive to this issue.

It is also important to note that the Romanian abolitionist discourse developed at the same time as the Romanian nationalist discourse. Nationalism “may be an excellent way of determining identity, but it has little or nothing to say about political participation” [3] or about the distribution of power within the community. History being such that the Romanians lived for hundreds of years in the orbit of political entities dominated by other religions or ethnicities, for them it seemed more important to create a state as the instrument of a majority, than to look at the state as “the agent of governance for the whole society,” [4] minorities included. Therefore, the manumission of the Gypsy, a humanistic ideal, was not followed by political programs meant to integrate them and turn them into citizens with full abilities of participation in the political life of the nation.

One of the intellectuals influenced by both the nationalist and the abolitionist ideas was Mihail Kogalniceanu (1817-1891). He offered one of the most consistent and thorough Romanian perspectives on the Gypsies problem at that time. In 1837, as a student in Berlin, Kogalniceanu wrote a presentation

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 59

of the Gypsies at the request of Alexander Humboldt. Interestingly, Kogalniceanu complains about the momentary and biased interest in the nineteenth-century slaves, yet, on the other hand, he criticizes the “lack of civilization” of this “miserable” ethnic group, the Gypsies. [5] Kogalniceanu presents the peculiarities of the Gypsy slave situation in Moldavia. The master has no right over the slave’s life or over his/her property except when the slave does not have heirs. But if a slave runs away, the master has the right to follow the fugitive slave. The Gypsy slaves are allowed to have a home, a garden, and a little store, but they cannot have a farm or an estate. Kogalniceanu also describes the various forms of punishments that the owners had a right to use--punishments that are impressively cruel. The most frequent ones were: the whip and the “falanga.” In Wallachia the situation is almost the same. In both principalities there were also Gypsy slaves who wandered all over the country practicing their trade and paying the master certain dues. Slaves were not only private property. Monasteries and the Crown also had slaves. Gypsy slaves had their own rulers who were also the judges for cases among the slaves. If there was a case between a slave and a free man, the master represented the slave at the trial and paid any damages.

During the Middle Ages there could be no legitimate union between a free person and a local slave. If two Gypsy slaves decided to marry they needed the approval of their master. If they belonged to different masters, there was usually an arrangement between the two masters. The couple were to live on one of the estates and a compensation or another slave was offered to the other master. If the masters could reach no agreement, the couple were separated. Under the influence of Enlightenment ideology this began to change. In 1743 Alexandru Mavrocordat, Prince of Wallachia, forbid the separation of slave spouses and also ruled that the offspring of a union between a slave and a free person from Wallachia are free.

However, in spite of his good intentions, Kogalniceanu’s approach to the Gypsies is that of one writing from a superior and paternalistic position and is imbued with the ordinary stereotypes about the so-called “inferior” groups. For instance, his description of the Gypsy women alone shows that he is influenced by well-known stereotypes about the representation of marginalized groups. Women belonging to these groups are usually associated with nature and considered more potent or more sexually accessible than the “civilized” groups. The same stereotype has held true for African-American women throughout history. The Gypsy woman is an icon of attractive and subversive sexuality and fertility, often represented as an insinuating flower girl. Kogalniceanu claims that Gypsy women are very accessible sexually [6] and even hyper-sexual. [7] And indeed the stereotype of the attractive Gypsy woman has had a glorious career both in Romanian literature and Romanian painting!

This paternalistic attitude leads Kogalniceanu into failing to see the causes and the solutions from within the community, although he intends to describe

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 60

Gypsy status in fairness. His solution is purely moralistic and assimilatory: “The Gypsy have vices, but if we succeed in uprooting them from their hearts, they will be extremely useful for Moldavia and Wallachia, mostly working as workers in the factories.” [8]

Sympathy from a paternalistic perspective had been a peculiarity of Romanian mainstream intellectuals in general ever since The Gypsiad, [9] the mock-heroic epic by Ion Budai Deleanu (1763-1820), the first significant literary work in which Gypsies appear. Written with a lot of humor and benevolence, The Gypsiad actually reinforced the stereotype of cowardly Gypsies interested more in feeding their bellies than in the actual fight for Wallachia’s independence and their own equality. And as Gypsies had not developed a written culture to respond, stereotypes were very likely to develop further.

In addition to these writings by Romanian intellectuals, the Romanian press often included articles on slavery in America and on the Abolitionist movement. Already in 1853, only one year after its publication in the USA, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin was published in translation: Coliba mosului Toma translated by Teodor Codrescu. Mihail Kogalniceanu wrote a preface for this translation. Commenting on this publication, the Romanian press did not fail to establish a relationship between the American and Romanian circumstances. For example, Gazeta de Moldavia includes an article “Sfada de la Unchiul Tom” (“Argument Starting from Uncle Tom”) [10] where the anonymous author talks about the polemical echo of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book in the United States and England and makes a reference to the slaves in the Romanian principalities. In another article published in the same periodical, the author (also anonymous) talks about the success of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the Romanian principalities and he emphasizes “that the Moldo-Romanian reader will find an unfortunate similarity between the fate of the Blacks in America and those in our country.” [11] The popularity of the book led, indeed, to the appearance of two almost simultaneous translations of the best-seller under two different titles. Shortly after Teodor Codrescu’s Coliba mosului Toma, D. Pop published Bordeiul unchiului Tom. Both translations enjoyed great success among the Romanian readership. In the February 5th-6th, 1844, issue of the journal Propasirea, Mihail Kogalniceanu published an article entitled “Dezrobirea tiganilor” (“The Manumission of the Gypsies”) wherein he takes pride in the abolitionist discussions from the Legislative Assemblies of Moldavia and Wallachia as compared to the legislative bodies of the USA and France, which still teemed with people who believed in “rightful” slavery. [12] Alecu Russo, another prominent intellectual and writer of the 19th century, argues, in an article published in Steaua Dunarii in 1855, against slavery. [13] It is interesting that his argumentation follows, without quoting, the argumentation of modern economics (Adam Smith). Slavery must be abolished because it is not economically beneficial. It is better to have a free worker who buys what he wants and contributes to the development of the market than to have a slave

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 61

owner who only provides for the slave’s barest necessities.

Manumission was finally made possible by a combination of ideological and economic factors. On the one hand, in Romanian culture there was a sort of belated continuation of the Enlightenment axiom “that all humans are free and equal.” The emerging of a Romantic forma mentis created a favorable public opinion for the enslaved people. Kogalniceanu himself acknowledged this influence of the ideological humanist tendencies of the time. [14] The attraction to the American abolitionist movement fit into this mindset. Because of these comparisons with outside models, in this case American slavery, the general Romanian public became more aware of the issue. Having slaves became embarrassing because Romanians were not in tune with the outside, civilized world – a ‘catch-up-with’ mentality that still lingers in Romanian culture today. On the other hand, the appearance of machines on the big estates where Gypsy slaves worked led to greater productivity in agriculture and to less need for a large labor force, a factor that also contributed to final manumission.

The manumission of the Gypsy slaves was a long process which finally ended with the manumission of the slaves of the private slave owners on December 1 0/22, 1855, in Moldavia, and on February 8/20, 1856, in Wallachia. Petre Mavrogheni and Mihail Kogalniceanu in Moldovia, and Barbu Stirbei in Wallachia were the authors of this law. Hundreds of slave owners in both Romanian Principalities refused the compensations proffered. One can only speculate about a possible influence of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in this case.

In any case, the manumission of the Gypsies gave Romanians a happy conscience that is very well expressed, in its naïve limitations, in the memorial text Vasile Porojan (1880) by Vasile Alecsandri. This text reflects the resistance of prejudice under the mask of egalitarian ideology. While Alecsandri, the boy of aristocratic descent, and Vasile Porojan, the Gypsy boy, can play together as children, they will separate as soon as socialization through education occurs. Alecsandri will go to college, but Vasile Porojan will remain at home and become, at best, a baker’s apprentice.

Manumission was only the beginning of emancipation and the dawn of a new life for the Gypsies, because the 19th century manumissions were actually only acts of juridical emancipation. In an agricultural economy, as the Romanian principalities were at the time, the newly free citizens should have been given land. The Rural Law of 1864, [15] which contains provisions about the peasants being given the land they had previously worked for the boyars, does not even mention the manumitted Gypsies. Neither were there any coherent, well-organized social or cultural programs to integrate the new citizens. There were singular voices, such as the Romanian writer Gheorghe Sion, for instance, who talked about the necessity of offering vocational education to the manumitted Gypsies, [16] but nothing organized and coherent was

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 62

done and the Gypsies did not have an intelligentsia of their own to represent their perspective on Gypsy emancipation. Romania enters the modern age with this social group hovering on the margin of society, a relic of obsolete slave-master relationships. The origins of present-day economic marginalization of the Roma go back to this period. Prejudice was easily grafted onto the image of a group that was often pushed to crime by poverty and lack of opportunities. Marginalization, an open process, changed its boundaries. The slaves had an economic niche of their own, but no political or juridical representation; the manumitted slaves have a political and juridical personality but they are pushed to the periphery of the modern economic life.

