Roma Emancipation: 160 years on

  1. Lacrimi de Chiciură
    Lacrimi de Chiciură
    Lasho ges amala,

    The abolition of slavery in Wallachia and Moldavia (proto-Romania) on February 20, 1856 is recognized as a holiday in Romania since 2011. A few weeks ago was the 160th anniversary. The recently appointed Prime Minister Dacian Cioloș gave a speech that was relatively well received. What do you think of it? How should the slavery period be remembered?

    Video of the speech in Romanian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs8hDrdMLkE
    Text in English: http://gov.ro/en/news/prime-minister...principalities

    Address by Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos at the debate on “160 years since the liberation of Roma in Romanian Principalities”



    Dacian Ciolos: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! I am here to say that our history has some less honorable parts for us, but, they can be understood to a certain extent from the angle of those times. Anyhow, Roma enslavement is one of those times that we need to remember especially as it came to an end, at a certain time. Tomorrow, it is 160 years since the liberation of Roma. After 500 years of servitude, the law promulgated by ruler Barbu Stirbei, on February 20, 1856, concluded a process necessary for the integration of Romanian Principalities amid European civilized states. Some 26 years ago, this liberation process even if it took place formally, unfortunately, was not concluded at social level. Things evolved on one and the other side of the Romanian society, the Romanian society accustomed to great cultural diversity, with great ethnic diversity, but unfortunately, there remained in our mentality many traces of that period, traces of tolerance difficult to integrate, traces of reflexes that were socially perpetuated from one generation to another. For about 26 years now, Roma were recognized as a minority and, consequently, public policies have evolved in this regard. And maybe the preparation of Romania for EU membership has pushed us, at least formally, to integrate in another manner the issue of minorities in general and our relationship, Romanian citizens, with respect to the Romanian citizens of Roma origin. But I think all these administrative steps, even financial, as Secretary of State at the Ministry of European Funds said, that the state and government are struggling these years, making huge efforts to integrate Roma, I think all the administrative efforts are not sufficient and, anyway, they cannot replace the effort each of us needs to do to integrate first tolerance in our attitude, to recognize the diversity that we have in society as an asset. We see what is happening around us today when we are deprived of tolerance. Any focus only on oneself, any identification of oneself in opposition to the other, does not help us either as individuals or as a society, to have a better life, to live in peace. And from this point of view, I think the best thing we can do now, 160 years after the administrative liberation, is to make each of us, an effort of mental emancipation too. And here I refer to you, Romanian citizens of Roma origin. This mental emancipation is essential to make social integration and acceptance, a reality.

    I want to tell you that at the government level, at the level of my team, I have many Roma friends that I did not recruit to offer a good picture, I know, statistics on the presence of Roma in the government or the administration, I recruited them because people really are competent and that they can contribute to the progress of Romanian society overall. But this kind of practical integration done every day by our gestures, I think it may lead to an evolution. Beyond that, surely, public policy and legislative support are needed, financial support, because we have to recognize, the problems of poverty prevail more among Romanian Roma than the rest of citizens. There, we have a higher infant mortality than the Romanian average and still higher than the European average, and from this view, we have to act so that all these policies which are implemented by administrative authorities, to bear results. I can tell you from experience that all these administrative policies, the funds we mobilize will not bear results unless there is willingness by both parties and of those enforcing these policies, and those receiving them. On the other hand, as I told, it is needed a mental liberation effort, and social integration from Roma citizens, the overall society, to accept the difference until it aids society to evolve, and I am sure that from this standpoint, things evolve and will evolve to the extent we know to acknowledge our limitations and to overcome them. On the other hand, the Roma issue is one which needs to be approached beyond any ethnic origin, or minority from one or other country, we need to have the courage to approach it as an issue of culture, at European level and to admit the fact that Roma have a specific culture and as long this culture manages to integrate or join the general cultures in the EU, we have but to win in recognizing their specificity and in helping them to capitalize on them.

    Therefore, I cannot but advise you, dear friends to be proud, to recognize, and to be proud of your culture, and accept together with us, with the rest of society, the effort to continue the process of mental and heart liberation, because, only this way, we can fully find one another, irrespective of any administrative decision. Thank you!