Postmodern Critic
Morgan Bell
Jeff MusallThe Roma People and Bulgarian Racism
July 18th 2008 12:38
Have you heard of the Roma? No, I'm not talking about the Italian word for Rome - I'm talking about a group of people with Indian origins who have immigrated to numerous other continents, including Europe. Bulgaria currently holds the largest percentage of Roma in its population, at an estimated 4.7% of its 8 million or so inhabitants. That's a pretty significant minority, and yet, according to Wikipedia, many are afraid to disclose their race in the census for fear of discrimination. The Bulgarians are not shy about telling you about the hatred they feel for the Roma.
They refuse to work, they say. (Roma unemployment is very high.) They refuse to assimilate into the culture, they say. Have they ever considered that the Roma often can't get work because nobody wants to hire them? Or that the Bulgarians are too prejudiced to open up to them and permit them to work on a joint, harmonious culture? Bulgarians tend to believe that all Roma are lazy, morally loose, criminally inclined and a pest. How do the Roma react? They stick to their own, some turn to illegal activities and to crime and do not open up the Slavs either. As a result each group's prejudices against the other intensifies as stereotypes are recreated.
Unlike in multicultural nations like Australia, England, Canada and USA, the racism is not disguised or even thinly veiled. Bulgarians have no qualms about insulting the Roma on the colour of their skin, just as they still call black people 'niggers' (the Bulgarian equivalent) and in a country which is about 95% ethnically homogenous there are few people who advocate tolerance and peaceful co-existence.
Just take a read of this, from website Vagabond:
Most Bulgarians encounter problems dealing with their insurance companies. They may have miserable experiences with the state health and pension systems. But, usually, in spite of these and other complaints, it's the Roma or Turkish minorities who become the scapegoats for their woes. Several factors influence discriminatory attitudes in Bulgaria. One of the most insidious is the stirring up of intolerance by populist politicians and opinion makers, who exploit traditional prejudices.
Bigoted attitudes are not unique to Bulgaria. However, the country's history of isolation under Communism means that it lacks experience in accommodating different groups. Blatantly racist behaviour and language, unacceptable in most Western societies, are a regular part of public discourse. Even Bulgaria's establishment has described Gypsies in terms that would have caused public outrage in the West.
Such attitudes strangely coexist with a new optimism in the country. Many Bulgarians believe they are on the road to “normality”. The brutal and perverse Communist regime has gone. The devastating social and economic conditions that ruined so many lives are being swept aside. Poverty is being tackled. Above all, EU membership promises a bright future. Yet, in spite of economic improvement and democracy, recent polls show that Bulgaria's ethnic and religious groups are more divided than ever.
The state seems unable or unwilling to address these divisions. After 1989, all ethnic groups regained their human rights. Ironically, the freedom to speak and study their languages, practise their religion and enjoy political representation seems to have exacerbated tensions.
Bulgaria's leaders intone platitudes about their society's “natural ethnic tolerance”. But Valentin Danchev, a political analyst and sociologist, believes that this just “allows some Bulgarians to indulge in offensive behaviour while flattering themselves for their ethnic tolerance”.
A significant number of Bulgarians hold completely unacceptable views of minorities. Nationalism is firmly entrenched in Bulgaria's political life, as shown by Ataka, the extremist party whose rhetoric has poisoned the mainstream. Racism and intolerance can be seen everywhere – in the media and in political debates and activities – and offenders often seem unaware of the harm they do.
Take one example: Bulgaria's hostility to what in America is known as “affirmative action”. Taxpayers complain that they foot the bill for the comfort of “lazy” minorities. That view dominates ordinary conversation, public forums and news publications. “Taxpayers' money will continue to support Gypsies,” read one comment under an article about new social housing for Roma families in Plovdiv. “It would have been better, just for a change, to help young Bulgarian families with two or more children, but it seems the state cares more about the Gypsies!” Even a government minister was heard using this kind of language. Emilia Maslarova, Social Affairs Minister, said that she wished she were Roma, so she would not have to pay her utility bills.
More and more people blame minorities for their problems. The truth is very different. Bulgarians are regularly harassed by other Bulgarians, not by minorities. The police often protect criminals. Ordinary citizens have been intimidated by mutri, drug dealers and corrupt officials for years. However, very few Bulgarians have ever been attacked by Gypsies. Yet the idea that the Roma are all criminals is an article of faith among most people. The belief that the Muslim minority cannot be trusted, that it could unleash a terrorist tidal wave overnight, is also gaining ground.