Years later, in 1891, Kogalniceanu summarizes, in an Address to Charles I, king of Romania, the efforts of the Romanian society to manumit and integrate the Gypsies. One has to wonder if his naïve and/or blind enthusiasm that manumission would automatically lead to the acceptance of the Gypsies by Romanian society is confused or is mere flattery for Charles I, [17] or perhaps both. Nowadays one hundred and fifty years after manumission the Gypsy community still faces tremendous poverty, racial discrimination and stereotyping.

After their manumission the Gypsies were practically forgotten by the Romanian establishment. In the USA as well, in spite of all the efforts of both the African-American community and (mostly Northern) intellectuals, African-American problems were not solved with the abolition of slavery. As late as 1963, Martin Luther King said about African Americans: “One hundred years later the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later he is still languished in the corners of the American society and finds himself in exile in his own land.” [18]

And still, even though both ethnic groups started their way toward emancipation around the same time and in somewhat similar ideological circumstances, and in spite of Martin Luther King’s 1963 discontent about the few accomplishments made since then, one can claim that the situation of African Americans has improved much more up to today than has the situation of the Roma. Looking at the reasons for the African American lead, one can actually find some possible answers for the still miserable and sometimes even worsening Roma situation of today.

Unlike in Roma culture, in American culture one can find many African-American personalities who contributed to the formation of an intellectual, cultural, and literary African-American tradition. Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington are among the first to have become spokesmen for their people in the American society at large. Douglass depicted slavery as hell on earth, Washington called it a “school” that prepares the former slaves for their role in the post-war economic order. Washington was vigorously

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 63

opposed by DuBois who also realized that the Black people’s organized collective action needed an institutional structure in order to be effective. This conviction led him to became the main organizer and coordinator of the “National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.” DuBois’ perspective is of much greater sophistication and it metaphorically expresses the Black otherness by combining the gift of second sight with the pain of ambivalence.

The different approaches to slavery of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington, the intellectual arguments between DuBois and Washington, as well as the active efforts of American society (mostly in the North) to help former slaves overcome the consequence of their oppression, and the two Black charismatic personalities of the 20th century, Martin Luther King and Malcom X, do not have any counterpart in Romanian culture or history. If one compares several historical aspects of African-American development to that of the Romanian Gypsies, one realizes that a main difference between the two groups, both subjected to reification through slavery, is their intelligentsia. For a long period of time the African-American community has had many intellectuals who have contributed either to the passing on of a powerful oral tradition or to the formation of a written intellectual, cultural. and literary African-American tradition. As one has been able to observe in the African-American case, such a tradition has been necessary for the formation of group identity. And group identity has been a necessary foundation for political organization and activism. Nothing comparable exists in Roma history so far, since a written culture has not been part of the traditional Roma culture. Although Roma culture comprises a set of specific cultural patterns (language, music, dance, oral literature), it does not have the political and social history that would provide the strong cultural foundation necessary for the cultural identification of a group. It is only after December 1989 and the breakdown of the Communist system that one can really talk about an emerging Roma intelligentsia that is influential enough to valorize Roma culture through consistent efforts and to become spokespersons for the Roma.

At one point in time, however, such an effort did indeed almost come to fruition: a Roma elite that could have become quite influential politically and had the potential to produce powerful spokespersons did form long before the 1990s. During the period between the two World Wars a few Roma were interested in the appearance of journals and magazines and in organizing their minority within the democratic political framework then existent. In the 1930s two periodicals appeared, Glasul romilor (The Voice of the Romanies) and Neamul Tiganilor (The Gypsy Nation). Yet they were forced out of existence in the 1940s by specific historical circumstances. Also in 1933 some Gypsy militants (Gheorghe A.Lazarescu-Lazurica, Gheorghe Niculescu, and Calinic I. Popp Serboianu) organized the “General Association of Gypsies in Romania,” which quickly split into two splinter organizations. One of these splinter groups, the “General

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 64

Union of the Romanian Gypsies” organized the first congress of Romanian Gypsies on October 8th, 1933, and elected Lazarescu-Lazurica as the “voivode of the Gypsies.” [19] Aware that their plight extends way beyond the boundaries of Romania, the same group organized the first international meeting of the Gypsies, which took place in Bucharest in 1934. Another Gypsy militant, Aurel Manolescu-Dolj, organized a regional organization of the Gypsies in Oltenia supporting either one or the other of the Bucharest organizations. In spite of rivalry and dissension, the agenda of these organizations was pretty much the same. They were interested in creating educational opportunities for the Gypsies, welfare benefits, settling down the nomadic Gypsies, and improving the image of the Gypsies in the media. The leaders of these organizations also employed common strategies, offering to certain Romanian mainstream politicians the support of the Gypsy vote in exchange for affirmative action policies for the Gypsies. It is interesting that the Gypsy leaders of the 1930’s combined very modern political stratagems with traditional elements, negotiating their “Gypsiness” in ways which they thought were acceptable and better understood by the non-Roma majority. The position of “voivode” is a romanticized version of Gypsy leadership as seen, understood and accepted by the non-Roma mainstream society. On the other hand, the members of the organization were also obliged to submit to the orders of the “voivode” very much like feudal vassals to their sovereign. Democratic practices in these organizations were very limited. The Roma internalized outside perspectives in order to be more visible, according to non-Roma expectations, but also in order to express their own agenda. The mixture of traditionalism and modernity in these hybrid strategies is a main feature of Roma identity.

Unfortunately, these efforts to make Roma visible on the Romanian political and cultural scene were terminated by the disastrous general development of Romanian politics in the 1940s. At a meeting of the State Council, on February 7th, 1941, Ion Antonescu spoke, for the first time, about the Gypsy problem. In the xenophobic and anti-Semitic atmosphere of the time, on April 6th, 1941, Marshall Ion Antonescu, then leader of Romania, noticed Gypsies robbing houses in Bucharest during a curfew, while American aviation was bombing Bucharest. He ordered that all the Gypsies be driven out of Bucharest. Then the idea came to deport the nomadic Gypsies to Transdniestria, a Romanian-occupied territory of the USSR east of the river Dniester, that was turned into a “dumping ground” for the Romanian “aliens”--Gypsies and Jews. Between 1941-1942, according to some historians, a total of 25,000 Gypsies were deported. [20]

There is very little material about this painful episode in the modern history of Romania except for some references in the documents of Ion Antonescu’s trial or the novel Satra (The Gypsy Camp) (1969) by Zaharia Stancu, a novel inspired by real events. In a recent collection of Gypsy oral histories, one can find some discreet references to this period: “… when I

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 65

was a maiden, the great war started. The Germans came to us, to our country. Then came an order from the king and they took us Gypsies far away, to another country, in Russia, near the river Bug.” [21] It is interesting that in this self-contained and extremely reserved testimony, which was preserved as part of a family history, the author fatalistically considers the deportation of the Gypsies as somehow inevitable or to be expected in a long history of discrimination and marginalization.

In 1944, as the Red Army was approaching Transdniestria, the Gypsies were set free. Until today, no moral or material compensations have ever been offered to the survivors of the Transdniestria camps or to their heirs.

After 1948 the Roma do not reappear in public discourse until after 22 December 1989 (the fall of the Communist regime). As the Romanian Communist Party encouraged minorities and the underprivileged to join its ranks, some Roma became policemen or even minor Party activists but reference to their ethnicity was never made and the price for their integration into the Communist power structures was their acculturation. The Communist regime installed after World War II tried to forcibly integrate this ethnic minority. There was a first wave of sedenterization in 1957 and then a second one in 1962, following similar programs in other Communist countries. The industrialization process and the collective farms offered jobs to many Roma. Some of them were also given the modest facilities of an apartment. As this kind of “integration” was executed under pressure, it often happened that the nomadic Roma did not appreciate their sedentary dwellings and often destroyed them, which increased the animosities between the majority and the Roma minority. The authorities of the totalitarian Communist regime never consulted the Roma about the way in which they saw their own integration. In 1960 and in 1978, by decrees of the State Council, [22] the gold of the Roma (their traditional way to deposit valuables) was confiscated. For the Roma it was a large economic and cultural trauma. Free medical care, modest but free housing, guaranteed (but also mandatory) employment and general education improved the situation of the Roma but with a price that some of them did not want to pay: their acculturation. The consequence: “the Roma themselves have cultivated their marginal status by preserving their distinctive identity and resisting recurrent attempts at assimilation and integration by dominant groups in the area.” [23]

Interestingly, Communist Romania had its own connection to African American issues. In the 1950’s and 1960’s the situation of African-Americans was used by the Romanian establishment to read America as a place of oppression and exploitation, thus especially highlighting the nature of oppression-free communism. Yet the racial problems of Communist Romania with its own Gypsy community seemed not to exist. Following a long tradition of bleaching Romanian history, the Communist regime turned a blind eye to the racial problems under the pretext that in

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 66

Communist Romania discrimination based on ethnicity or race did not exist.

