Racism in Romania is directed against various minority groups, prominently
Romani people
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...
, but there are also problems with
anti-semitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
and other forms of
discrimination. In particular,
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
and the subsequent era of
communist rule
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...
both established hatred and xenophobic feelings which still influence contemporary Romanian discourse.
[
]
Roma
Belonging to the lowest social classes, the Romani are caught in a vicious circle of poverty reinforced by segregation. Prejudice against Romani people is common among the Romanians, who stereotype the Romani as being thieves, dirty and lazy.
Violence against Romani is also common in Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
, especially police brutality, such cases of excessive force being not adequately investigated or sanctioned. Several anti-Romani riots occurred in the last decades, notable of which being the 1993 Hădăreni riots
The 1993 Hădăreni riots were a series of riots in the village of Hădăreni, Mureș County, Romania, involving Romanians and Hungarians on the one side against Roma on the other side, ending with three (or four, according to some sources) Roma ...
, in which a mob of Romanians and Hungarians, in response to the killing of a Romanian by a Romani, burnt down 13 houses belonging to the Romani, lynched three Romani people and forced 130 people to flee the village.["Hadareni Journal; Death Is a Neighbor, and the Gypsies Are Terrified"](_blank)
in ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', October 27, 1993
Discrimination
The Romani are discriminated on the access to healthcare, which leads to a generally poorer health status, the life expectancy of the Romani minority being 10 years lower than the Romanian average.[Delia-Luiza Niță]
ENAR Shadow Report 2008: Racism in Romania
European Network Against Racism
The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) is an EU-wide network of anti-racist NGOs. ENAR aims to end structural racism and discrimination and advocates for equality and solidarity for all in Europe. It connects local and national anti-racist ...
Within the Romanian education system there is discrimination and segregation, which leads to higher drop-out rates and lower qualifications for the Romani students.
Segregation
In Baia Mare
Baia Mare ( , ; hu, Nagybánya; german: Frauenbach or Groß-Neustadt; la, Rivulus Dominarum) is a municipality along the Săsar River, in northwestern Romania; it is the capital of Maramureș County. The city lies in the region of Maramur ...
, Mayor Cătălin Cherecheș built a 2-metre high, 100-metre long concrete wall to separate 3 buildings where the Romani community lives from a highly circulated road, arguing that this would bring "order and discipline" into the area. Part of the Romani community agrees with the decisions as it made a safer environment for their children and fewer car accidents."Roma community segregation still plaguing Romania"
''SETimes'', July 18, 2011
History
In
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...
and
Moldavia
Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and for ...
, the Romani people were enslaved for centuries, belonging to the state, church or
boyars (nobles) until slavery was gradually abolished during the 1840s and 1850s (see
Slavery in Romania Slavery existed on the territory of present-day Romania from the founding of the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia in 13th–14th century, until it was abolished in stages during the 1840s and 1850s before the independence of the United ...
).
Anti-semitism
:
The presence of Jews in Romania is documented back to the 17th century. Since then the level of discrimination has varied. It increased sharply in the 1930s under the influence of the
Iron Guard. Romania also organized death camps for Jews in the occupied
Transnistria Governorate
The Transnistria Governorate ( ro, Guvernământul Transnistriei) was a Romanian-administered territory between the Dniester and Southern Bug, conquered by the Axis Powers from the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa and occupied from 19 Aug ...
, such as the one at
Bogdanovka
Bogdanovka was a concentration camp for Jews that was established in Transnistria Governorate by the Romanian authorities during World War II as part of the Holocaust.
Location
Three concentration camps were situated near the villages of Bogd ...
, and the Romanian Army was involved in the
1941 Odessa massacre
The Odessa massacre was the mass murder of the Jewish population of Odessa and surrounding towns in the Transnistria Governorate during the autumn of 1941 and the winter of 1942 while it was under Romanian control. It was one of the worst mass ...
.
After World War II, most of those Jews who had survived emigrated to Israel. Prejudice continued under the
Ion Iliescu
Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as President of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, Iliescu ...
government (2000-2004), although the desire to join the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
led to a greater acknowledgement of past Romanian crimes, with Iliescu finally admitting to the genocide of Romanian Jews in 2004.
Notes
References
* Viorel Achim, ''The Roma in Romanian History'', Central European University Press, Budapest, 2004.
{{Europe topic, Racism in
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
Society of Romania