As a structure to keep a minority away from a majority, it has drawn parallels with an earlier wall between Roma and non-Roma in the Czech town of Usti nad Labem, and even with the Berlin Wall and Israel's separation barrier. But what is new in Ostrovany is that the Roma now form the majority - exactly two-thirds of the population.
But what is new in Ostrovany is that the Roma now form the majority - exactly two-thirds of the population.
I appreciate there are real cultural issues and the roma are defiantly anti-integration, but these are difficulties to overcome, not reasons for inaction. keep to the Fen Causeway
From Dosta.org's "Stereotype n° 16: Roma and society" quoted in deviousdiva's diary Breaking Down Roma Stereotypes:
Roma are often depicted as untrustworthy and unwilling to integrate into society. But when too many non-Roma do not trust Roma it is very difficult to continue willing to be part of a whole. `Integration' usually means the loss of Roma culture without being fully accepted by the majority population. Even educated Roma who have lived inside the majority population all their lives often face exclusion. The fear of being rejected is sometimes so present that some Roma have to hide their ethnic origin in order to continue living in the society instead of on the fringes of it. As long as marrying a Roma or allowing one's children to do so is still a taboo for many, there can be no talk about the Roma's unwillingness to integrate. Self-marginalization, when it is the case, is and has been a survival strategy rather than a free choice.
Is this the same dynamic that existed in the past for blacks in the U.S. and for Jews in Europe? In particular, were blacks in the U.S. seens as refusing to integrate? Were Jews in Europe? The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.
