{mosimage}{mosimage}
EQUALITY, NOT RACISM
To remember the 69 people who were killed during a protest against racist apartheid policies on March 21, 1960 in Sharpeville, South Africa, the General Assembly of the Council of Europe decided to proclaim March 21 The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
From March 17 to 25, individuals, nongovernmental organizations, and state institutions all over the world will conduct activities to inform the public about the problem of racism in their local area.
Unfortunately, this year, Serbia is a country in which racial intolerance is very widespread. This prejudice is directed primarily at Roma people, but also at members of other ethnic, religious, and marginalized groups who, because of specific physical or cultural traits, are distinct from the dominant society.
The nationalist propaganda disseminated during the 1990s in Serbia has numerous consequences even today; racism is only one of them. In Serbia, one of the most visible consequences is racism’s effect on the members of the Roma community.
The slogan for this year’s celebration of March 21 is ‘EQUALITY!’ This slogan demands that all people have equal access to information, equal possibilities, and equal life chances.
People with different skin colors experience discrimination and violence daily in their surroundings. This discrimination and violence is perpetuated by neighbors and fellow citizens, as well as state institutions and representatives.
On this occasion, we wish to note some actual cases:
• The brutal murder of a young Roma man in Boljevci, a Belgrade suburb.
• At the beginning of February, a police officer came to make a report of a traffic accident. Once he arrived one of the people involved in the accident said, ‘the gypsies are becoming too proud and getting uppity.’
• In the middle of March of this year, in Bela Reka, near Šapac, a shopkeeper slapped a nine year old Roma girl who he suspected of wanting to steal a lollypop.
Cases like these occur frequently. Some statistics show that cases of racial discrimination are reported an average of one every other day.
As in previous years, Women in Black and The Queeria Center organize will organize an action to mark this day. It will occur on March 21 at 3pm in Belgrade’s Republic Square.
It is necessary that our Assembly adopt a general anti-discrimination law and that it recognizes and criminalizes hate crimes. It is necessary to work on overcoming the systematic mechanisms of the former regime whose influence makes it impossible to create democratic politics and a cultural climate which includes equality for all citizens of Serbia.
Women in Black, Belgrade
The Queeria Center, Belgrade
