tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180592942896724433.post6397427497332051785..comments2023-12-13T05:02:37.426-05:00Comments on Pushed to the Left and Loving It: If Vic Toews Had Lived Then ...Emily Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08354341672810615468noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7180592942896724433.post-41601567246156078422011-06-19T18:06:50.561-04:002011-06-19T18:06:50.561-04:00There was a BBC documentary shown on CBC Newsworld...There was a BBC documentary shown on CBC Newsworld many years ago which I never forgot. It was called "What Magdalena Said". Made in 1993, it explored the relationship between Czechs and Roma; here is a summary:<br /><br /> "What Magdalena Said. Dir. Michael Stewart BBC1, 49 minutes,1994 Czech-Slovak, England. In 1993 the runner up at the Miss Czech-Slovak competition, Magdalena Babicka, won worldwide notoriety when she decclared that her life-time ambition was to become a public prosecutor, in order to cleanse her town of 'its brown-skinned inhabitants.' Social Anthropologist, Michael Stewart, who had lived in a Romany settlement in Hungary under communism, took a film crew (camera Barry Ackroyd) to Magdalena's home town to explore the roots of a beauty queen's racist attitudes. There, just as the Czech and Slovak Republics were celebrating their 'velvet divorce', he discovered a Romany family living under a bush in the public park, having - as Slovaks - just lost their right to reside in the Czech Republic. The film follows the trials and tribulations of members of this family and Magdalena's mother who takes us into the dark past of this part of the world. "<br /><br />There is no doubt that Czech Roma are discriminated against: "...surveys do show anti-Roma sentiment is widespread. The European Union EURoma website says Czech Romas endure extremely high unemployment rates, low educational standards, isolation, and the prejudices of the majority population."<br /><br />There can also be little doubt that Jason Kenney would have been briefed about that little girl who had been firebombed; his determination that Czech Roma are just "opportunitistic" asylum seekers came at the same time.<br /><br />The little girl lived. But she still suffers, and likely has much suffering still ahead of her.<br /><br />http://articles.cnn.com/2010-06-25/world/roma.prejudice_1_arson-attack-molotov-cocktail-attack-anti-roma?_s=PM:WORLD<br /><br />http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-20/world/czech.republic.arson.verdict_1_arson-attack-racist-attack-anti-roma?_s=PM:WORLD<br /><br />Yeah, right Jason... Roma in the Czech Republic are just making it up...Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03802413388410295231noreply@blogger.com