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From the ArchivesTransforming token integration into good faith: Martin Luther King talks to Czechoslovak Radio
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the
true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that
all men are created equal.’” The unforgettable words of Dr Martin
Luther King Jr., delivered on August 28 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial in Washington DC. The speech, addressed to a crowd of a quarter of
a million, was a defining moment in the American civil rights movement, and
its echoes reached as far as communist Eastern Europe. In Czechoslovakia
the civil rights movement had already aroused considerable interest, and
not just because of the pleasure that the regime took in pointing to
America’s shortcomings; Czechoslovak Radio's correspondent in the United States,
Karel Kyncl, had already interviewed Dr King in March of that
same year. Here is a short extract from the interview, where Dr
King has just been outlining the progress made so far in ending
segregation:
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Current AffairsDeputy PM's Roma plan raises eyebrows
Jíří Čunek, the country’s Deputy PM and Minister for Regional
Development has been in trouble several times for his actions and
statements regarding Czech Roma. This week, the Christian Democrat leader
announced a plan to solve the so-called Roma problem within 10 years. The
solution, to segregate Roma into various categories according to their
willingness to be “civilized” has raised some eyebrows.
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Current AffairsExtreme right groups parody Czech charity website in anti-immigration drive
A newly created internet page www.chceteje.cz, has attracted the attention
of Czech police for its xenophobic and potentially illegal content. The
website, which roughly translates as "Do you want them?", and
refers to immigrants in the Czech Republic, attacks people from foreign
backgrounds through coarse stereotyping and racial slurs. Its creators have
clearly set it up as a counter-attack against, and a parody of, a website
run by the Czech NGO People in Need as part of their ongoing campaign to
highlight and explain the problem of neo-Nazism. Jamie Brindley has the
story.
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Current AffairsSenator accused of defamation retains political immunity
The Czech Senate’s immunity committee decided on Tuesday not to hand
independent Senator Liana Janáčková over for prosecution. Mrs
Janáčková stands accused of defamation, after saying that the
country’s Roma population should, among other things, be ‘blown up’.
The decision has provoked outcry amongst Romany rights groups, who say that
the move gives a green light to public displays of racism.
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Talking PointThe Czech Republic and the rise of social exclusion
“I’m standing in an area of Prague which is quite close to Prague’s
main train station – Hlavní Nádraží. This is an area which has been
described as one of the worst areas of Prague in terms of poverty and
destitution, but looking round, it looks quite normal to me – there’s a
hotel here; there’s shops; there’s all sorts of normal things that
you’d expect. So the impression one gets is that poverty isn’t really
an issue in Prague if this is as bad as it gets. But that doesn’t really
paint the full picture. To the north and to the east of the country, you
have ghettoisation and it is becoming an increasing problem. So the
question I’m asking is just how bad is poverty, ghettoisation and social
exclusion? The government has recently set up a taskforce to deal with the
issue – and that’s what I’ll be exploring.”
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Current AffairsMohammed Abbas: anti-Islamic provocations fuel mistrust
In the past couple of weeks two incidents have threatened to disturb the
peaceful coexistence between Czechs and the country’s Muslim community,
centred mainly in the Moravian city of Brno. First, the city was plastered
overnight with posters depicting the controversial Danish caricature of the
prophet Mohammed which sparked violent protests across the Muslim world.
And then last week the ultra-right National Party placed the controversial
anti-Qur’an film Fitna by the rightwing Dutch MP Geert Wilders on its web
page.
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Current AffairsHip-hop musician Gipsy appointed ambassador for minorities
The singer for the popular Czech Roma band Gipsy.cz, which plays an
explosive mixture of hip-hop and traditional Romany music, has taken on a
new - for his fans perhaps somewhat surprising - role. This week the
minister in charge of human rights, Dzamila Stehlikova, appointed
Gipsy.cz's Radoslav "Gipsy" Banga ambassador for minorities as
part of the European Year of Equal Opportunities.
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PanoramaRoma media organisations from around Europe meet in Prague
There are some 8-10 million Romany people in the world and most of them are
living in eastern and central Europe. It is therefore natural that after
the fall of communism, the role of the Roma media became imperative. In
the 1990s, it was instrumental in influencing the way information about
the ethnic community was processed. But today, it is getting harder and
harder for Roma media to exist. With a lack of finances and pressure from
the state and their own people, Romany journalists say they are fighting a
constant battle.
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