Assimilationist vs. Multiculturalist Approaches to Greece's Roma

AIM Athens, February 29, 2000

To be --a minority-- or not to be? This paraphrase of Shakespeare's well-known words seems to encapsulate half of Greece's "Doctors' of the World"'s scientific symposium on Roma last January. Most probably, another Shakespearean paraphrase encapsulates the other half: there seems to be "something rotten" in the Panhellenic Federation of Greek Roma Associations...

On January 15, 2000, Doctors of the World-Greece organized a rather eventful scientific symposium entitled "Gypsy Populations in Europe: From Social Exclusion to Violation of Human Rights." In many ways the meeting was a success. It established itself as a forum where normative approaches to difference are discussed and suppressed rivalries are expressed openly. A University of Ioanina team is in charge of the education program on Roma, which has been underway under the auspices of the Ministry of Education for three years now. The team talked about what can be considered as the prevailing "assimilationist trend" in Greece, a blend of liberal nationalism and ethnocentrism that undermines the importance of diversity in ethnicity, language, religion and culture, so as to "integrate not yet assimilated social groups." Years ago, the prevailing trend was to keep such groups marginal.

In essence, both approaches are contrary to multiculturalism as they regard diversity as a potential threat, a problem, rather than a sign of wealth. At the symposium, as well as later, during their third annual meeting in Ioanina (January 28 and 29, 2000), the university's program associates made references to "the plague of ethnicism/ culturalism." Professor Athanasios Gotovos, who is in charge of the program, claimed that supporters of "ethnicism," i.e. the multiculturalists, falsely portray Roma as a group of people different from the rest of society. According to him, this is done through the use of words like 'minority' and 'race.' In general, their "discourse on minorities is obstetrical, leading to the construction of minorities rather than the mere observation of them" argued Mr. Gotovos, using as an example theorists like Anderson, Gellner and Danforth. He paid particular attention to Danforth's thesis on "the allegedly existing Macedonian minority." "The term minority implies a certain homogeneity which does not exist in reality... In the name of the respect for diversity, the supporters of ethnicism legitimize ghetto policies" stated Mr. Gotovos. According to him, cultural pluralism demands ghetto policies in education with separate books, classes and schools; similar policies in housing imply construction models like the self-managed camps for Roma, which are "strange sophisticated ghettos." Mr. Gotovos finished his speech by calling the supporters of these ideas "stupid and dangerous," and advocating solutions "originally inspired by the Nazis." An associate of Mr. Gotovos, Mr. Dafermakis, moved even further saying that all those involved in the advocacy of Roma' rights are "pimps." On the same bandwidth was the position of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Theodoros Pangalos. He stated that Roma are one of the "unassimilated groups" in contemporary Greece (Ta Nea, February 14, 2000).

Not surprisingly, unlike other Roma education programs throughout Europe, the program of the University of Ioanina is based more on the undermining of the differences, rather than on the empowerment of Roma identity. Preparatory classes are solely in Greek. Romanes is completely left out of the pilot project, as well as out of the recommendations on an education strategy for the near future. As clearly stated by Mr. Gotovos and his associates, the aim of the existing program is to "minimize the importance of people's cultural background as a contributing element to the organization of the class." In other words, the aim is to make Greek Roma less Roma and more Greek.

Traditionally, Roma in Greece have tried to claim for their rights through "fragmentary" leadership and clientelistic relations with the governors. Theodoros Pangalos reaffirmed that point by saying, "Gypsies deal with politics only to trade their votes in an anachronistic and fruitless way" (Ta Nea, February 14, 2000). Keeping this in mind, the attitude of the Panhellenic Federation of Greek Roma Associations is hardly surprising. "We are not interested whether Prime Minister Costas Simitis, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Papandreou and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constnatinoplecall us 'minority.' We are Greek Gypsies," stated the President of the Roma Federation, Christos Lambrou, stressing the adjectival use of the term "Roma/Gypsy." "I do not think that Gypsies constitute a minority" stated Herakles Kalamiotes in a protest letter, indirectly opposing the organizers' position expressed in the symposium's agenda: "Gypsies: Second Class Citizens or Cultural Minority?" On the very last day before the symposium, Herakles Kalamiotes, the only tent-dweller board member of the Roma Federation, who was invited to be among the panelists, chose not to participate in the symposium. Instead, he sent a letter with the request that it be publicly read by Freddy Stamos from the Prime Minister's Office for Quality of Life. Besides the paradox that a Roma tent-dweller and NGO leader aksed to be 'represented' by a government adviser, Herakles Kalamiotes' letter conveyed his reservations about participating in a symposium which would make him look "folkloric." He also complained that the Federation was not given the recognition of a full participant.

