A lesson from Europe

Since Romania and Bulgaria entered the European Union in 2007, Roma have migrated in increasing numbers to western Europe in search of work and education. This has raised questions in the EU, according to the Times, “over just how open its borders ‘open borders’ are.”

The struggle of the European Union to deal justly with the Roma question serves as a reminder that foreignness is not just a legal or political issue. Rather, foreignness is also a concept, or a state of mind. Therefore, if we are to abolish foreignness, we must deal with both its concrete and its abstract aspects.

Europe has taken great strides to abolish foreignness through legal and political means. It has erased borders and freed movement throughout most of the continent. But this act has tested the extent to which Europeans truly consider one another “foreign.” Simply enacting laws is only half the struggle. A fundamental change in the way we think and interact as people is equally important in fully ridding society of otherness.

The Roma situation is one of many examples that demonstrate this reality. We cannot expect foreignness to disappear just by erasing borders. Rather, we must truly believe in the principle of unity that underlies that legislation. The greatest indicator of whether we truly believe it is if we act in a way that is consistent with that principle. This manifests itself, in the European context, in how Europe deals with the repercussions of unifying. Addressing the real social and economic discrimination Roma people face is a test to European unity.

How we deal with the Roma situation indicates to what extent we believe in the inherent oneness of humanity. It manifests the extent to which we believe the non-existence of foreignness that EU laws suggest. The only real way to allow the Roma to overcome centuries of subjugation is to abolish the long-standing attitude of foreigness toward them. Then can this abstract elimination of of prejudice materialize into actual improvements in Roma status in Europe.