The fall of Communism gave the Roma the possibility of having a public voice of their own, but it worsened their economic situation. Again in Romania’s history, marginalization, an open structure, changed its boundaries. The transition painfully affected the less educated and those who did not have professional skills to survive in the modern world. Most of the Roma are not formally educated, still cling to traditional ways of life, and are at the bottom of the underprivileged classes. In the post-Communist times after 1990, freedom has sometimes become anarchy or wild voluntarism. The decrease of the prestige of public authority has sometimes led to violent outbursts against the Roma. [24]

Education is an extremely important factor in the process of changing Roma from within. Although according to Romanian legislation, the right to education is guaranteed for every citizen, practically speaking, education is often impossible for poor people, and particularly for Romany children. After 1992 the Romanian government tried to do something about this problem by implementing specific positive discrimination measures. Special places for Romany candidates were offered at the School of Law, the schools for police officers, and the Faculty of Social Welfare Assistance at Babes-Bolyai University. At the University of Bucharest a special department for the study Romany language and literature was founded. At the level of each county there is a school superintendent responsible for Roma education. In 2002 an experimental affirmative action policy was implemented in Bucharest. 100 Roma students were admitted to the best high schools in Bucharest, despite having examination grades lower than those of the mainstream candidates. In spite of these efforts, and because of the extreme poverty of many Roma, the prejudice against them, and the negative tradition of marginalization, many Roma children drop out of school.

The plight of the Roma obliged Brussels to insist that the improvement of the Roma situation be a requirement for Romania’s EU membership in 2007. [25] Yet I think it is ridiculous to believe that a marginalization which, in spite of its particular variations, has persisted for centuries, can be eradicated in a mere several years. Actually, Brussels is concerned about massive westward migration of the underprivileged Roma. Germany, for instance, is a favorite target of this movement, because of Germany’s high standard of living. In 1992 the German authorities signed an arrangement of repatriation for rejected asylum seekers (most of them Roma) and also offered financial resources in order to create job opportunities for the Roma in Romania, which is, I think, the right solution.

Stereotyping and verbal abuse are important elements in Roma discrimination and marginalization. In order to eliminate these problems, awareness about the tendency of the majority to make negative global statements about the Roma must increase. Exactly as

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 67

it is risky to make statements about the African-American identity and culture as a uniform whole, it is dangerous to forget that “Romany culture is, like any other culture, diverse, hybrid, and complex.” [26] Interestingly enough, this monolithic, lacking-nuances-and-distinctions perspective on Gypsy culture is itself hybridized by an abstract love for Romani music and dance. The same is true of African-Americans. In both countries slavery was not a monolithic institution and slaves had a different rank and position according to the work they did. In both countries musicians were ranked higher. But love for Romani or African-American music does not mean absence of racist ideology. It is rather an abstract love that overlooks the loathed ethnicity of the performer.

Yet, even with all the problems that Romanian society is facing on its post-1989 way to true democracy and better economic circumstances, historically it is the first time that Roma have had a chance to be integrated into Romanian society in respectful and fair ways without being forced to give up their own cultural identity. But to accomplish this the Romanian society faces a very complex and challenging task. The non-Roma majority has to learn the multi-cultural and inter-cultural nature of modern democracy, and the Roma need modernization from within their community in order to meet the challenges of the 21st century for the benefit of their community. It is interesting that the emerging Roma intelligentsia and the Romanian government try to combine stratagems inspired from the African –American experience to overcome racial labeling and teach the Roma up-to-date professional skills. For instance, in August 2002, several Roma NGO’s and the Ministry of Culture organized a Roma Summer School in the town of Saturn, on the shore of the Black Sea. The motto of the School is significant: “Be Black and you will be free!” Participants were taught to use computers, to valorize their Roma cultural heritage, and to respond to racial stereotypes by taking pride in their Blackness. [27]

In the process of modernization both the so-called “sold-outs” and those of mixed race must also be given a voice. It is particularly since 1990, when international organizations began paying more attention to Roma issues, that some voices in the Roma community have argued against mixed-race persons from the point of view of their ability to express the authenticity of the Roma point of view. The fact that for the moment, at least, many of the Gypsy Roma and militants are mixed bloods shows the necessity of urgent rethinking of certain traditional attitudes on the way towards modernization and towards economic prosperity.

The position of women in Roma society also poses a challenge to Roma modernization. Roma women marry very young. Traditionally, Gypsy girls are still “sold” by their parents to the suitor who gives most. After marriage they are expected to give birth to many children and keep a low profile in public life, all their energies should be dedicated to their homes and families. Female Roma intellectuals, such as Delia Grigore, are very rare, and female writers, such as

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 68

Luminita Mihai Cioaba, are exceptional. Much more common is to see, on Romanian streets, the Roma woman following her man and her elder son (if a teenager) at a distance, usually bearing in her arm a baby and holding a toddler by the hand. Any comparison with the feminist movement or with the sophistication of Black feminist criticism is still a long way off.

But again, in spite of these problems, which the Roma have to cope with themselves, the 1990s are historically also the first time when one can see changes—where a Roma intelligentsia is emerging, when Roma become their own spokespeople for their own concerns. For the first time in Romania’s history the Roma people have their own representatives in the parliament. The Roma have also been included into the restitution policies of the post-Communist Romanian administrations. The Romanian government (1990-1992) returned the gold confiscated from the Roma in 1960 and 1978, according to the official records of the time. [28] Also a Roma civil rights movement has been developing in Romania since the inception of democracy in 1990. This movement includes the appearance of Roma political organizations, Roma NGO’s, and efforts to cultivate the Roma language and culture to prevent further acculturation—all things necessary to help create and further a sense of communal self-esteem. Politically, a great problem for the Gypsy community in Romania is its lack of cohesion beyond the extended family. Even when such culturally uniting efforts did happen (for instance, in the 1930s, as discussed above), such prestigious moments in the history of the Romanian Roma are not widely known, even among the Roma themselves. We are still very far from any of the prestigious organizations of the Black community in the USA. The coronations of Emperor Iulian and King Cioaba (two elders of rival Gypsy clans) after 1990 point to a felt need to replace the more impersonal and less spectacular modern forms of political representation with supposedly more charismatic royalties, traditional forms of authority. [29] Traditionalism and modernity continue to coexist in Romani politics and public representation. Present-day realities are not very different from Romani politics and public representation between the two World Wars. On the other hand, several Roma organizations and parties are simply power-bases for single prominent individuals. [30]

While one must wait to see the effects of the affirmative action strategies of the Romanian government, one also has to observe, at the same time, how during the 1990s stereotypes have often openly ruled public opinion and discussion. The study of Romanian newspapers alone is relevant in this respect and serves as one example of the imperative necessity to discuss race and racism in Romanian scholarship. By their use of language, Romanian mass media contributes tremendously to the aggressive stereotyping of the Roma, which proves the dire need for a politically correct language. It often happens, for example, that within a group of criminals, journalists distinguish Roma specifically. Most Romanian journalists are not

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 69

acquainted with politically correct language, and freedom of speech is often confused with freedom for verbal abuse. If a public personality is criticized he or she is sometimes called a “Gypsy.” The deeper problem is that such labeling relies on a linguistic practice embedded in Romanian vocabulary that gives negative meanings to the word “Gypsy” and to its derivatives.

Another big problem is that Romanian society lacks any serious discussion of race and of racism at the complex and sophisticated theorizing level that exists in African-American situation. In American culture there is strong awareness that race is “a fundamental organizing principle of social relationships,” [31] that “racial meanings pervade US society, extending from the shaping of individual racial identities to the structuring of collective political action on the terrain of the state.” [32] In Romanian culture “race” has been used mostly in the anti-Semitic discourse, in the syntagm “the Jewish race,” whereas Blackness, although it is a factor of behavioral regulation, was practically never theorized upon because of its obvious visibility. In Romanian history it was national identity that was the most important legitimating principle, which is to be explained by a long history wherein Romanian ethnicity and national identity were prohibited from being expressed in public life. Consequently Gypsiness was not discussed in racial terms, but in ethnic terms. Reading contemporary Roma situation through African-American lenses points to the importance of a consolidated democratic environment in dealing with racial issues.

