海角大神

A "neo-Nazi" party leader calls Slovakia鈥檚 Roma minority 鈥済ypsy parasites,鈥� and the tough talk resonates: The party, promising to solve the Roma 鈥減roblem,鈥� makes it into the national parliament for the first time in March general elections.

But Mayor Vladim铆r Ledeck媒, in this tiny town at the foot of the High Tatra Mountains, offers a different solution. Driven by a sense of justice as well as pragmatism, he has given Roma residents jobs, and in turn helped to counter age-old prejudices that the Roma minority is lazy, unwilling to work, and incapable of integration.

鈥淲ith employment, the life of Roma people has improved, and we all have a higher quality of life,鈥� says Mr. Ledeck媒, as he shows off the centerpiece of his effort 鈥� the 鈥渕unicipal firm,鈥� a collection of small businesses run by the mayor's office, with profits reinvested to create more jobs. He then darts off to a meeting with seven mayors visiting his project. 鈥淗ere we have shown that living with Roma is possible.鈥�

Today about 50 percent of the Roma population of聽Spi拧sk媒 Hrhov works legally, putting the town鈥檚 Roma unemployment rate far lower than the national average. And perhaps most telling for the state of coexistence in Slovakia, the town continues to grow, from about 600 residents in the late 1990s to 1,600 today. So does the enrollment rate at the local elementary school, among both Roma and non-Roma students alike.

鈥淚t simply works,鈥� says elementary school principal Peter Str谩啪ik.

But it鈥檚 not simple at all.

The Roma minority here has long felt the wrath of majority populations 鈥� an ugly strain of xenophobia that has been revealed most recently as聽Central European countries, Slovakia chief among them, have rejected refugees from Muslim countries.聽

There was hope that relations were finally improving in Slovakia after a 2012 landmark desegregation court ruling that drew on the principles of the 1954 US Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Education. The following year, an amendment that opened doors to affirmative action was written into an anti-discrimination law. But in reality, little has changed on the ground since.

If anything, the situation for the Roma has worsened, says聽Jarmila Laj膷谩kov谩, an expert on Roma issues at the Bratislava-based Center for the Research of Ethnicity, who helped push through the affirmative action amendment.

But, she says, at the municipal level real progress is being made toward inclusiveness, and that聽Spi拧sk媒 Hrhov sets a model for other towns in Slovakia with the will and entrepreneurial spirit to change ethnic relations.聽

鈥淲here more and more towns are experiencing white flight, people are buying homes in聽Spi拧sk媒 Hrhov to enroll their children in the school, despite the large share of Roma,鈥� she says.

Engaging the Roma

Such work is even more important today amid a hardening of attitudes towards 鈥渙thers.鈥�

In March general elections, the extreme-right People鈥檚 Party Our Slovakia (L'SNS) gained 8 percent of national votes 鈥� and saw some of its highest support here in eastern Slovakia, where the share of Roma is much higher than in the west. Mainstream parties, while not as virulently anti-Roma, have done little to improve the group's plight. The Roma minority has a 75 percent unemployment rate, counts 20 percent in abject poverty, and sends only a handful of students to college, says Rado Sloboda, an activist in the region聽Bansk谩 Bystrica, where the L'SNS has been in power since 2013.

Mr. Sloboda holds intercultural exchanges in聽Bansk谩 Bystrica, where he says there is no official segregation but where Roma and non-Roma do not share space. 鈥淭he situation in聽Spi拧sk媒 Hrhov shows that if someone in the right position wants to change things, things can move forward,鈥� he says.

When聽Ledeck媒 was growing up amid rampant prejudices, he remembers feeling scared that a Roma family could kidnap him 鈥� one of the most persistent myths. Roma prospects improved under communism 鈥� all Slovaks had to work then, Roma or not. But with the transition to democracy, Roma were the most disenfranchised in a market economy.

By the time聽Ledeck媒 became mayor in 1998, he says the unemployment rate for the Roma in聽Spi拧sk媒 Hrhov was about 100 percent.

Ledeck媒聽knew that a population of unemployed Roma 鈥� who comprise about 20 percent of the overall population 鈥� could lead to 鈥渨hite flight.鈥� It was an argument he used to gain support of the majority population: their grocery stores or eateries would be more successful with more customers. So he put a fifth of the town budget toward the 鈥渕unicipal firm鈥� to give Roma jobs. 聽

'Best village' in Slovakia

Now self-sufficient, the firm employs 50 to 100 Roma, depending on the season, who build homes and buildings, work with wood to make fire pellets or flower boxes, and work in a municipal fitness center and pool.

On a recent day, a group of men are working on a construction site. 鈥淩oma want to work, but people don鈥檛 want to hire us,鈥� says Jan Polak, a Roma resident who has been on this project for three months. 鈥淢any of us don鈥檛 have enough education.鈥� He himself only went as far as elementary school, but has 13 children to feed.

While the work makes a difference in his individual life, the concept has had a major impact on the entire town, which has become a national model. The US Embassy has paid a visit here, as have European officials, nongovernmental organizations, and so many mayors - 200 to 300 鈥� that Ledeck媒 has lost count. Last year it was named the 鈥渂est village鈥� in Slovakia. Many have moved here from the nearby larger town of聽Levo膷a because the land is cheaper and the school is successful.

Fifty-four percent of the students at the school are Roma and 46 percent non-Roma. On a recent day, students from both groups play together in the garden. Nationally, integration exists聽on paper, but too often is not the norm 鈥� with Roma students often steered into separate schools or segregated within mainstream schools, the inspiration of the 2012 court case. But here, parents from both backgrounds continue to enroll their children, says Mr. Str谩啪ik.

Tensions remain

Not all is perfect. Strazik says that the vast majority of Roma go on to vocational training after their elementary studies, while the non-Roma tend to head for university prep. He has only one Roma assistant, because there aren't any more Roma who are qualified. Just a few miles from this town is a Roma settlement where many have no running water and where a separate school was created for the youngest students 鈥� what some consider a form of segregation. The Roma from there are despised by the Roma of聽Spi拧sk媒 Hrhov, says the mayor.

And tensions have not disappeared in聽Spi拧sk媒 Hrhov, either. Lacko Dzurnak, who heads a construction team of Roma for the 鈥渕unicipal firm,鈥� says he likes working with Roma. 鈥淭hey want to work, they are always asking for work,鈥� he says. But it can be difficult. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 always listen, you have to be very harsh.鈥�

Josef聽艩ari拧sk媒, a Roma, says he is grateful to have a job with the 鈥渕unicipal firm鈥� but sometimes he wonders how deeply relations have really changed at the end of the day. 鈥淲hite people call Roma when they need work, but afterward, they turn their backs,鈥� he says.

Str谩啪ik聽agrees this is a work-in-progress, but he says at least the town is heading in the right direction, when the nation seems to be moving in the opposite.

鈥淭here has been progress in people鈥檚 minds,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e grown up and gotten more mature in terms of inter-relations and inclusiveness.鈥