The question asked by a 10-year-old that nobody can answer

Samuel is 10 and is from Madrid. He has a question that neither his parents, teachers nor his school’s management can answer. He therefore decided to address the Spanish Ministry of Education directly. Will they be able to explain why schoolbooks don’t explain the history of the Roma people?

Samuel’s question hasn’t left anyone indifferent. It’s a campaign that was launched by the organisations that form the Spanish State Council of the Roma People (Consejo Estatal del Pueblo Gitano) to denounce that the Roma history and culture are totally absent from the school curricula and to demand that they are included. Anyone wishing to support this initiative may sign Samuel’s letter, which will be sent to the Ministry of Education.

This campaign was set up within the framework of the International Roma Day celebration, on 8^th April. The organisers explain that the goal is to “make visible the total absence of the Roma history and culture in school curricula; raise awareness among the Spanish society and public administrations on the need to learn more and better about the Roma People to thus contribute to change the negative social image or Roma people from an early age, and get rid of stereotypes and preconceived ideas that then lead to discrimination”.