A recent development among the Roma elite is the theoretical discussion of Romani nationalism [33] . A recent seminar in Jadwisin, Poland became an excellent opportunity to consider Romani empowerment by creating a Romani nationalist ideology. The demand for political recognition led to various possible solutions: a Romani nation in diaspora, a Romani transnationality, or a Romani non-territorial European minority. [34] This is a typically European development, Europe being the continent whose history seems to be forever scarred by various nationalisms. Whether this evolution is in the interest of all Romani people or only in the interest of a more and more active elite eager to get as much power as possible is a very complex and important question. Debates have pointed to the danger of an increasing disparity between the Romani elite and the Romani people. However, the question remains open. The consolidation of the European Union to the detriment of national sovereignties may lead to and facilitate the growing awareness of a Roma nation all over Europe.

As for the comparison with the African-Americans, one must notice that a nationalist African-American movement has been feeble in the USA, a country of immigrants where civic citizenship has prevailed over ethnic citizenship. Racial formations have been much more powerful, but the attraction of nationalism is not completely absent. The recent debate over Ebonics, [35] as well as the Oakland School Board

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 70

pronouncement, is actually about the African-American wish for more influence and social control through language. Issues about language use and language policies are always issues of power, and language is a key element in any nationalist configuration. Therefore, comparisons will always prove useful because real understanding can never be from egotistic self-admiration but only from reciprocal knowledge.

Like the African-Americans, the Roma were reified through slavery. While during the Middle Ages the Gypsy slaves did have an economic niche of their own, nonetheless they were politically and socially marginalized. After manumission they gained a social status typical to a modern society, but they continued to be politically marginalized and their economic niche became marginal. Their own efforts at modernization in the 1930’s were brutally interrupted by the succession of dictatorships from the 1930’s until the collapse of Communism in 1989. After 1990 their economic and social exclusion worsened, but their political and cultural representation improved. [36] The dynamics of marginality have changed, but until now breakthroughs have been too slow for the Roma. The “vicious circle that starts with inadequate education, continues with inferior work opportunities and ends in crime and other social ills” [37] must be broken primarily with the help of the Roma themselves and through the Roma themselves. The example of the African-Americans who have been able to “produce” their own elite is relevant, in this respect. Otherwise, marginalization will breed marginalization and the pattern will continue into following generations, which could endanger the development of the whole country towards a market economy and EU accession. If neglected, the Roma “could become a permanent underclass,” [38] a great challenge for the whole Romanian society.

The understanding of the historical and changing characteristics of Roma marginalization as an open process in which this minority has negotiated its participation in the public sphere in order to preserve its private space from assimilatory tendencies is a must for the majority. More scholarship needs to be done in this respect, with the required nuances and avoiding any positive or negative monolithic perspective on the Roma community. The Roma themselves have to develop their group identity beyond professional or clan affiliations. This can be done through acquaintance with their history, culture, and cultivation of their language. The growth of an elite is a prerequisite in this long process. This elite will modernize the Roma from within, preserving their identity or negotiating a new identity with both traditional and modern components. >From among this elite, politicians, spokespersons for the group, will emerge. We are only at the beginning of this process, but any failure or neglect may result in enormous negative costs both for the minority and the majority.

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 71

Notes:

[1] All translations from Romanian are by Mihaela Mudure.

[2] I have used the term Gypsy in the title of my article because my work concentrates on the stereotypes about the Gypsies and on the Gypsies’ adversarial relations within Romanian society. Gypsy is a rhetorical and stylistic device to stress the issues at stake. At present there are three competing names for this ethnic group in Romania: Gypsy, Roma and Rroma. The first is the name given to this population by the majority; Roma is their autonym and also the scholarly and neutral term, whereas Rroma is a very recently coined term meant to spare certain Romanian sensibilities because of the closeness of the words Roma and Romanian. The Roma themselves are divided over their autonym. There are Romani people who want to be called Gypsy and who take pride in this traditional name. The relationship between the terms Gypsy and Roma is very similar to the relationship between the terms Chicano and Mexican-American.

[3] Schöpflin, 223.

[4] Schöpflin, 226.

[5] Kogalniceanu talks about “an interest which, unfortunately, will only be transitory, for that is how Europeans are! They found philanthropic societies for the abolishment of slavery in America, whereas on their own continent, in Europe, there are four million Gypsies who are slaves and two hundred thousand more who are swamped in the darkness of ignorance and barbarism! And nobody does anything to civilize an entire people!” (Kogalniceanu, 1837, IV).

[6] Kogalniceanu, 1837, 1.

[7] Ibidem, 11.

[8] Ibidem, 25.

[9] The Gypsiad was published posthumously between 1875-77.

[10] Gazeta de Moldavia, no. XXV, 1853, pp. 101-103. (Bibliografia analitica a periodicelor românesti, vol. II. 1851-1858. Partea a III-a, p. 1154).

[11] Gazeta de Moldavia, no. XXV, 1853, p. 169. (Bibliografia analitica a periodicelor românesti, vol. II. 1851-1858. Partea a III-a, p. 1155.

[12] Achim, 86-87.

[13] Ibidem.

[14] “That is why according to the spirit of the century and the laws of humanity, several old and young boyars decided to do away with their country’s shameful slavery.” (Kogalniceanu, 1891, 14-15).

[15] Inaccurately considered by Crowe (57) as the full emancipation of the Gypsy slaves, which would have occurred “three years after Romania became an independent state” (Crowe, 57). Or Romania became independent in 1877, which is 13 years after the Rural Law of 1864.

[16] Achim 86-87.

[17] “The emancipatory reform soon had its salutary effects: besides the Layesh Gypsies who still live partly in camps, and besides the Ursaries who still practice their trade taming beasts, but also till the land, almost all the other groups of Gypsies have blended into the mass of the nation. One can only differentiate them by their dark Asian face and by the vivacity of their imagination; otherwise we find them in all the classes of our society.” (Kogalniceanu, 1891, 17-18)

[18] Martin Luther King, 2483.

[19] Nastasa and Varga, 16.

[20] Kenrick, 169; Achim, 142.

[21] Copoiu, 79.

[22] Decrees 210/1960 and 244/1978.

[23] Barany, 323.

[24] The attacks upon Roma in several post-Communist countries are a regrettable manifestation of this process. Barany refers to such an incident in Hadareni, Romania (332) considering it a case of Gypsy-bashing. I think that this is a transition phenomenon due to the inability of authorities to function in a democratic environment and under the rule of law. The general pattern of such regrettable incidents is pretty much like this:

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 72

some Roma individuals have committed a crime. The authorities (the police, the D.A.) do not intervene either because they are inefficient, or because they are corrupt and have been bribed. Desperate because of the offences, the villagers decide to do justice with their own hands by attacking the Roma neighborhood of the village. Culprits and innocents are then equally victimized. The solution is to apply the rule of law and punish all the criminals for their deeds (including those who attacked the Roma neighborhoods, irrespective of their ethnicity). We disagree with the very widespread tendency in international sources or Western scholarship to call these incidents “pogroms” (See Cahn, p. 66 and Kenrick, the entries on Central and Eastern European countries). There are big differences in the causes and manifestations of Roma and Jewish discrimination. Pogroms had mostly religious causes, they occurred particularly during the great Christian festivals (Christmas or Easter), and were not spurred by the criminal behavior of Jews and the passivity of the authorities in not bringing the culprits in court.

[25] Purvis et. al. talk about the necessity of “pressure from Brussels” (70). Cahn also considers that pressure is necessary and gives the example of South Africa: “under an international sanctions regime, apartheid really did collapse” (68). I consider Cahn’s comparison to be purely rhetorical. It does not help solve the Roma problem. Eastern or Central European democracies are not apartheid regimes.

[26] Beissinger, 49.

[27] Tripon, 6.

[28] However, there are Rroma voices who claim that not all of the gold was returned because part of it had not been recorded.

[29] Barany also talks about these Roma leaders (kings or emperors) whose authority is actually limited to their clan and who are better at offering a media show than solving the very complex problems of the Roma communities (334).

[30] See Barany, 334-335.

[31] Omi and Winant, 66.

[32] Ibidem.

[33] Barany also mentions this tendency (331- 332). He links the survival of the nationalist discourse during the post-Communist transition with a counter-evolution, the development of Romani nationalism.

[34] Project on Ethnic Relations, 4.

[35] Ebonics is the African name for Black English. Efforts are being made to turn Ebonics into a prestige language as English and to have it taught in schools.

[36] See also Barany, 328.

[37] Barany, 330.

[38] Burke, 11.

Bibliography

Achim, Viorel. Tiganii în istoria României. Bucuresti: Editura Enciclopedica, 1998.

Alecsandri, Vasile. Opere. Vol. 4. Proza. Ed. Georgeta Radulescu-Dulgheru. Bucuresti: Editura Minerva, 1974.

