And he was white

Lucie KrupickovaSchool of Social StudiesUsti nad Labem
The situation is better nowadays. At least people are talking about it.
And I think there were no Roms in politics in the past, but there are today. That’s a step forward.
There is one thing I like about Roms: they respect traditions, and they help each other. I mean — when somebody attacks a Rom, fifteen other Roms hurry to help him. We Czech people run away.
Though maybe we run away because we’re afraid of those fifteen.
It’s complicated and it will take a long time to solve it.
When we spoke about the problem at school I asked myself: how many Roma have I seen working as shop assistants?
There’s one Romany girl working in a non-stop grocery shop. I also know a Rom who’s a policeman.
And the others? Where do they work? I see them digging ditches. But there are no Roms in supermarkets, department stores and so on.
Are we to blame? Are we not willing to give them jobs? Or are they not willing to work?
Perhaps if we could see more of them, be in closer contact and see that they are not so noisy, messy, then we could make another step forward.
But – 
One day about six Roms held me up. I was lucky. I managed to run away.
My friend wasn’t so lucky, though. They kicked him, and his kidneys were damaged for the rest of his life. He was in the hospital for several months because of it and became a skinhead after that.
And my aunt took a girl to the hospital. Two Roms had raped her in a park at two in the afternoon.
But I can’t say that it’s only the Roms who are criminals.
At about nine one evening I was walking my dog, and all of a sudden a man appeared in the bushes shouting that he would kill me if I would not go with him. And he was white.