swintons:

heavenearthandhoratio:

This systematic targeting of Roma people is not a thing of the past in Europe, though. This week, Czech Human Rights Commissioner asked that an anti-Romani text be withdrawn from schools. This book, a reader for second graders has drawn attention due to the promotion of racism and intolerance towards the Roma in what amounts to indoctrination of young children: The second-grade reader includes a story called “Mýdlová Madla” (“The Soapy Rail”) by Ivona Březinová. “Mama told me I shouldn’t talk to those Demeterovic boys at all … she said they’re Gypsies. Gypsies are dirty and steal,” second-graders read in the textbook, which was published in 2005. This request by the Human Rights Commissioner is not enforceable though. The Ministry of Education could possibly ignore the request or leave the removal of the text in the hands of schools. … Roma women and children sometimes need to evacuate their villages in fear of their lives, while European states find it acceptable to address their safety concerns with sarcasm and dismissive language. In a highly publicized incident, this year: Over the Easter holiday, dozens of nationalists converged on the [Hungarian] village [of Gyöngyöspata], where many Romani people live, to attend a training camp. More than 200 Romani children and women then rapidly left the village out of fear for their safety. The Hungarian Government described that voluntary evacuation of the village as a “long-planned Easter trip”

— Tiger Beatdown › Roma women in Europe: the silenced, underreported gender oppression

Please read the entire article, especially if you’re not familiar with the systematic oppression experienced by the Roma people. It’s nothing if not eye opening, rage inducing and terrible.

In January, a policeman accidentally killed a six year old Roma girl in Athens, Greece. The gruesome and dehumanizing details of the little girl’s death triggered a wave of Roma youth protests:

“A policeman of the DIAS motorcycle police ran over a 6-year old roma girl in the area of Menidi in NE Athens.

“According to eye-witnesses, the six-year old girl was run over as she was on the streets, where she was signing the carols with other children (in Greece, children sing carols on the eve of the Epiphany day, Jan 6).

“The eye-witnesses also claim the policeman dragged the girl along for 150 meters and did not stop to offer any help.