Copoiu, Petre. Romane Paramìæa/Povesti tiganesti. Bucuresti: Kriterion, 1996.

Deleanu, Ion Budai. Tiganiada. Ed. Florea Fugariu. Chronological and literary notes by Andrei Rusu. Bucuresti: Minerva, 1985.

Kenrick. Donald. Historical Dictionary of the Gypsies (Romanies). Lanham, Maryland and London: Scarecrow Press, 1998.

King, Martin Luther. “I Have a Dream”. Heath Anthology of American Literature, vol. II. Ed. Paul Lauter. Lexington: Heath, 1994, pp. 2483-2486.

Kogalniceanu, Mihail. Autobiografie. Bucuresti: Alcalay, no publishing date.

---. Desrobirea tiganilor. Stergerea privilegiilor boeresci. Emanciparea taranilor. Discurs rostitu in Academia Româna la 1 aprilie, 1891. Bucuresti: Lito-tipografia Carol Grobl, 1891.

JSRI • No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 73

---. Esquisse sur les moeurs et la langue de Cigains.Berlin: Librairie de B. Behr., 1837.

Levinson, David. Ethnic Relations. A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1994.

Nastasa, Lucian and Andrea Varga. Tiganii din România (1919-1944). Cluj: Centrul de resurse pentru diversitate etnoculturala, 2001.

Omi, Michael and Howard Winant. Racial Formation in the United States from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. New York and London: Routledge, 1986.

Potra, George. Contributiuni la istoricul tiganilor din Romania. Bucuresti: Fundatia Regele Carol I, 1939.

Sion, Gheorghe. Emanciparea tiganilor. Ed. Petru V. Hane*. Bucuresti: Libraria H. Steinberg, 1924.

Zamfir, Elena and Catalin Zamfir. Tiganii între ignorare si îngrijorare. Bucuresti: Editura Alternative, 1993.

Bibliografia analitica a periodicelor românesti, vol. II. 1851-1858. Partea a III-a. Întocmita de Ioan Lupu, Dan Berindei, Nestor Camariano, Ovidiu Papadima. Bucuresti: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, 1972.

Three Negro Classics. Ed. John Hope Franklin. New York: Avon Books, 1965.

Project on Ethnic Relations. Roma and the Question of Self-Determination: Fiction and Reality, Jadwisin, Poland April 15-16, 2002.

Barany, Zoltan. “Living on the Edge: The East European Roma in Postcommunist Politics and Societies” Slavic Review 53, no. 2 (Summer 1994).

Beissinger, Margaret H. “Occupation and Ethnicity: Constructing Identity among Professional Romany (Gypsy) Musicians in Romania” Slavic Review 60, no. 1 (Spring 2001).

Burke, Justin. “An anti-Gypsy Fervor Sweeps East Europa” Christian Science Monitor 8/31/1995, volume 87, issue 194, p. 1.

Cahn, Claude. “On the Margins: Roma and Public Services in Romania, Bulgaria and Macedonia” Romani Studies 5, vol. 12, no. 1, 2002, pp. 65-71.

Cozma, Teodor, Constantin Cucos and Mariana Momanu. “The Education of Roma Children in Romania: Description, Difficulties, Solutions” Intercultural Education, vol. 11, no. 3, 2000, pp 281-287.

Crowe, David M. “The Gypsies of Romania since 1990” Nationalities Papers, March 1999, vol. 27, issue 1, p. 57.

Purvis, Andrew, Blaine Greteman, Joshua Kucera, Jan Stojaspal, “Roma Rule” Time Atlantic 6/24/2002, vol. 159, issue 25, p. 70.

Schöpflin, George. “The Politics of National Identities” International Review of Sociology- Revue Internationale de Sociologie”, vol. 6, no. 2, 1996, 219-230.

Tripon, Monica. “Negrii si ...liberi” Adevarul de Cluj, 13 August 2002, p. 6.

-- JSRI (Journal for the Study of Religions & Ideologies), No.4 /Spring 2003 p. 73

..................

http://www.dntb.ro/sfera/arhiva/58/forme_ng.htm

"Formele elementare ale discursului prejudiciat, pre-rasist"

de Nicolae Gheorghe

Istoria mentalitatilor ne invata ca practicile discriminatorii, deseori represive si violente ale administratiilor de stat, sint pregatite mai intii in discursul public, in care actorii principali sint intelectualii, aceia dintre noi care creeaza si minuiesc expresia si emotia prin vorba, prin gind, prin fapta expresiei artistice"

Idei formulate in studii, eseuri, cercetari de experti etc. devin, in circumstantele capricioase ale timpului, optiuni politice ale politicilor de stat. Aceasta putere - a gindului si a scrisului - motiveaza energiile celor care se dedica unor cariere de producere a informatiei si cugetarii. Aceeasi putere trezeste nelinisti atunci cind gindul inofensiv scapa de sub controlul pulsiunii umaniste si se reifica, intorcindu-se impotriva noastra si a firii, in forma practicilor politice distructive pentru semenii nostri si pentru noi insine.

Cazul particular al istoriei romilor poate hrani din plin astfel de cugetari, ce pot fi suspectate ca pogoara din spusele Eclesiastului, daca nu ar fi stimulate de textele mai prozaice ale administratiilor de stat din ultimele decenii ale istoriei contemporane.

In acest context, semnalam aparitia unor formulari, estimari statistice si declaratii percepute de noi ca avind un caracter prejudiciat si discriminatoriu, privind situatia populatiei de romi din Romania; aceste texte sint tiparite in publicatii aparute sub indrumarea sau cu colaborarea unor departamente ale Guvernului Romaniei, a reprezentantelor la Bucuresti ale unor organisme ONU si a unor institute academice.

In cele ce urmeaza, ce vom referi la urmatoarele titluri:

a. Situatia Copilului si a Familiei in Romania, editia a II-a revizuita, iulie 1997, avind ca autori, pe coperta I, Guvernul Romaniei - Departamentul pentru Protectia Copilului si UNICEF - Reprezentanta Romania.

b. Raportul national al dezvoltarii umane / National Human Development Report, ROMANIA - 1997, Editura Expert, mai 1997. Studiul a fost elaborat sub coordonarea Institutului National de Cercetari Economice si de Comisia Nationala de Statistica, la solicitarea Programului Natiunilor Unite pentru Dezvoltare (UNDP), reprezentata la Bucuresti.

Lucrarile, in intregimea lor, reprezinta un instrument de lucru util pentru informarea publicului de specialisti din Romania si din lume despre aspectele "umane" ale dezvoltarii economice si ale politicilor sociale din tara noastra din anii '90. Am fi bucurosi sa insistam mai mult, daca spatiul ne-ar permite, asupra informatiilor interesante, stimulatoare oferite de aceste lucrari de "experti", in care analiza de tip "academic" se impleteste cu discursul propriu administratiei de stat.

Privitor la includerea lucrarile mai sus mentionate a unor subcapitole referitoare la populatia de romi din Romania, noi am retinut intentia autorilor textelor la care facem aici referinta: cea de a atrage atentia (awarness raising, cum se spune in jargonul birocratiei internationale) opiniei publice din Romania - indeosebi organelor de stat si institutiilor publice - asupra unor situatii considerate a fi specifice populatiei de romi in intregime sau unor segmente ale acestei populatii si apreciate ca prezentind o anumita "gravitate" atit pentru romi, cit si pentru societate in ansamblul ei.

In opinia noastra, in aceste texte sint prezente insa elemente de prejudecata fata de minoritatea romilor din Romania. Ne exprimam, si cu aceasta ocazie, ingrijorarea si protestul fata de aparitia unor astfel de formulari in publicatii cu caracter oficial, redactate si editate de institutii guvernamentale si academice, finantate de la bugetul de stat al Romaniei.

Prejudecata binevoitoare

- boala copilariei libertatii de expresie

In lucrarea Situatia copilului si a familiei in Romania, publicata de Departamentul pentru Protectia Copilului, analiza este "etnicizata" numai in cazul romilor. Un intreg subcapitol este consacrat analizei "copilului in familiile de romi", fara ca o astfel de analiza sa fie aplicata si populatiei majoritare, etnicilor romani sau altor minoritati nationale. In textul subcapitolului sint reproduse tabele statistice si grafice privind indicatori de caracterizare a situatiei sociale a populatiei de romi. Dupa cum se mentioneaza in nota de la p. 137, "datele folosite in subcapitol au fost obtinute printr-o cercetare intreprinsa in 1992, pe un esantion de romi foarte larg - 12.000 persoane, care compune 1.804 familii" - si au fost reproduse din lucrarea }iganii intre ignorare si ingrijorare sElena Zamfir si Catalin Zamfir (coordonatori), Bucuresti, editura Alternative, 1993t. In corpul lucrarii nu sint reproduse date statistice similare, comparative, referitoare la esantioane ale populatiei de romani, maghiari, germani, turci etc.

