Roma Lives Matter II

The outcry Roma lives matter! marked the year 2021, just as it had marked 2020. The reasons that brought to this are manifold: the police murder of Stanislav Tomaš from the Czech Republic and all the premature and invisible Roma deaths and sicknesses produced by the state neglect during the pandemic that are not revealed by the statistics, among others. Antiziganism and racism, as inherent forms of capitalism, continued to show their bare faces in 2021, thus creating context for fundamental societal inequalities to further flourish during the pandemic.

The pandemic world paints its “grey on grey”. Yet, the question is if a self-organized resistance will finally result as the oppressed reflect on this pandemic world.

The Roma activists write this year’s texts in such tone: the tone of rethinking the overall social grayness. They attempt to offer some directions for further actions. The conclusions of these texts vary, some are more skeptical and reserved, others offer concrete proposals. The proposals are not, of course, a magic wand for the Roma communities but are a more realistic framework for solving the issues than the declarative ones offered by the state.

Download the publication