> But criminal Roma networks are a reality nobody can deny.
True, but that doesn't mean there is no racism. If anything, this would support the fact that racism exists, since conflict tends to make people think in terms of in-group/out-group.
A follow-up question is whether the racism is justified. An even more important question is whether the conlfict stems from a failure to integrate different cultures and whether taking deliberate steps to encourage integration would resolve these conflicts.
Btw, the same argument also comes up wrt racial tensions in the US: "Blacks are x% of the population, yet are involved in y% of crime" with y >> x.
> They have a tight sense of community and most of them never assimilate wherever they go and barely make effort to speak the local language.
This has been my impression as well. The Roma seem to first identify themselves as part of their community and only then, part of the common folk in the country they reside in. Many also follow some internal social group laws that are often totally illegal, e.g., bride market.
To answer your question, I believe there’s a strong mismatch in culture and I do not see a way to solve this problem with any possible social or state actions.
The problem, as it seems, will solve itself in the long term as the Roma population has a greater positive net increase compared to the non-Roma population in Eastern Europe. It seems in some decades from now, Eastern Europe will mostly be Roma populated. Is that good or bad, I honestly don’t know.
True, but that doesn't mean there is no racism. If anything, this would support the fact that racism exists, since conflict tends to make people think in terms of in-group/out-group.
A follow-up question is whether the racism is justified. An even more important question is whether the conlfict stems from a failure to integrate different cultures and whether taking deliberate steps to encourage integration would resolve these conflicts.
Btw, the same argument also comes up wrt racial tensions in the US: "Blacks are x% of the population, yet are involved in y% of crime" with y >> x.