Pentru analiza unor indicatori de demografie etnica a populatiei de romi nu se fac referiri la indicatorii corespunzatori ai populatiei generale a Romaniei sau a unor subpopulatii (etnice, regionale), pornind de la recensamintele generale ale populatiei; nu sint folosite date statistice oferite de organisme publice mandatate sa culeaga si sa publice astfel de statistici: recensaminte, anuare demografice, statistici ale ministerelor de resort, desi astfel de studii exista in prezent.

In cazul datelor referitoare la romi:

- nu se face referire la datele de recensamint, obtinute prin libera declarare a apartenentei etnice/nationale si comparabile cu datele privind ansamblul populatiei sau alte minoritati nationale;

- se folosesc date rezultate din cercetari referitoare exclusiv la populatia de romi/tigani, utilizindu-se "heteroidentificarea", identificarea de catre altii, dupa criterii care nu sint verificabile si care nu sint validate de normele nationale si/sau internationale ce reglementeaza regimul datelor personale referitoare la identitatea etnica a persoanelor investigate.

In aceste conditii, nu este posibila verificarea si compararea datelor prin surse publice, cu caracter oficial, asa cum trebuie facuta in cazul unor publicatii aparute sub egida unui departament guvernamental, cum este Departamentul pentru Protectia Copilului.

Efectuarea si publicarea rezultatelor unor cercetari partiale, bazate pe esantioane, tin de dreptul de libera cercetare si exprimare intr-o societate democratica; datele si opiniile exprimate in publicatii de autor constituie proprietatea intelectuala a respectivilor autori, care isi asuma raspunderea pentru ideile si formularile lor. Reproducerea unor date, aprecieri si opinii ale autorilor in publicatii ale unor organisme de stat ridica insa o problema diferita, de raspundere publica, a respectivului organ de stat in relatia sa cu cetatenii ale caror interese pot fi afectate de politicile respectivului organ de stat, inclusiv prin publicarea de date, estimari statistice, aprecieri etc.

"Traditia romilor"

sau prejudecati traditionale despre romi?

Sa luam ca exemplu criteriul de identificare si definire a romilor in lucrarea Situatia copilului si familiei in Romania. Elementul central al caracterizarii populatiei de romi retinuta in esantionul din cercetarea citata in lucrare este "modul traditional de viata" al unei parti a populatiei de romi. O definitie a acestui criteriu este inclusa in formularea: "Ea (situatia disperata a populatiei de romi) este compensata partial prin modul traditional de viata, caracterizat prin aspiratii extrem de modeste si prin recurgerea la resurse semi- sau ilegale, cu toate costurile pe care aceste fapte le implica" (p. 141, subl. noastra).

Cuvintul "traditional" este folosit frecvent cu referire la populatia de romi in general sau la un segment al acestei populatii in sintagme precum "mod traditional de viata"", "formele traditionale de viata"" (p. 138); "strategii traditionale de viata"", "Familia de romi in mare parte continua sa aiba o serie de caracteristici de tip traditional" (p. 147) etc.

Evaluarea numarului romilor din Romania, prin heteroidentificare, se face tot dupa aprecierea "traditionalitatii": "In aceasta cifra (4% din populatia tarii) se considera doar tiganii care continua sa traiasca mai mult sau mai putin in formele traditionale de viata" (p.138). Mentionam ca lucrarea Departamentului pentru Protectia Copilului prezinta aceasta evaluare a numarului populatiei de romi ca alternativa la cifra de 409.723 (1,8% din populatia totala) conform recensamintului Romaniei din anul 1992.

Ne putem imagina ca astfel de caracterizari ale "traditiei" pot fi tiparite intr-o publicatie guvernamentala, cu referire la comunitati etnice sau minoritati nationale ce traiesc in Romania?

Anomia gindirii prejudiciate

Pentru sensul cuvintului "traditie", atunci cind este folosit in legatura cu minoritatile, trimitem la lectura art. 4.2 al Declaratiei ONU cu privire la drepturile persoanelor apartinind minoritatilor nationale, etnice, religioase si lingvistice (Rezolutia 47/135 din 18 decembrie 1992) sau la textul Conventiei-cadru pentru protectia minoritatilor nationale, elaborat de Consiliul Europei.

Textul lucrarii publicata de Departamentul pentru Protectia Copilului, capitolul despre romi, abunda in referiri la devianta, incalcarea legii, infractionalitate. In cele 13 pagini ale subcapitolului despre romi, inserat intr-o lucrare despre Situatia copilului si familiei in Romania, apar frecvent formulari in care sint combinate cuvintele legal, semi-legal, ilegal, criminalitate, violenta, infractionalitate, inchisoare, precum:

- "posibilitati, unele legale, altele mai putin legale"" (p. 138);

- "la limita legalitatii sau dincolo de aceasta"" (p. 141);

- "lipsa mijloacelor legale de subzistenta"" (p. 141);

- "venituri nedeclarate" obtinute pe cai mai putin legale"" (p. 141);

- "In inchisoare, declarat se afla 1,2% din populatia matura, ceea ce reprezinta mai mult decit dublul proportiei pe intreaga populatie a tarii (0,5%). Se pare ca cei mai multi sint tineri"" (p. 141);

- "tendinta cresterii infractionalitatii in cadrul populatiei de romi este mai accentuata decit la nivelul intregii populatii" etc.

In lucrarea Situatia copilului si a familiei in Romania am citit o formulare care m-a surprins prin franchetea cu care gindirea prejudiciata scapa de sub condeiul scriiturii "corecta politic" prin care ne straduim, deseori, sa deghizam suspiciunea binevoitoare, dar nu mai putin distrugatoare, adinc inradacinata in perceptia colectiva despre romi. Anomia propriei noastre mentalitati - prin raportare la indemnurile, daca nu chiar normele privind nondiscriminarea, toleranta, combaterea xenofobiei etc. - se proiecteaza prin imaginea romilor ca o "majoritate infractionala", asa cum zice, mai cinstit, o carte care se mindreste cu titlul colectiei "Noi spunem adevarul!" (vezi lucrarea dr. M. Bacanu, }iganii - minoritate nationala sau majoritate infractionala, editura Bravo Press, 1996).

Ca un ecou, parca, al acestei lucrari, textul publicat de Departamentul pentru Protectia Copilului ne spune, la p. 138, ca "Perioada de tranzitie ridica in mod special probleme grave (subl. noastra) pentru situatia sociala a romilor. Aceste probleme pot fi intelese avand in vedere cateva tendinte fundamentale de natura etnica, culturala, politica si social-economica care s-au conturat dupa Revolutie in cadrul populatiei de romi: "Aparitia unei miscari active de afirmare etnica si politica a romilor; revendicarea respectarii unor drepturi fundamentale de tip etnic si general uman, sustinuta si de noile procese si tendinte care s-au conturat pe plan european".

In continuarea aceluiasi lung paragraf se face referire la "procesul de saracire", la "tendinta infractionalitatii", la "tendinta de organizare a criminalitatii si violentei" care "" prin amploarea lor au socat in ultimul timp opinia publica", la "posibilitati legale sau altele mai putin legale, deosebit de atractive de imbogatire rapida", la "aparitia unor conflicte intre grupuri apartinind populatiei majoritare si grupuri de romi care, prin amplificare, pot lua proportiile unor conflicte interetnice deschise" (p. 138; daca spatiul editorial ar fi permis, cred ca ar fi fost utila reproducerea paragrafului in intregimea lui, pentru a usura lectura acestor formulari in contextul lor semantic).

Aceste tendinte sint atribuite "majoritatii populatiei de romi" sau unui "anumit segment al populatiei de romi"; se fac comparatii cu intensitatea acestor tendinte la nivelul intregii populatii, precum in formularea deja citata: "(") tendinta cresterii infractionalitatii in cadrul populatiei de romi este mai accentuata decat la nivelul intregii populatii" etc.

Autoidentificindu-ma ca rom si ca militant rom, marturisesc surprinderea mea la lectura acestui text publicat de un Departament al Guvernului Romaniei: "miscarea de afirmare etnica si politica a romilor" ridica "" o problema grava pentru situatia sociala a romilor"? (subl. noastra).

Activitatea noastra, a militantilor romi si a unor activisti ne-romi pentru drepturile omului, de a ne asocia si a "revendica respectarea unor drepturi fundamentale de tip etnic si general uman" poate fi pusa pe acelasi plan (tipografic, daca nu ideatic) cu "" tendinta de organizare a criminalitatii si violentei" sau cu ""imbogatirea rapida", cu mijloace legale sau ilegale? Ni se poate atribui noua, asociatiilor civice ale romilor (chiar si implicit, fara intentia autorilor textului) efectul, nedorit, al aparitiei unor "conflicte interetnice deschise"?