The organizers' gave a straightforward response to the critical remarks on the Federation's exclusion from the panels. The selection of the speakers was not dictated by any public relations protocol. Doctors of the World did not feel obliged to invite the Federation and pay tribute to a body that they think is bogus. "Why should we invite the Federation to talk about Roma tent-dwellers when it has never set foot in a Roma camp? We have not seen the Federation there when the authorities were burning shanties in Aspropyrgos, when Roma children were about to get drowned in the flooded bed of the Galikos River, when evictions were taking place all over Greece, in the camps of Evosmos, Ioanina and Nea Alikarnasos? Where was the Federation when tent-dwellers were suing the local and prefecture authorities in Thessaloniki and Crete?"

Doctors of the World were right in their criticism. The Federation was never around when needed to voice problems and suggest solutions. On October 1, 1999, at a conference entitled "Asoun Man: Promoting the Social Integration of Roma" organized by "Save the Children-Greece," Christos Lambrou had insolently stated that embarrassing the Greek government and denouncing problems -especially in international fora and organizations- was not among the Federation's aims. At this very same meeting, Christos Lambrou had verbally attacked Greek Helsinki Monitor for presenting reports with references to Roma rights violations.

A month later, the President's (in)action spoke louder than his words: although invited, the Federation was not represented at the briefing on human rights of the Greek Member of European Parliament and member of the EU Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties and Human Rights Anna Karamanou. Further on, the Federation -although invited- did not attend the Round Table on Racism and Xenophobia organized jointly by the Greek delegations to the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and to the European Union's Monitoring Center of Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC). They also failed to attend the meetings of the Monitoring Center's NGO European Network Against Racism (ENAR).

Instead, Mr. Lambrou accepted to participate in the informal advisory committee dealing with the funding of housing schemes on Roma and staffed by cadres of the Interior Ministry, other competent ministries, the Inter-municipal Network 'ROM' and the Prime Minister's Office for Quality of Life. With the exception the Prime Minister's Office for Quality of Life, all other members of the committee, including the Federation itself, were directly or indirectly implicated by the Greek delegation to the OSCE last September as bearing the responsibility for the grave situation of Roma rights in Greece. "...The rate of change is frustratingly slow... reaching consent is extremely difficult when one has to deal with a social group, which does not easily speak with one voice... another serious obstacle is the prejudice towards Gypsies... which acquires even more frightening and dangerous dimensions when expressed by police officers or elected officials." With its participation in the committee, the Federation legitimized a policy, which admittedly had no real results. A few months ago, in his answer to the Progressive Left Coalition MP Maria Damanakis, the Deputy Minister of the Interior Mr. Florides, defended the ministry's policy by invoking the Federation's tacit blessing. "In cooperation with ROM Network, the Panhellenic Federation of Greek Roma Associations and others, the Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization is carrying out a program to deal effectively with the problem." Regrettably, the Federation's leadership is reminiscent of previous attempts at Roma leadership, for which Theodore Pangalos wrote, "the trade of arbitrary representation has flourished: Presidents, 'chiefs' and 'kings' succeeded one another to satisfy the need of the 'balamo' [as Greeks are called in Romanes] for exoticism." (op.cit.).

Without even knowing what had been debated in the symposium, the President of the "Progressive Left Coalition," Mr. Konstantopoulos, in his closing speech entitled "Gypsies: a European Minority" countered the assimilationists by addressing the Roma: "The expression 'you are not a minority, you are like us' is an excuse for multiple discrimination at your expense ... the recognition of Roma as a cultural minority is an act of civility; Roma are a minority in the cultural and sociological sense of the term."

Christina Rougheri