Romanians, victims of racism in Brighton [Români, victime ale rasismului în Brighton]

Some four and a half years ago, in August 2008, a Romanian “was battered with fire estinguisher” in King’s Road, a well-known seafront street of Brighton.

What an awful thing to happen in the fun-loving Brighton, often praised as a European capital of tolerance, open-mindedness, political corectness and restless partying!



The man – aged 28, father of two, and owner of a little demolition and earth-moving firm – would die after eight days in hospital.

Tragic as it was, the incident didn’t bear racial connotations. The Romanian victim, described as “a really kind-hearted guy” happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.



This excuse doesn’t seem to be valid in relation to the last violent attack to which two Romanians fell prey in Brighton a couple of weeks ago, in late January.

The two Romanians were specifically asked where they were from before being punched. Again, the beating took place in central Brighton – on a bus stop near the Royal Pavilion (pics 1 & 7).

It is the Sussex Police, not I (nor the Romanian media), that treats the crime as a “racially aggravating assault”, appealing to witnesses to come forward and say what they known.

These are places where I personally felt safe. However, this is no longer the case for many third (or even fourth!) class European citizens from Romania and Bulgaria.

Less and less welcome in Britain, Romanians and Bulgarians have been the target of a smear campaign lately.

They steal the jobs of Brits, they overburden the social security system and they generally cause a mess that Britan would be better off without.

By the beginning of next year, the restrictions on the UK job market for Romanians and Bulgarians should be lifted, and tabloids are aghast with this perspective.

But they felt the same in late 2006, before Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU. And the hordes of unwanted immigrants didn’t plunder Britain, did they?

It is not this group of underprivileged immigrants – the target of prejudice just like the Irish workers were in Victorian Britain – that would make the UK’s situation much worse.

Sadly, even for flagbearers of democracy like Great Britain it is easier to put the blame on various scapegoats, rather than uproot the true ills of society which are of a moral nature.

[For all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]

[EN] A few wonders from the UK / [RO] Câteva minunăţii din UK (19)

[EN] Next to the sea, seen as ‘unequalled’ by many people, this fascinating building is considered the best tourist attraction in Brighton.

[RO] Pe lângă mare, văzută ca ‘de neegalat’ de mulţi oameni, această clădire fascinantă este considerată cea mai bună atracţie turistică din Brighton.

[EN] And by no means undeservingly, adds I – the one so little impressed by the outer appearance of Buckingham Palace in London.

[RO] Şi cu niciun chip pe nemeritate, adaug eu – cel atât de puţin impresionat de înfăţişarea exterioară a Palatului Buckingham din Londra.

[EN] This is the Royal Pavilion, a pre-Victorian building despised by the renowned Queen Victoria, because train acces made Brighton too crowded.

[RO] Acesta este Pavilionul Regal, o clădire pre-victoriană dispreţuită de renumita Regină Victoria, pentru că accesul cu trenul a făcut Brighton-ul prea aglomerat.

[EN] Building it began in 1787, and by 1830 the Royal Pavilion was bearing more Oriental influences than any other building in the UK.

[RO] Construcţia sa a început în 1787, iar prin 1930, Pavilionul Regal purta mai multe influenţe orientale decât orice altă clădire din UK.

[EN] Long before millions of Indians and Muslims would settle in 20th century Great Britain, the best of their architecture was incorporated in this marvelous palace.

[RO] Cu mult înainte ca milioane de indieni şi musulmani să se stabilească în Marea Britanie a secolului 20, ce avea mai bun arhitectura lor a fost încorporat în acest minunat palat.

[EN] The pictures in this 19th episode were taken in... – Brighton, East Sussex.

[RO] Fotografiile din acest al 19-lea episod au fost făcute în... – Brighton, East Sussex.

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]