By officially abolishing #Romaslavery in 1856 politicians such a M Kogălniceanu could claim that Romanians were 'civilised', 'modern' and European - prerequisites deemed essential if they wanted to have their claims to independent statehood recognised! #RememberingRomaEnslavement
The history of #Roma in Wallachia and Moldova and then in modern Romania is marked by the experience of slavery, violence, dispossession, removal and extermination. A real change in the scholarship and in society cannot happen without the recognition of this history & its legacy.
Romanian historiography uses the category of slavery strategically, but historians (and public intellectuals) in Romania should try to avoid treating the freeing of the Roma after 5 centuries of slavery as the "generous" gift that keeps giving. #RememberingRomaEnslavement
And, finally, to paraphrase, James Baldwin, the majority of Romanians "are trapped in a history they do not understand, and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it." Prioritising education as a critical site of intervention is urgent! #RememberingRomaEnslavement
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