Inainte de a opri analiza noastra asupra acestui text, sa mentionam, pentru a ilustra dialectica gindirii prejudiciate, o formulare din capitolul XIV al cartii Directii prioritare de actiune, paragraful 1. "In domeniul drepturilor copilului" se mentioneaza ca una din posibile directii: "Continuarea politicii active de nediscriminare in domeniul protectiei copilului, cu referire la copiii minoritatilor si, in special, minoritatii tiganilor; stimularea participarii acestora la viata sociala si diminuarea impactului social al prejudecatilor existente" (subl. noastra, pp. 156-157).

Cui ii este frica de tigani?

Raportul national al dezvoltarii umane - Romania 1997 (lucrare plina de interesante analize de economie sociala) opereaza si el un decupaj etnic al problematicii analizate intr-un capitol general despre "legitimitatea guvernarii" (cap. 4), care are un subcapitol general despre "Legitimitatea politicilor sociale" (4.2) si un subcapitol despre "Politica sociala in perioada tranzitiei" (4.2.3). Un paragraf (4.2.3.d., p. 91), restrins ca spatiu tipografic, analizeaza relatiile interetnice in Romania, care evolueaza conform "" unui proces de detensionare a relatiilor si de dezvoltare a unui climat de dezvoltare normala" si ne informeaza, sumar, despre demografia etnica a populatiei Romaniei la 1 ianuarie 1996 (tabel 4.24, p. 92) si despre numarul de mandate acordate, in Parlament, organizatiilor apartinind minoritatilor.

O caseta separata (3.2, p. 60) ne vorbeste despre Copii in situatii de risc: copiii de tigani (rromi), iar un paragraf (4.2.3.e), care urmeaza celui despre relatiile interetnice, trateaza despre "O problema speciala: ingrijorarea fata de evolutia unui important segment al populatiei de rromi" (pp. 92-93; textul in limba engleza foloseste consecvent traducerea prin gypsies).

Problema romilor revine, din plin, in cuprinsul unui alt paragraf: "Suportul pentru copii: cum s-ar putea explica o negociere uimitoare" (4.2.3.f, pp. 93-94) si in concluziile intregului capitol (p. 95); o referire sumara la romi se face si la p. 70, in paragraful despre "Conflictele sociale".

Sa mentionam ca Raportul dezvoltarii umane, publicat in 1995 de catre Guvernul Romaniei (cuvint inainte: Nicolae Vacaroiu, prim-ministru), includea un paragraf privind "Problemele economice si sociale ale familiilor de Gypsies (am consultat editia in limba engleza, N.Gh.) si un comentariu relativ lung, incadrat in chenar, numit "Opinii despre dezvoltarea umana a Gypsies-ilor romani dupa 1989", semnat de Uniunea Generala a Gypsiesi-lor din Romania (pp.75-76).

Mesajul textului din capitolul 4.2.3., editia 1997 a Raportului national al dezvoltarii umane, rezumat (nedrept de scurt) l-am citit astfel:

Politica sociala in perioada de tranzitie urmeaza asteptarile sau opiniile principale ale populatiei privind politica sociala, ca avind o "situatie de exceptie".

In Romania, apreciaza autorii, opinia publica este in favoarea unei abordari pe baza de munca a protectiei sociale; au preponderenta atitudinile "clasei de mijloc", care favorizeaza o "abordare universalista" a serviciilor de protectie sociala oferita de stat; aceasta atitudine actioneaza in defavoarea persoanelor aflate in somaj sau a celor saraci. Fata de acestia, exista un "amestec de dorinta de a sprijini" si o "teama ca acestia vor deveni dependenti" de protectia sociala oferita de stat.

Aceste stari de opinie sint mostenite de la regimul de dinainte de 1990, pro-natalist, dar se apreciaza ca sistemul de asistenta sociala introdus in 1995 a generat critici, indeosebi la nivel de comunitati locale. Principala obiectie in opinia publica: alocatiile de asistenta sociala "nu leaga acest sprijin de munca si de o contributie la rezolvarea problemelor colective" si pot deveni "un stimulent pentru un comportament demografic considerat de colectivitate a fi iresponsabil" (p. 93).

Etica cercetarii

si spiritul perioadei de tranzitie

In acest context, autorii textului fac o referire directa la populatia de rromi/gypsies: "" desi aceasta ingrijorare era generala, ea era asociata in mod special cu segmentul populatiei de rromi, caracterizat printr-un mod de viata traditional"", sprijinul statului tinzind sa fie "perceput ca un mijloc stimulativ al reproducerii largite a acestui segment".In aceste conditii, ne putem astepta la o eroziune a sprijinului public pentru asistenta sociala "si nu in ultimul rand dintr-o anumita teama a efectelor perverse ale suportului pasiv, avandu-se in minte in primul rand, desi nu exclusiv, situatia populatiei de rromi" (p. 91).

Ingrijorarea poate evolua spre o veritabila "teama", formulata explicit in concluziile capitolului: " exista o teama generalizata in legatura cu generarea unor forme de dependenta sociala de modalitatile pasive de sport social, nelegate de munca si contributie. Aceasta teama este amplificata de situatia specifica a unui larg suport al populatiei de rromi aflat intr-o puternica criza datorita modului traditional de viata"".

Ca ilustrare a acestei analize, in text este inclus Tabelul 4.27 (p. 94), despre "Numarul de copii nascuti in functie de varsta mamei, ca procent din grupa de varsta"; datele sint impartite pe "rromi" si "populatia in general" si au ca sursa lucrarea }iganii intre ignorare si ingrijorare, deja citata. Un text insotitor ne spune ca "A existat mereu, mai ales la clasa mijlocie, a carei stare de spirit este reflectata de decidentii politici, obsesia nesprijinirii comportamentului demografic iresponsabil. Realitatea sustine partial o asemenea perceptie" (p. 94).

Autorii textului din Raportul national al dezvoltarii umane - Romania 1997, paragrafele despre romi, sint mai zgirciti in oferirea de date statistice. In schimb, abunda argumentele de felul: "perceptia colectiva este ca"", "" (si se pare ca intr-adevar o mare parte a beneficiarilor de ajutor social sunt rromi", "(povestea rromilor care vin in masina sa ia ajutorul social a devenit un cliseu foarte raspandit" (p. 91); "Specialistii estimeaza ca"", "estimarea standard la nivelul constiintei colective", "s-a cristalizat ideea unui"", "suportul statului tindea sa fie perceput"", "a existat mereu" obsesia"", "problemele prioritare in politica fata de copii par a fi"" (pp. 93-94).

Un precedent-avertisment

"{tiinta despre Zigeuner / Gypsies / tigani"

si impactul acesteia asupra politicilor

de posibila persecutie a romilor

Discriminarea si persecutia fata de romi (numiti deseori si "tigani", "zigeuner", "gypsies"), realizate pe criterii rasiale si aplicate de organe de stat, sint adinc imprimate in memoria colectiva a romilor. Informatiile statistice despre comportamentul romilor ("tiganilor", "gypsies"-ilor) - indeosebi informatiile privind relatiile de familie/rudenie si comportamentul demografic - atunci cind nu au fost supuse controlului public, au putut fi utilizate in scopuri distructive pentru romi. Utilizarea in documente de stat a datelor furnizate de "experti", fara respectarea coerenta a principiilor egalitatii si nondiscriminarii, ne evoca experienta nefericita a "stiintelor rasei" din perioada Europei fasciste, soldata cu deportarea si distrugerea in masa a populatiilor de evrei si romi din mai multe tari europene, inclusiv a unor comunitati numeroase de romi din Romania.

Combaterea acestor practici administrative si a mentalitatilor, inclusiv a celor "stiintifice", din care pornesc astfel de practici constituie repere principale ale analizei critice in studiile despre romi. Am putea cita citeva zeci de titluri pe aceasta tema publicate in diferite tari, mai ales in Germania, in ultimele doua decenii. Sa mentionam, spre ilustrare, lucrarea Die gesellschaftlische Konstruction des Zigeuners. Zur Genese eines Vorurteils (Jacqueline Giere - ed., Capus Verlag, Frankfurt/New York, 1996).

