MINELRES: Radio Prague: Tolerance 2003 campaign aims at fighting racism

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: Felix Corley <fcorley@ndirect.co.uk>


Radio Prague
http://www.radio.cz
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01.10.2003 - Current Affairs - Dita Asiedu
Tolerance 2003 campaign aims at fighting racism 
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This autumn, the Czech government started another national campaign
aimed at combating xenophobia and racism. Very much like last year's
campaign, Tolerance 2003 focuses on two areas - delivering free books on
ethnic minorities to public libraries and promoting discussion among
students on racial stereotypes. Under what's called the Tolerance Ride,
ethnically mixed teams of foreigners, refugees, asylum seekers, the Roma
- as well as members of the majority population - travel around the
country to share their experiences, customs and cultures with secondary
school students. Dita Asiedu spoke to the Czech Republic's Human Rights
Commissioner Jan Jarab:  
  
"Well, of course the stereotypes mainly concern the Roma and there are
also stereotypes, which concern Ukrainians, Africans, and Asians,
although the Africans and Asians were not that much part of our society
so we don't have any historically fixed stereotypes and roles. But there
is a kind of a general mistrust. Czechs start out in almost every
situation with deep scepticism. It has served them well under the
dictatorship but towards foreigners, migrants, asylum seekers and
minorities, it can be seen as cold and hostile. When the people then
react in kind, then the Czech public says 'we told you, we knew it, the
other people are the problem. We didn't do anything against them but
stare and not greet them and now they are making a problem.' So, it is
this closed set of mind, which we see not just in relation to minorities
or foreigners but in relation to all things new." 
  
But wouldn't you say that most Czechs with stereotypes are older? 
  
"Surely. I'm afraid that it is far more difficult to influence
middle-aged and older people and even to find a mechanism to do it, to
get them into a group where they could be addressed. So, one of the
possibilities, of course, is through the public libraries. As we know,
who goes to public libraries are the very young and the very old. We're
quite proud of the part of the project that concerns public libraries
because it is something to stay." 
  
So would you say that the main reason why people here in the Czech
Republic have stereotypes is not because they are racist but simply
because there is a lack of information?  
  
"I think that there are many people in this society who are racist. But
that racism is not the root cause of Czech xenophobia as such. The root
cause is a kind of closed mind, the deep provincialism of our people,
which is linked to simply having very superficial knowledge or ideas of
what the other people are like." 
    

Source: Czech Radio 7, Radio Prague
URL: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/45822
Copyright 2003 Radio Prague