We know what government struggle against open racism looks like. Occasional expensive campaign in media, including some posters of TV spots, occasional arrest of a neo-Nazi. People know best that campaign or no campaign, Fascists continue to rampage. A significant part of the police feels sympathy for neo-Nazis, occasional conditioned imprisonment for neo-Nazi patches or T-shirts is far from effort at effective prevention of racism-motivated criminal acts. What does our government mean to tell us by means of its anti-Nazi campaigns? BE nice to your Nazi. Well.
This was the motto of a series of posters, stickers and TV spots that appeared a few years ago following a foreign model. The pictures depicted Nazis in ridiculous environments, or at least tried to. It is nice to struggle with racism, but frankly speaking, can such a campaign persuade anybody? Who does not sympathise with neo-Nazis, may or may not laugh (depending on the taste), and who does sympathise with them, will find nothing to think about here. If the purpose of the campaign was to ridicule neo-Nazis, OK. Whether the purpose was achieved or not must be judged individually. I personally believe that the Hail motive has been abused (the only thing the campaign shot at), as if that was the core of the problem.

. . . They usually have a piety lawn where the dispersion is implemented. The police like to disperse assemblies of people fighting for their human rights. “Go home, citizens, this assembly is not permitted”, we used to hear under the past regime. Present protectors of the law are also learning how to disperse demonstrations. Dispersion also used to be official strategy of the State applied against Romany assemblies since the fifties. Instead of solving problems of settled Romany groups used to living together in settlements on the spot, the governing idea was that if these settlements were dispersed, the resulting smaller groups and individuals would have to conform and the problem would disappear by itself. The largest majority of the Romany people settled in the Czech Republic have come here as a consequence of this governmental policy. The problem has not disappeared, expanding and multiplying itself instead. Settlements have grown in number in Slovakia, too, now being over 600. It might have been my aversion against the word “dispersion” that caused my irritation by the interview with Helena Balabánová, Romany coordinator for Moravian Silesia, published in MF DNES on 20 October under the title “The Problem of Romany Colony Can Be Settled by Dispersion”. See for yourselves:

Interview about Romany communal policy with Michal Vajrauch, graduate in sociology in late 1960s and practical implementer of the subject of his study since. In the course of his career he has tried all that one can try in this area of activity. After graduation he started as social worker, continued as official and after 1989 as member of the Civic Forum he became member of Pardubice city council. He worked with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. During his career he has never abandoned settlement of Romany affairs. The interview with him is an advanced course in practical Romany communal policy.

The office of the governmental Council for Romany Community Affairs has organized a meeting of the regional coordinators, Roma consultants, the Council members, the representatives of state administration and non-governmental organizations from October 15 to October 17. The meeting took place in the Tatra Hotel in Velké Karlovice, with the main objective to facilitate a conference of people who can meet in such a composition only very rarely.

The office of the governmental Council for Romany Community Affairs has organized a meeting of the regional coordinators, Roma consultants, the Council members, the representatives of state administration and non-governmental organizations from October 15 to October 17. The meeting took place in the Tatra Hotel in Velké Karlovice, with the main objective to facilitate a conference of people who can meet in such a composition only very rarely.

The Marriage in Sibiu - Municipal Hard-liners - The Opinion of the Dženo Association: The Approach to Romani Citizens in the Town of Slaný - The Experiment of the Engineer of Human Souls in Slaný - Roma from Karlín Have Not Swimmed Away - The Conception of Romani Integration – A Different Reading...