Unele dintre asociatiile romilor din Romania au solicitat adoptarea de urgenta a unor reglementari privind (a) modul de culegere a datelor personale si (b) folosirea, interpretarea si publicarea informatiilor statistice produse de diferite organizatii publice - organe de stat, institute de cercetare finantate de la buget, organizatii interguvernamentale cu filiale si resedinta pe teritoriul Romaniei, asociatii civice supuse controlului public in conditiile Legii 21/1924 etc. Un exemplu: Romani CRISS - Centrul Romilor pentru Interventie Sociala si Studii - a cerut public, in anul 1997, informatii privitor la culegerea si publicarea de catre Inspectoratul General al Politiei (IGP) a unor date statistice privind infractionalitatea (criminalitatea) atribuita "tiganilor" sau "romilor". CRISS a sesizat neconstitutionalitatea unui astfel de procedeu de identificare, stocare si publicare a datelor privitoare la identitatea etnica a unor persoane carora li se atribuie o anumita apartenenta etnica/nationala fara a preciza, public, daca respectivele persoane consimt la actul notarii si publicarii unor astfel de date personale. Ministerul de Interne, prin scrisoarea nr. 311523 / 25 iulie 1997, adresata CRISS, semnata de dl. general Pavel Abraham, Inspector General al Politiei (la acea data), a comunicat asociatiei Romani CRISS urmatoarele: "Luand in considerare observatiile dumneavoastra (CRISS) si in scopul mentinerii unui climat nediscriminatoriu si de toleranta, s-a decis ca, la nivelul politiei, in statisticile judiciare sa fie mentionata apartenenta etnica a tuturor faptuitorilor, care ulterior va fi data publicitatii.

Pana la realizarea acestui sistem de evidenta, cazurile sau statisticile ce vor fi date publicitatii nu vor mentiona apartenenta la etnia rromilor/tiganilor a faptuitorilor".

Publicatia Departamentului pentru Protectia Copilului readuce in actualitate controversa legata de folosirea de catre un organ de stat, guvernamental, a unor date statistice, de demografie etnica, privind populatia de romi, in mod discriminatoriu fata de populatia apartinind majoritatii etnice sau altor minoritati din Romania. Am adresat un apel DPMN pentru a initia, ca masura de urgenta, adoptarea unor norme unitare privind culegerea si publicarea de catre organele de stat a datelor cu caracter personal privind cetatenii Romaniei. Protectia Minoritatilor Nationale presupune si reglementarea de catre stat a procedurilor de culegere, stocare si utilizare a datelor referitoare la persoanele apartinind minoritatilor nationale si altor categorii vulnerabile la atitudini si practici de rasism, xenofobie, intoleranta.

Cunoastere" pentru cine?

Solutii alternative la problema culegerii

datelor statistice despre minoritati nationale

in general, despre romi in particular

La o cautare de solutii inovatoare in aceasta problema ne indeamna Conventia Cadru pentru Protectia Minoritatilor Nationale, document pregatit de Consiliul Europei si intrat in vigoare recent, la 2 februarie 1998, dupa ce a fost ratificat de 19 state. Sa reamintim ca Romania a fost primul stat care a semnat si apoi a ratificat acest important document de drept international, a carui respectare a devenit acum obligatorie. Articolul 3 al Conventiei si Nota explicativa oferita de Consiliul Europei indica faptul ca declararea apartenentei etnice a unei persoane este o chestiune de libera alegere a respectivei persoane, care are dreptul de a decide daca sa intre sau nu in protectia prevederilor care decurg din principiile Conventiei-cadru mentionate. In Nota explicativa se mai mentioneaza si relatia dintre "alegerea subiectiva" si "criteriile obiective relevante pentru identitatea unei persoane". Consideram ca practica autoritatilor de stat si metodologia cercetatorilor si expertilor domeniului trebuie reanalizate, regindite in perspectiva noilor perceptii despre etnicitate si identitate minoritara, asa cum sint acestea reflectate in sfera normativa, printre altele in Conventia-cadru pentru Protectia Minoritatilor. Membrii grupurilor etnice si ai minoritatilor nationale sint indemnati sa reconsidere ei insisi autodefinirea identitatii lor si exprimarea identitatilor etnice minoritare in spatiul vietii civice. Astfel de analize sint cu mult mai necesare in cazul romilor, data fiind experienta, inca recenta, a afirmarii lor in viata publica cu o identitate care poarta inca, in perceptia comuna, semnele subordonarii sociale, a "stigmei" personalitatii "etichetata" prin heteroidentificare, a stereotipurilor si prejudecatilor evocate de cuvintul "tigan" (recomandat de autoritatile Romaniei ca fiind "adevarata" denumire a celor care doresc sa fie cunoscuti public sub numele de romi - vezi Memorandum-ul H(03)169/1995 al Ministerului de Externe).

Pozitia noastra nu vrea sa evoce un fel de "refuz al cunoasterii" prin instrumentele oferite de statistica etnica. Problema este suficient de complexa pentru a merita poposirea indelung rabdatoare asupra subiectului, prin discutii de specialisti si prin dialog public (asa cum se doresc aceste rinduri). Sa amintim ca exista preocuparea unor organisme specializate, inclusiv grupuri de lucru de specialisti reuniti de Consiliul Europei, de a elabora norme si recomandari europene privind culegerea, folosirea si protectia datelor personale sau, la un nivel si mai specializat, metodologii si experiente de cercetare a problematicii minoritatilor nationale, prejudecatilor etnice, a discriminarii vs. egalitatii de sanse.

As mentiona aici publicatiile Comisiei europene pentru combaterea rasismului si intolerantei - ECRI, in special volumele referitoare la Rapoartele ECRI tara-de-tara, CRI(97)48 si Combaterea rasismului si intolerantei: o culegere de practici pozitive, CRI(96)38. O ilustrare privind Ungaria, din Rapoartele pe tari, vol I, la capitolul "Statistica" (p. 44), se face referinta, pozitiva, la practica actuala privind culegerea de date statistice, inclusiv privind ocuparea/somajul romilor, prin respectarea prevederilor Codului penal si ale unei legi speciale privind protectia datelor personale referitoare la nationalitatea, rasa persoanelor inregistrate in statistici administrative. Documentul ECRI recomanda autoritatilor de stat sa "Contribuie la stabilirea unui sistem de culegere a datelor si informatiilor in acord cu reglementarile europene privind protectia datelor si protectia vietii private. Un astfel de sistem trebuie sa fie elaborat prin colaborare cu reprezentantii organizatiilor grupurilor minoritare afectate, folosindu-se de experienta altor tari"".

Acelasi document recomanda, ca experienta pozitiva, practica unor state - inclusiv a serviciilor de politie - de a tine o evidenta a situatiilor de violenta rasiala sau cercetarile sociologice din Suedia privind felul in care imigrantii simt si relateaza situatiile de xenofobie, discriminare pe care le traiesc in relatiile cu autoritatile de stat sau cu cetatenii apartinind populatiei majoritare. Xenofobia este abordata ca un domeniu central al stiintelor sociale si al fenomenologiei vietii cotidiene; cercetarile de acest tip pot ajuta la elaborarea de strategii de combatere si la masuri pozitive pentru a depasi manifestarile xenofobe, hartuirea si violenta rasiala etc. Astfel de cercetari "(") intreaba victimele - actuale sau potentiale - despre experienta lor privind rasismul si discriminarea, mai degraba decat publicul general". Studiul a fost ulterior folosit in relatiile cu diferite agentii ale administratiei de stat (oficii de munca, politie etc.) pentru a demonstra ca perceptia lor despre felul in care discriminarea exista in cadrul respectivelor agentii nu este neaparat la fel cu perceptia victimelor potentiale - CRI(96)38, p. 129; vezi publicatiile lui Andreas Lange.

Am citat aceste exemple pentru a indica un fel alternativ de a privi problema cercetarii sociologice, a culegerii si publicarii de date statistice privind romii; pentru a incita cercetatorii din Romania de a reexamina practicile de investigatie care risca, adesea, sa reintareasca prejudecatile despre romi, oferind "probe stiintifice" discursului xenofob si rasist. Problema centrala pe care o ridica "statistica romilor sau a ÇtiganilorÈ" este aceea a relatiei dintre autoidentificare si heteroidentificare, criteriile de categorisire a originii si apartenentei etnice (inclusiv cele de includere intr-un esantion de cercetare) sint necunoscute, confuze, imposibil de verificat si replicat de catre alti investigatori, paguboase pentru cei recenzati/investigati/chestionati/"masurati" etc.

Rindurile de fata se doresc o invitatie la o discutie publica despre romi, fara prejudecati, sine ira et studio, in spiritul tolerantei pe care mentalitatea romaneasca si-o revendica drept o mostenire culturala si drept definire a propriei identitati. o

Nicolae Gheorghe - is coordinator at Roma Center for Social Intervention and Studies, member in Council for Ethnic Agreement at Project on Ethnic Relations. He was vicepresident at Roma International Union. At present, N.G. is sociologist in Sociology Center at Romanian Academy.

-- Dynamic Network Technologies, Sfera Politicii, Nr. 58, martie 1998

Posted by: ruxi at September 5, 2004 11:38 AM