he Gypsies have always been looked down upon by society in Eastern Europe, but the emergence of democracy has allowed attacks on the Gypsies. The overall public's view of the Gypsies is not encouraging either. A recent public opinion poll indicated that the Gypsies are the most disliked of all minorities in Eastern Europe. In Czechoslovakia a poll disclosed that 87% of the population considered the lifestyle and behavior of the Gypsies to be "provocative." A recent report regarding the human rights of the Czech Republic's Gypsy population reported: the authorities like the majority of the population, tend to regard the gypsy community as a whole as deviant and criminally inclined to tolerate, and sometimes even encourage, expressions of hostility toward them(Gheorghe 831).One of the main problems that the Gypsies are facing regarding prejudice against them is that local officials are usually uneducated and "harbor" the most prejudice. Another cause of the high amount of prejudice against the Gypsies of former Czechoslovakia is their portrayal in the media. In both newspapers and television Gypsies are portrayed in a very negaitve way. In a 1993 report presented to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe found that in the Czech Republic the media presented a very negative picture of the Roma. One positive aspect of the transition to democracy for the Gypsies has been their ability to become politically active within their communities. After the collapse of communism the Gypsies could take advantage of the opportunity to participate in politics through the formation of political parties. Soon after the collapse of communism many Gypsy political parties were established, but were not well led and quickly fell apart. In 1990, the Romani Civic Initiative was established and in the Czechoslovak elections won five seats in the federal and national parliaments. However, in the elections since then the Gypsies have been unable to...
