Sticks, stones and names
07 December 1999
Claude Cahn
There is a saying in English that "sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me." The human rights traditions and the legal instruments in which human rights values have been enshrined have in great measure tended to respond to this logic. We take violence to be among the greatest evils, and tend not to regard speech as violence, or at most we regard speech as violence of a lower order: violence moves us in a way that speech, even hate speech, does not.
As human rights advocates, we are advocates of free speech. We recognize the virtue in the many international laws that have established as fundamental the right to hold and freely express opinions. We find the value in this liberty intrinsic. Additionally, we recognize the force of arguments on the utility of free speech: suppressing opinions makes villains into heroes; fosters extremist viewpoints; and hinders reasonable individuals from engaging in open public discussion.
Nevertheless, a pronounced ambivalence remains. In part this ambivalence flows from the awareness of the events in Rwanda in 1994, in which one state-controlled radio station played a pivotal role in provoking genocide. As advocates of free speech, we are always faced with the question of 'where are we now?" How close are the widely shared racist opinions to provoking mass violence against Roma in Europe? In part, too, we are aware that our description of speech as not-quite-violence might not be accurate; speech is painful. One Romani activist found the stigma of the phrase "Goddam Gypsy" so powerful that he used it as the title of a book.
How then, does the European Roma Rights Center respond to the complicated issues involving hate speech, the media, and public opinion in central and eastern Europe since pervasive censorship was rejected in the events of 1989 and ethnic hatred returned to play a forceful role in European societies? Several years ago, the ERRC was confronted by a prominent European Romani activist who advocated the prosecution of hate speech under the provisions of his country's criminal code which prohibit genocide. A recent poll in that country among university students indicated that 42% of them advocate expelling all Roma from the country. Were we wrong to attempt to persuade the activist that free speech is a fundamental civil right? In 1997, we were shocked when the mayor of one district of a major city in the same country offered to pay the airplane fares of Roma who wished to emigrate, if they would turn in their rental contracts, effectively giving up their housing. But we were also shocked when one of the leading daily newspapers of that European country granted the mayor a front-page interview.
The ERRC has never been involved in bringing a lawsuit against a newspaper. Our advocacy efforts in the field of media have been focused elsewhere. We have seen the importance of including Romani journalists in mainstream newspaper, and place high value on publishing the Romani voice. We have sought to promote active anti-racist mediaűż˝ mainstream media that are consciously aware of their role in fostering stereotypes and work to combat them. We have seen the media as our best allies in changing public opinion on Roma and we have pressed journalists to recognize the importance of their role in fighting racism. We have sought, as one author in this issue of Roma Rights put it, "advocacy media".
Law may not put an end to racism, but the media might. The role recently played by media in Britain during the case of Stephen Lawrence indicates the power media have to expose the role of race where it is often denied, and to hold a society up to its public for scrutiny. The ERRC will continue to endorse Romani activists who demand retractions when Roma have been cruelly portrayed by the press. We will continue to act as press watchdog and demand that media correct misleading information promoting anti-Romani sentiment. We will continue to use media as a tool in the struggle against racism. And we will continue, as the violence against Roma continues unabated in Kosovo, to wonder whether our position on hate speech is correct.
