Doing a Disservice to Ethnic Minorities

The following response was originally published by the European Voice. James A. Goldston is executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative.

By suggesting that "It is time to abolish the concept of ethnic minorities" (October 29-November 4), the European Voice's columnist ignores Europe's past and present, and does a disservice to its readers.

References to "cricket" and "cultural festivals" trivialize what is at stake. Throughout Europe, Roma, Turks, Moroccans, south Asians, and other ethnic minorities face violence, discrimination, and hate speech. In the past year alone, at least six Roma have been killed in Hungary, and attacks against Roma have been reported in the Czech Republic, Italy, and Romania.

Just because prejudice is not rational, does not make it any less real. It is hardly novel to note that members of a minority group may not all speak the same language, come from the same place, or look alike. They may not even agree that they are members of the same group. But that did not stop the Nazis from killing "Jews" who did not consider themselves "Jewish."

Nor does it protect minorities today. To take just one example, as my organization has documented, police across much of the EU target minorities for stops and searches based on unfounded stereotypes that associate "gypsies," "Muslims," and others with criminality.

Finally, equal justice sometimes requires taking account of difference. In ethnically diverse societies, good governance means measuring the impact of unintentional as well as overt discrimination, affirmatively integrating schools scarred by decades of segregation, and designing policies responsive to the vulnerabilities of the neediest. Blindly refusing to acknowledge the persistence of discrimination dooms its victims to continued suffering.