Clashing Cultures

Romas feel blindfolded, trying to make sense of the majority‘s conflicting social attitudes

By Ashley McKee
Prague 2007: Common Ground

I had no expectations before I came to Prague. I knew very little about the Czech Republic, and much less about Prague, but I was excited by the prospect of exploring a new city, meeting new people, and studying a new culture.  Our instructor urged us to have an open mind, and I didn’t see that as a difficult task. I would like to think I have an open mind.

But, I now know what I thought seemed like a very small statement at the time was actually quite large.  I had to really open my mind.  I felt like I had traveled backward to the 1960s when blacks were fighting tooth and nail for their civil rights.  We five American students had no clue what we were getting into: two peoples fighting for their way of life.  One culture, a minority, fighting to preserve the little tradition they still have left and another, the majority, out to justify hard work and what it means to have to live in the modern day.

The Roma have for centuries migrated to Europe.  Many came from India.  For centuries they have been discriminated against in many countries all over Europe.  As children, most Roma in the Czech Republic are sent to “special schools” for the mentally disabled because they either don’t know the language or society has no faith in their intelligence, and does with them as they see fit.

Excited to be in Prague and proud to be part of an international student project designed to better understand minorities in both the United States and the Czech Republic, I was very open to sharing my story with people I met in my dorms, on the tram, or on the street.

After the first week I began to tell people less and less about what I was doing here.  I couldn’t explain to anyone I was in Prague to cover the Roma population without hearing the most racist comments I had heard in my life.  I was a random stranger in a random city, and no one held back his tongue about his true feelings regarding the “black people that swarmed our country and our city.”  I was shocked and outraged. I couldn’t understand how people could display so much hatred toward another group of people who had been living in the same country for so many years.  The darker, golden skin color of the Roma people was the only thing I could see fueling the majority’s anger and contempt.

This was a different place, with different people.  Maybe there was a reason that the Czech majority had this attitude toward the Roma.  I am not from the Czech Republic, and I didn’t feel I had any justification to tell these people that what I thought they were saying and thinking was wrong.

For the next two weeks I indulged myself in the Roma culture to see what it meant to the Czechs and, more importantly, what it would mean to me.  As time went on, I learned that many people believe the Roma are abusing the state.  A popular opinion among Czechs is that Roma stay unemployed and have large families so they can receive more benefits from the government -- a situation that didn’t seem so far afield from a stereotypical poor white family living in a trailer park in Montana.  After learning all of these stereotypes and prejudices against the Roma people, I asked my Czech reporting partner if he would take us to a Roma community.  He agreed and we drove an hour and half northwest of Prague to a small city called Most.

We parked around a ten-minute walk away from the neighborhood the Roma lived in because my partner was fearful of his belongings in his car.  He had never been to Most either, and we wanted to be cautious because of the rumors we heard before we left.  Most was supposed to be similar to a “ghetto” in the inner cities of Southern California.  I had never been to such a place so I could only imagine scenes from movies like “Dangerous Minds” or “Boyz n’ Da Hood,” and the thought made me uncomfortable.

As we climbed up a small paved road leading to the neighborhood a small Roma boy ran past us.  We were getting closer and I was getting nervous.  When we reached the top of the hill my eyes focused on the large number of people outside.  I thought there must have been a celebration or a festival for so many people to be frolicking, meandering, and playing outside all at once.  My partner told me the Roma people are well-known for preferring to be outside.  Children were playing with music tape reels or kicking soccer balls; teenagers were strolling the sidewalks, giggling if it was a group of girls; women were gossiping on benches or yelling for their kids, and men hung out together in the street in small armies.

There were five or six flats sprawled throughout the neighborhood with clothes and all sorts of junk hanging from the balconies.  Each balcony seemed to have a satellite dish, which made me queasy when I saw how people were living.  ‘If you can afford a satellite dish or a TV, can’t you afford nice clothes for your children?’ I thought.

I took out my camera to capture the scene and realized right away it was a big mistake.  As soon as I started shooting, a man in a red t-shirt began yelling at my partner and me in Czech.  I knew from the tone in his voice it wasn’t good news, but my partner calmed the man down.  I was told if I didn’t put the camera away the police would come.  I didn’t know how much a police officer could actually do, but out of respect for the community I put my camera away.  I wished I had asked someone beforehand for permission to shoot pictures because it was clear now we were not welcome.  We spent five minutes in Most, but it was five minutes  I knew would be valuable for my quest to learn more and form a better, more experienced opinion of the Roma.

After Most, my partner and I decided to focus on the music culture of the Roma.  It was some of the most beautiful music I had ever heard.  We went to many concerts, hearing many styles of traditional Roma music.  Although they all sounded different, what they had in common were the many rhythmical drum beats, someone picking a violin, a tooting bass trumpet, the sound of an accordion being stretched out and pushed in, a bass deeply “bum-bumming” its way through the song, and so on.  We went to a Latin-jazz Roma show, and an India Roma show. We even had a shot at hearing a hip-hop Roma group in the town of Brno, but because of our lack of funds we couldn’t stay another night.  Listening as a kid to Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Bob Marley and all other sorts of classic rock while my mom cleaned house had turned me into a bit of a music geek, so it meant the world to me to be able to document one of the most important traditions still alive in Roma culture today.

The Roma in the Czech Republic seem to have lost their old ways of living.  Some have tried to assimilate into the majority culture to be able to get better jobs.  I have been told that neighboring Slovakia is a better place to experience the traditional family style of Roma living.  The only cultural tradition that has stayed alive in the Roma communities in the Czech Republic is the music. Roma we talked to said they either learned on their own or were forced to play music, often at a very young age.  They usually chose their instrument, which might be the violin, drums, saxophone, bass, accordion or their own voice.  Music is very important to the Roma -- it  seems like the only thing they have to hold onto in a society that is forcing them to assimilate if they want to be accepted.

Even after the three weeks I spent in Prague, I know I am unable to fully grasp all of the social issues affecting the Roma.  But a few things are clear. They need a chance to advance educationally so they can get better jobs, and the government needs to start doing something about that.  On the other hand, the Roma need to push themselves and their children to strive to live a better life.  They cannot succumb to what society expects of them, like buying satellite dishes when clean clothes need to be put on their backs.

The Roma should be encouraged to nurture their traditions, whether they be music, language or folklore. We should all be able to embrace our origins, not be embarrassed by them. The Czech majority celebrates their heritage, so why shouldn’t the Roma as well?

Comments

[Mom]

Ashley,
this was such a wonderful experieince for all of you who were involved. I couldn't be prouder of you for the work you've accomplished as well as the insights you've gained. I love you!
Mom