Petr:
As a small point of fact, the song does not advocate return to communism, and mentions the very great wrong of forced assimilation. The same band members who objected to this objected to songs about the forced assimilation of Natives in Quebec... You give much to much credit to the victims of Irelands new revisionist education system, when you assume they back Czeck policies on anything.
I must say, I find it almost predicable that, when you speak to a Hungarian, where there is anit Roma prejudice, but real effort to make things better, (hence the best of the bad treatment according to Dr. David Crowe) those Hungarians I speak to begin by saying, yes Anti Roma prejudice is wrong, but... On the other hand, Czech and Rumanian racists begin by saying Yes we are prejudiced and here is why.
I actualy sometimes do sing that verce as a skin head mob, however, one of my law clerks - an anti racist skin head, pointed out that the skin head movement is not universaly racist. One of the few things that can be said with complete accuracy about the men who killed Teresa, is that they were Czech. The complicity of the Czech courts after the fact in this racist crime, reinforces the rightness of that description.
If writing a song about lynchings in the American south, when whole communities were involved, how would you describe them, whould you feel you had to mention the minority of townsfolk who were not involved?
Now there has been a lumping together of leftists without reguard for leftist movements that were victemised by Stalinism, a very right wing movement hard to describe as Marxism. I have, in light of the tendency in this thread to lump the left into a monolith behind Soviet communism, to remind the readers that the American left was so involved in civil rights, so early, that the FBI branded anyone involved in civil rights a communist. In this particular instance it may be remembered that leftists spearheaded the anti lynching laws that NEVER were passed or became supported by the two factions of the single American capitalist party. OH BOY! Thats going to set me up for a storm of comment, eh? Petr, Havel himself has taken brave steps towards inclusion of Roma, however, it must be remember he signed the law, eventualy repealed, which denied citizenship to Czech born Roma. It also must be acknowledged that there has been great resistance to his leadership on the Roma question.
Petr, have a laugh and check out my band, the post is InOBUs Band... you will see what I mean.
All the best
Larry