Czech Xenophobia

Either with us or against us...

18. 5. 2010 / Fabiano Golgo

Sociologist Ivan Gabal has shown how adult Czechs basically distinguish three categories of foreigners. The first includes those "capital" foreigners, who are seen as acceptable in cultural terms (e.g. Americans, French, Germans). The second group is the so-called "relations" (Slovaks, Czech emigres, Jews), towards whom the attitude is somewhat mixed but who are still seen as acceptable although "foreign". The third group, however, is made up of Arabs, Vietnamese, Chinese, people from the former Yugoslavia, Russians, Ukrainians, Blacks and particularly the Roma, who - despite their long residence and Czech citizenship - are seen by Czechs today as the most foreign 'foreigners'. Gabal sees Czechs' xenophobic attitudes as originating primarily in the ideal of cultural, ethnic and national homogeneity, from a degree of self-centredness and from a repressive approach to immigration and the settlement of foreigners.

It is revealing that I am getting angry reactions even days after it was not even online anymore the article I wrote arguing that the Soviet troops did not come with messianic reasons to liberate Czechoslovakia from the Nazis, instead just came secure Stalin's share of post-War Europe.

I have studied cultural anthropology and came almost 15 years ago to research this country, for which I have been in touch for over a decade with a group of almost one hundred Czechs representing all ages, all existing local social backgrounds and from each of the regional group samples. Not to mention that I have had up close witnessing experiences all this time with my boyfriends and their families, with whom I do what every Czech does in local festivities, typical events and relationship-wise.

My closest friend and neighbor from the age of 9 was Ivo Brhlík, son of Czech parents, who immigrated to Brazil in 1968. I heard Czech language everyday, while visiting him and having some koláč or ovocné knedlíky. Expressions like "tivole" and sentences like "ale to nejde!", which were uttered by them constantly, have been part of my life since that time. All my adolescence I followed the news about Czechoslovakia and devoured books about the country. So, how dare someone tells me I should reserve myself to commenting the country I was born in, but left when I was 19? I have spent more time abroad than in Brazil. I more than entitled to talk about Czech behavior, politics, culture and history. And my opinion is one of an expert, not that of some foreigner who compares it with his own country. I talk and write as a very well seasoned and prepared specialist on the local mentality.

Those who tell me to go back to Brazil to comment my own country and insist I am not able to understand what went on with this nation are just ignoramuses. One does not have to be Greek nor have been alive in Aristoteles' time to understand and write about Greek history. A British journalist can very well - and possibly better - write about the United States. As an unattached observer, my view is much clearer than that of a local, who sees things blurred by his own emotions and image self-preservation instincts.

After expelling a couple of million Germans the Czech lands became one of the racially cleanest areas of Europe. Besides the few Greek and Vietnamese (brought from the Greek civil war and the Vietnam war) and a couple thousand students from Communist-friendly Lybia, Algeria, Cuba, etc., there was no significant foreign migration to speak of. Czechs have simply not seen foreigners up close for a long time - and the memories of those who had, in the past, taught to not trust them.

Human history has been interwoven with constant skirmishing between different groups, then individuals have long had good reasons to be wary of those who are seen as different. This is the function of xenophobia. Xenophobia and racism can be understood as appeals to a pact of solidarity of an ethnicized or "national" community, when it feels is at risk of social upheaval, particularly from the point of view of those groups whose position in society is under threat. For these marginalized groups inter-ethnic differences represent an insurmountable barrier, and they therefore do not see foreigners as legitimate competitors in the search for jobs, living space, but also the opinion arena. Foreigners are not welcome to share their ideas, for they may be toxic to the local soil.

It probably comes down to exposure. When you spend time around certain people, you learn that they're not all that different from you. And when you grow up with them the thought never even crosses your mind. Being from a multicultural background and knowing how well I know the Czech nation, I will continue to give my opinion and share my views, regardless of the xenophobic instincts from some readers or colleagues.

Vytisknout