The Roma, Europe's new scapegoats

The journalist Gad Lerner ponders the situation of the Roma in Italy. "The Roma are not 'politically correct': their high level of alcohol consumption, their nomadic existence, unemployment and criminality cannot be denied. All of this is frightening and causes generalisations that would be unthinkable if applied to anyone else. They are all considered guilty, because of the way they act, their cultural tradition. ... But one thing needs to be made quite clear: Roma cannot be considered like human detritus. They cannot be wiped out without, that is, resorting to the idea of extermination. This isn't such a far-fetched notion. Our moral code is step by step leading us in that direction, as we accept sweeping generalisations. Who, at the beginning of the XXth century, would have imagined that hostility towards the then 'guilty' people would escalate into the 'final solution'?"

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