The far right's populist rhetoric touches on all of these themes. “Insolent Gypsy Robs Innocent English Tourist” is an all-too-typical recent headline from Ataka's newspaper. Ataka politicians, and their fellow travellers in the media, claim that such talk wins votes because it voices people's feelings. Yet their rhetoric also influences opinion. And so the vicious cycle continues. An Alpha Research poll taken last March showed that more people than ever, 32 percent, view ethnic conflict in Bulgaria as increasingly likely. An even higher figure, 38 percent, believe that the conflict would occur between ethnic Bulgarians and the Roma.
Despite this structural discrimination, the Roma continue to inspire with their music and performances. Gay popfolk singer Azis continues to push barriers of what is deemed socially acceptable in what is a very homophobic society, despite the successful introduction of a Gay Pride Parade in Sofia in June this year.
Flamenco is a very expressive style of dance which originated amongst the Spanish Roma population, and is now savoured all around Europe. It speaks of a staunch resistance to the oppression the Roma face in day-to-day life from a majority of the population.
How do you deal with a whole nation of racist people (Bulgarians don't even realise they are being racist, it is so common to heap slurs upon the Roma)? When I found my family trying to justify their horrendous attitudes towards people they have never tried to sympathise with and unfairly accuse of all sorts of crimes (from the petty to the more serious), I refused to talk to them. I doubt they will change their views, but at least they know that I don't like theim and won't sit at the same table with them while they calmly try to tell me why it's normal to typecast an entire race.
Those of us lucky enough to live in a developed multicultural country can act as role models to indoctrinated Bulgarians who are nevertheless looking for a way out of their prejudices. After all, who wants to hate? Next time you are around a Bulgarian or Bulgarians, express your dissatisfaction with the treatment of the Roma in their country. Who knows, one day they might take note.
2007 Roma Festival (in Prague)
They refuse to work, they say. (Roma unemployment is very high.) They refuse to assimilate into the culture, they say. Have they ever considered that the Roma often can't get work because nobody wants to hire them? Or that the Bulgarians are too prejudiced to open up to them and permit them to work on a joint, harmonious culture? Bulgarians tend to believe that all Roma are lazy, morally loose, criminally inclined and a pest. How do the Roma react? They stick to their own, some turn to illegal activities and to crime and do not open up the Slavs either. As a result each group's prejudices against the other intensifies as stereotypes are recreated.
Roma people in Bulgaria
Unlike in multicultural nations like Australia, England, Canada and USA, the racism is not disguised or even thinly veiled. Bulgarians have no qualms about insulting the Roma on the colour of their skin, just as they still call black people 'niggers' (the Bulgarian equivalent) and in a country which is about 95% ethnically homogenous there are few people who advocate tolerance and peaceful co-existence.
Just take a read of this, from website Vagabond:
Most Bulgarians encounter problems dealing with their insurance companies. They may have miserable experiences with the state health and pension systems. But, usually, in spite of these and other complaints, it's the Roma or Turkish minorities who become the scapegoats for their woes. Several factors influence discriminatory attitudes in Bulgaria. One of the most insidious is the stirring up of intolerance by populist politicians and opinion makers, who exploit traditional prejudices.
Bigoted attitudes are not unique to Bulgaria. However, the country's history of isolation under Communism means that it lacks experience in accommodating different groups. Blatantly racist behaviour and language, unacceptable in most Western societies, are a regular part of public discourse. Even Bulgaria's establishment has described Gypsies in terms that would have caused public outrage in the West.
Such attitudes strangely coexist with a new optimism in the country. Many Bulgarians believe they are on the road to “normality”. The brutal and perverse Communist regime has gone. The devastating social and economic conditions that ruined so many lives are being swept aside. Poverty is being tackled. Above all, EU membership promises a bright future. Yet, in spite of economic improvement and democracy, recent polls show that Bulgaria's ethnic and religious groups are more divided than ever.
The state seems unable or unwilling to address these divisions. After 1989, all ethnic groups regained their human rights. Ironically, the freedom to speak and study their languages, practise their religion and enjoy political representation seems to have exacerbated tensions.
