Jan Houška: Roma in the Czech Republic are ignoring the slow rise of racism and xenophobia
You may have heard the story of the frog that lets itself be boiled alive if you warm up the water it's in slowly enough. The creature simply does not notice that the temperature is slowly but surely rising and does not react as it would if you were to throw it into boiling water - in that case it would jump out.
This is called “boiling frog syndrome”. It indicates an inability or unwillingness to react to or realize threats which do not appear suddenly, but arrive on the scene slowly and gradually grow.
I think that given both contemporary events concerning the Roma in the Czech Republic as well as historical ones, this syndrome is an exact description of the situation in which Czech Roma are living. Once upon a time we were thrown into such a pot and for decades the generally accepted, institutional, latent racism and xenophobia has been heating up here.
From the end of the Second World War, through the “socialist” era, through the decades of parliamentary democracy, Romani people have been thrown into this “pot” and labeled as the “inadaptables”, the ones who don’t work, on the principle of collective guilt. Simply put, they have been labeled a problem.
Even though it’s absolute nonsense, Romani people have grown used to politicians speaking this way, from saying Roma should be shot to claiming this society is “generous” to this minority. Racist statements toward us Roma have become the norm.
However, most Romani people remain indifferent to this, believing it is of just marginal concern to them. Maybe in private they express their disagreement with it, but generally they behave as if the water in the pot isn’t already too hot – so there’s no need to jump.
Those involved with addressing the issues of Romani people in the Czech Republic are even part of persuading us that it’s good to stay in the pot, that we can be glad the Romani community isn’t in hot water yet, and that we basically have to get used to “the heat”. Those who overcome their “boiling frog syndrome” are usually labeled revolutionaries or people who don’t understand the situation.
I hope that if the moments Romani people have already experienced countless times in their history do come to pass, we will be able to recognize the water is boiling and us along with it – or even better, that we will not be content to be thrown around wherever by whomever.
