Anti-Roma Racism is Spiraling during COVID-19 Pandemic

• Published in: Health and human rights Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 379 - 382
• Main Authors: MATACHE, MARGARETA, BHABHA, JACQUELINE
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States President and Fellows of Harvard College 01.06.2020; Harvard School of Public Health; Harvard University Press; Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights
• Subjects: Betacoronavirus; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Human Rights; Humans; Markets; Neighborhoods; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Racism; Racism - psychology; Roma; Romani people; Safety; SARS-CoV-2; Stigma; Towns; VIEWPOINT
• ISSN: 1079-0969; 2150-4113; 2150-4113

Matache and Bhabha express insights about anti-roma racism during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a new global comity taking shape. Across the world, from the markets of Wuhan to the streets of New York, Rome, Rio, and Delhi, people are sharing the experience of facing the COVID-19 pandemic as a health, social, and economic threat. But there is a darker side to this collective danger- a license to unleash racism against stigmatized groups. From Slovakia to Romania and Bulgaria, states have enacted disproportionate or militarized measures targeting Romani neighborhoods or towns. Some of these measures are driven by a racist narrative that casts Roma as a collective health and safety threat.