Embassy Events
Chargé Eddins Commemorates International Roma Day with Op-ed on Integration in SME
April 9, 2009
Drawing on his own experiences growing up in the segregated American South, Chargé d’Affaires Keith Eddins published an Op-ed in SME April 9 to mark International Roma Day. In the Op-ed, Mr. Eddins applauded the considerable effort devoted by both the governmental and non-governmental sectors to improve housing, education, and health care for Slovak Roma. He noted that the Romani language was codified by the Slovak Government; the ceremony marking this occasion gave a glimpse into both the pride and the struggles of a people whose rich culture has not always been valued or held up as something to nurture and preserve. Mr. Eddins also noted the United States held that separate but equal facilities for African-Americans were deemed legal and fair. He concludes that only integration helped move the U.S. towards a society offering equal opportunity for both minority and majority populations. America’s transition continues, he says, but the recent election of Barack Obama as President of the United States is proof that integration and the greater tolerance it instills has been key to our success in overcoming racial inequality.