Common Ground

Roma and Native Americans face different ethnic challenges

The two minorities defy easy comparisons

By Sean Breslin
Prague 2007: Common Ground

When I first heard about this project, I figured drawing parallels between American Indian issues in Montana and Roma issues in the Czech Republic would be fairly simple. Both ethnic groups represented a small minority in a well-engrained mainstream society, and from what I had read, both faced similar problems: poor educational opportunities, appallingly high unemployment rates and discrimination from the majority culture.

But as work on our stories progressed—especially while in the Czech Republic—it became harder and harder for me to draw any solid comparisons between the two minority groups. The historical differences between the Roma and American Indians are vast, and how these two minorities interact with mainstream society is still heavily influenced by past experiences.

Life on the inside

State prison’s world has six levels of custody

By Martin Brodsky and Sean Breslin 
Prague 2007: Common Ground

The Montana State Prison is tucked five miles away from the center of Deer Lodge, Mont., a community of some 3,300 people. Guard towers rise high above fences lined with seemingly endless strands of razor wire surrounding the complex.

The prison houses more than 1,400 adult male inmates, convicted of crimes ranging from writing bad checks to robbery to murder. American Indians make up 18.4 percent of the inmate population.

The prison has six levels of custody that prison officials group inmates into. To determine what custody level each inmate belongs in, prison officials use factors such as their crime, their sentence length, special needs, and the amount of risk they pose to other inmates and to general security at the facility. The lower the custody level is, the more personal freedom allowed.

Growing up in the system

An Indian inmate finds solace in prison sweat lodge

By Sean Breslin 
Prague 2007: Common Ground

Michael James Daniels, 24, has been in and out of Montana’s correctional facilities since he was 12 years old, he said.

“I grew up in the system,” he said, in a hushed tone that barely carried across the table. As he spoke, he’d look at his tattooed arms, or over his shoulder, but he’d always make eye contact when someone was speaking to him.

Daniels, serving 25 years at Montana State Prison for robbery, grew up amid the turmoil of drugs, alcohol, and gang activity in Fort Belknap and Great Falls. His father is currently doing time in the prison for murder. He doesn’t know where his mother is, only that she’s on the streets and most likely still drinking.

Police crisis said to undercut Blackfoot economy

Flathead Reservation banks on diversified economy

By Martin Brodsky and Sean Breslin 
Prague 2007: Common Ground

The Blackfeet Reservation is in the midst of a crisis. Recently, the Bureau of Indian Affairs took over control of law enforcement on the reservation, and its arrival hasn’t been welcomed by many in the community.

“They provide spotty—sometimes thuggish—law enforcement,” said John McGill, editor of the Glacier Reporter, a weekly paper based in Browning, Mont.

Aside from the obvious dangers of having an inadequate police force on the reservation, the lack of security has only added to the economic problems of the area.

“They (business owners) don’t bring businesses here because we don’t have a police force,” said Marlene Augare, an advertising representative with the Glacier Reporter.

Democracy is hardest on the underdog

The new Czech style of governing doesn’t come easily

By Sean Breslin
Prague 2007: Common Ground

Over the past three weeks, I’ve been hearing comments about a race of people that I’d never hear in the United States, things that echo typical complaints about blacks prior to the Civil Rights Movement. Czech opinions on the Roma—that they are lazy, that they are all pickpockets, that they mooch off society—are not said with malice or anger or fear, but simply as matters of fact.

That people have these feelings doesn’t surprise me; what surprised me was the openness of the Czechs in discussing those stereotypes, how candid they were in saying exactly how they felt about the Roma. Many students in our dorm simply laughed when we told them the basis of our project, and wondered why we even cared about the Roma at all. For all intents and purposes, we were called “nigger-lovers.”

Czech Roma citizens live in worst of both worlds

The Czechs say the Roma are lazy;
Romas see discrimination at every turn

By Martin Brodsky and Sean Breslin
Prague 2007: Common Ground

In a Czech city that traces its roots back to the thirteenth century, the Úřad Práce (Unemployment Office) building in Plzen seems uncharacteristically modern, with its automatic doors and steely grey exterior. A glass-enclosed bulletin board just outside the entrance is covered with job listings, and similar flyers cling to the walls of the hallways inside.

Jan Andrlík, a department head at the office, deals with about 700 Roma people looking for work. While the overall unemployment rate for the Czech Republic at the beginning of the millennium hovered around eight or nine percent, Roma experienced unemployment rates topping 45 percent for the same time period. Although high, it’s one of the lowest Roma unemployment rates in the region. Hungary’s 56 percent and Slovakia’s is 84 percent.

Inside a Roma Practical School

What students and educators say about Roma education

A mural by the entrance to the Museum of Roma Culture in Brno, Czech Republic.

By Sean Breslin
Prague 2007: Common Ground

When we visited the Základní škola praktická in Plzen, Martin and I had the chance to talk to two Roma students and a teacher about the educational opportunities for Roma. At the director’s insistence, we could not identify the children by name because he was concerned about releasing the names of minors to the press. The teacher, too, did not want to give her name to the media while discussing Roma education.

The children—a boy and a girl, both 13—looked forward to going into the food service industry, the boy as a chef or a waiter, and the girl at a candy shop or bakery (she likes sweets, she added). Both children said they felt confident that they are on their way to achieving those goals, and said they knew how important school was to success, though the boy added that he doesn’t get a lot of support at home.

The teacher said she knows her students are bright and sometimes capable of furthering their educations, but she believes the students receive little or no support from their families. The students wouldn't do their homework because the parents weren't making them do it, she said. Now, the school just doesn't assign homework.

Living in poverty

American photojournalist Julie Denesha recounts her experiences with the Roma

By Martin Brodsky and Sean Breslin
Prague 2007: Common Ground

Julie Denesha, an American photojournalist, has lived and worked in some of the poorest Roma villages in the Slovak Republic. While living with the Roma families, she had a chance to explore their culture and habits. 

Some 500,000 Roma live in Slovakia. About 25 percent of them are living in ghettos outside the majority society, without access to safe drinking water or basic sanitation.

A Blog in Verse Form

By Sean Breslin
Prague 2007: Common Ground

A Tale of Laundry Lament
An Ode to My Washer Back Home

When first I packed to leave for Prague,
I thought I'd brought enough.
But even so, the point was moot,
For my suitcase was stuffed.

Ten pairs of socks, about twelve shirts
Some kahkis and some jeans.
Some underwear to round it out,
That's all I thought I'd need.

"I'll find a laundromat," I said.
"I've used those things before."
But how convenient when I found
A washer in my dorm!

So when the time had fin'ly come
For me to do laundry,
I strolled downstairs, but unaware
I needed to get a key.

Getting the key: a simple task.
Just ask at the front desk.
But for one thing I overlooked:
I still cannot speak Czech.

Though my gesturing and pleading
Were met with no success,
A fellow student's translation
Aided me in my quest.

With key in hand, I made my way
Down to the laundry room.
I threw my clothes to the machine
And thought they'd be done soon.

I took a shower, changed my clothes,
I even shaved my face.
I thought it had been long enough,
But still I had to wait.

I checked again at half past four,
Was it done? Nowhere near!
But rather than just sit around.
I went and had a beer.

An hour later, still it washed,
This machine so foul and vile.
I think somehow I must have pressed:
"Never-ending spin cycle."

But finally, my clothes were clean,
And me, I was tired.
And I could not muster the strength
To bother with the dryer.

So now I'm sitting in my dorm,
Clothes hanging like damp flags.
A part of me can't wait to get
Back home to our Maytag.