STATEMENT - ANTI-DISCRIMINATION MANIFESTATION

Everyone talks about discrimination......we fight against it

On the date of November the 10th 2006, approximately 200 people took part in the first Manifestation for Solidarity, protesting on the Streets of Bucharest against all forms of discrimination.

When you can’t get a job because of your skin color, when your husband tells you to shut up because you are stupid, when you can’t hold your boyfriend’s hand because of people’s stares and remarks, when you don’t have the opportunity to go to school because you are blind, poor, or because your parents didn’t have this opportunity as well, then something has to change.

Discrimination finds itself in many situations of every day life, and most of the time we are not aware of it. It represents a platform for sustaining hierarchies, in a society that is in constant division into groups of majority and minority. When discrimination is ignored, tolerated, accepted or encouraged, it makes room for certain groups to exercise their superiority over others, hiding behind the concept of normality.
At the present date, many types of discrimination are being practiced in Romania, helping to outcast certain social groups, based on gender, orientation, social, economical or ethnical criteria.

The situation of the Roma population has not changed, despite the many programs ran by governmental and non-governmental organizations, intending to socially an economically integrate them. Catalogued as ‘gypsies’, their access to education, work and economical stability, as well as political participation, is still limited formally as well as informally.

Even though they are not legally incriminated anymore since the year 2000, gay couples do not benefit of certain rights and are considered abnormal by the majority of the population. As an example we could remember the counter-manifestations of the ultranationalists, the football supporters and the Christian conservatives against the Gay Parades of 2005 and 2006.

The nationalist conflicts between Romanians and Hungarians, or the racial prejudices against people of color, are just a few examples of discrimination in the society. Also, the socio-economical out casting of elderly or disabled people is also considered to be a form of discrimination.

Being aware of these problems, an informal group of youths got together in the fall of 2006 in order to organize an action that would help bring all these problems into the attention of the general public. Starting from simple discussions about discrimination in its present social context, they decided to organize an activist day which would include a manifestation and a concert for human solidarity.
As a symbolic date, the date after the 9th of November – the international day against racism, nationalism and anti-Semitism was chosen to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. The contribution of Romanian authorities to the slaughter of Jewish and Roma people is a subject that is not much talked and known about in Romania at present.

Under the slogan: “Normality? No, thank you!” a great number of flyers, posters and a press release was handed out on the streets of Bucharest, while, through the use of the Internet, people from outside Bucharest and from abroad were informed about the event about to take place.

Different organizations that fight for the rights of minorities were invited to contribute with ideas and materials. Also a series of articles and illustrations related to discrimination were collected and put together in the form of a brosure.

On November the 20th, around 200 people, a lot more than the organizers were expecting, got together in the center of Bucharest in order to demonstrate for solidarity and against all forms of discrimination. Messages such as: “Each one with their own normality” and “All different, all equal” were written on banners, and slogans like: “No one is illegal” or “A single race – the human race” were shouted on the crowded streets of Bucharest.

Pedestrians showed interest as well as some restraint, especially when they received flyers containing information about the manifestation. The National TV station broadcasted the event live, and the mass-media took interviews of activists and by passers.
It was the first time that Bucharest hosted such an event.

On the spot where the Holocaust Victims’ Memorial will be built a speech was held, making the reasons and purposes of the manifestation public. This was followed by an invitation to the concerts about to follow.
Later on, the club was full of people watching films or listening to concerts. All the bands invited have socially positive lyrics, and accepted the invitation as a form of solidarity with the purpose of the action, performing voluntarily.

Taking into account the fact that the event was organized in a rather short period of time, by a small number of people that did not have access to a big budget, the event can be considered a great success and a good example of non-governmental and not-profit organization, for a common purpose.
As self criticism, the organizers noticed the small number of participants that are part of the discriminated groups. This is due to poor prior mediation of the event.
Analyzing the impact of the action, the group of activists decided to organize similar events constantly (periodically), in order to inform the population about discrimination and the necessity of their involvement in solving these problems.
The event was initiated and organized by the following NGOs and informal groups:
Aqvarius Association, Accept, The Press Monitoring Agency, Komunitas Association, Romani Criss, Amare Rromentza Roma Centre, The Centre of Resources for Public Participation, D MEDIA, Indymedia Romania, Ladyfest Romania, The National Oganization of Disabled People in Romania, The Female Refugees’ Organisation, UNITED Network (European network against racism, fascism and nationalism and for the support of immigrants and refugees), You and Me and the bands performing: Pavilionul 32, Nihilistic, Mohawks, Tep Zepi, Buzz, Aku.