Bulgaria's leaders intone platitudes about their society's “natural ethnic tolerance”. But Valentin Danchev, a political analyst and sociologist, believes that this just “allows some Bulgarians to indulge in offensive behaviour while flattering themselves for their ethnic tolerance”.
A significant number of Bulgarians hold completely unacceptable views of minorities. Nationalism is firmly entrenched in Bulgaria's political life, as shown by Ataka, the extremist party whose rhetoric has poisoned the mainstream. Racism and intolerance can be seen everywhere – in the media and in political debates and activities – and offenders often seem unaware of the harm they do.
Take one example: Bulgaria's hostility to what in America is known as “affirmative action”. Taxpayers complain that they foot the bill for the comfort of “lazy” minorities. That view dominates ordinary conversation, public forums and news publications. “Taxpayers' money will continue to support Gypsies,” read one comment under an article about new social housing for Roma families in Plovdiv. “It would have been better, just for a change, to help young Bulgarian families with two or more children, but it seems the state cares more about the Gypsies!” Even a government minister was heard using this kind of language. Emilia Maslarova, Social Affairs Minister, said that she wished she were Roma, so she would not have to pay her utility bills.
More and more people blame minorities for their problems. The truth is very different. Bulgarians are regularly harassed by other Bulgarians, not by minorities. The police often protect criminals. Ordinary citizens have been intimidated by mutri, drug dealers and corrupt officials for years. However, very few Bulgarians have ever been attacked by Gypsies. Yet the idea that the Roma are all criminals is an article of faith among most people. The belief that the Muslim minority cannot be trusted, that it could unleash a terrorist tidal wave overnight, is also gaining ground.
The far right's populist rhetoric touches on all of these themes. “Insolent Gypsy Robs Innocent English Tourist” is an all-too-typical recent headline from Ataka's newspaper. Ataka politicians, and their fellow travellers in the media, claim that such talk wins votes because it voices people's feelings. Yet their rhetoric also influences opinion. And so the vicious cycle continues. An Alpha Research poll taken last March showed that more people than ever, 32 percent, view ethnic conflict in Bulgaria as increasingly likely. An even higher figure, 38 percent, believe that the conflict would occur between ethnic Bulgarians and the Roma.
Despite this structural discrimination, the Roma continue to inspire with their music and performances. Gay popfolk singer Azis continues to push barriers of what is deemed socially acceptable in what is a very homophobic society, despite the successful introduction of a Gay Pride Parade in Sofia in June this year.
Flamenco is a very expressive style of dance which originated amongst the Spanish Roma population, and is now savoured all around Europe. It speaks of a staunch resistance to the oppression the Roma face in day-to-day life from a majority of the population.
How do you deal with a whole nation of racist people (Bulgarians don't even realise they are being racist, it is so common to heap slurs upon the Roma)? When I found my family trying to justify their horrendous attitudes towards people they have never tried to sympathise with and unfairly accuse of all sorts of crimes (from the petty to the more serious), I refused to talk to them. I doubt they will change their views, but at least they know that I don't like theim and won't sit at the same table with them while they calmly try to tell me why it's normal to typecast an entire race.
Those of us lucky enough to live in a developed multicultural country can act as role models to indoctrinated Bulgarians who are nevertheless looking for a way out of their prejudices. After all, who wants to hate? Next time you are around a Bulgarian or Bulgarians, express your dissatisfaction with the treatment of the Roma in their country. Who knows, one day they might take note.
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Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
great research!
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
Comment by British, but not living in England, amazingly.
Either that, or you have chosen to ignore the 3 other, equally multicultural countries that make up Britain.
Which one is it ??????????
Do you refer to the USA as just New York, or Alabama? Do you refer to Europe as France? "The language spoken throughout Europe is Swedish?" Europe is currently at war with Europe?
If you drove all the way to the top of England, then drove some more, would you fall into the North Sea? Or would you stay on a road going to this mystical new found land that goes by the name of Scotland?
And what about Canada? Why did you point out USA as being multicultural and not the wider, 'North America'.
Do you have some sort of problem with acknowledging Canada ?
quick point : bulgarians WOULD be attacked more regularly by fellow bulgerians due to the population balance alone.
I do not know how the 'Roma people' act in Bulgeria but over here they are breaking the law just by living the way they are. Disregarding and disrespecting what everyone else HAS to do, not chooses to do. And somehow getting away with it.
That's the one and only problem I (and everyone I know) have with any 'gypsy' people. ANY people who do not pay taxes, and take over land that is not theirs, yet claim it as their own etc will be looked down upon.
Another thing I want to point out is that your statistic is completely useless. 32%...?
32% of what? of who? How many people did they survey? Who did they survey?
I can walk outside my door and make a poll on the moon hoax theory.
I ask 2 passing people if they believe the moon landing was real. One says yes, the other says no.
This is the result: 50% of people in my country think the moon landing was a hoax.
This obviously backs up my theory that people are as confused as ever on the issue....
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
If you read that sentence again you will see that it reads:
Unlike in multicultural nations LIKE Australia, England, Canada and USA, the racism is not disguised or even thinly veiled.
I was not attempting to list all the multi-cultural nations out there, which would include, yes, Scotland, Wales, North Ireland, Ireland, Malaysia and probably others I can't think of right now, I was just giving the examples that most immediately came into my head. Co-incidentally, I have also been to all of the countries I listed. I didn't list New Zealand, though, even though I have visited - it just didn't come to mind. That doesn't mean I was deliberately excluding it, like I said, it would have taken me too much time to look up a list of all teh countries in the world that were multicultural, and that's not what the main focus of the post is.
I don't know what your issues with the 32% statistic are, because the article clearly indicates the source of this statistic: An Alpha Research poll taken last March
That should be enough information for you to get your hands on the company and the news briefing, if you really wanted to.
It's spelt Bulgaria, maybe you should take your own advice and study geography a bit more.
My post was about racist attitudes towards the Roma in Bulgaria, which are abundant, and no amount of law-breaking justifies.
I have no idea what you mean by saying that Bulgarians would be attacked by other Bulgarians because of the population balance, btu quite frankly I don't care, because you have jumped to conclusions about my work, been antagonistic about it, and anyone who is not sympathetic about a group suffering from systemic racism doesn't have an opinion I want to read.
Sucks to be you, I guess.
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Anonymous123
I think Bulgarians complain because they are being inconvenienced by the ways of the Roma people. If they want to solve it, then they should teach the Roma to be better people, and let them feel that they don't have to experience this kind of poverty. Education helps a lot. Teach them how to make a living for themselves, decent ways. Maybe the races who have the upper hand are just too lazy to reach out.
Comment by Jarrod Williamson
I think if any reason, it is the unwecoming people that turns honest travelers into criminals.
Comment by Jarrod Williamson
I think if any reason, it is the unwecoming people that turns honest travelers into criminals.
Comment by orbledagain
I think it's also important to acknowledge that this is not a Bulgarian issue. The Roma are descriminated against globally. I often find that in the West (although I am really only referring to my experiences in Canada, and the US) people hold just as many stereotypes. Here, the Roma are more often exoticized and thought of almost as mythical creatures. The reason why most of us do not see this as a serious problem is demographics. People in North America just do not have as many opportunities to be racist against the Roma.
I think the best approach for dealing with the issue is to discuss it on the larger scale. Don't make it about Bulgarians being racist, but about people, in general, being racist. I really liked what you said about racism in Bulgaria being "not even thinly veiled." Often in North America, that's exactly what racism is - thinly veiled. And because of this, we often have this sense that we are so much more socially "developed" and "refined." I think if you acknowledge that you also come from a society with a rich history of racism and that this is why you find it horrifying and offensive, it will be much easier to reach people.
Comment by orbledagain
I think it's also important to acknowledge that this is not a Bulgarian issue. The Roma are descriminated against globally. I often find that in the West (although I am really only referring to my experiences in Canada, and the US) people hold just as many stereotypes. Here, the Roma are more often exoticized and thought of almost as mythical creatures. The reason why most of us do not see this as a serious problem is demographics. People in North America just do not have as many opportunities to be racist against the Roma.
I think the best approach for dealing with the issue is to discuss it on the larger scale. Don't make it about Bulgarians being racist, but about people, in general, being racist. I really liked what you said about racism in Bulgaria being "not even thinly veiled." Often in North America, that's exactly what racism is - thinly veiled. And because of this, we often have this sense that we are so much more socially "developed" and "refined." I think if you acknowledge that you also come from a society with a rich history of racism and that this is why you find it horrifying and offensive, it will be much easier to reach people.