After 1990, the Roma were recognized as a national minority by the Romanian state, but they do not fully enjoy the cultural rights arising from this status, against the background of the stigmatization of ethnicity and the persistence of racism in society and social exclusion, being approached as a social group vulnerable or socially disadvantaged. As a historical minority in Romania, the Roma have lived alongside the majority population for about five centuries, according to documentary attestations. However, the social distance between the Roma and the majority population continues to be maintained, with stereotypes and prejudices remaining the main vectors that describe the Roma in the minds of the majority population. This situation is caused by ignorance and
the lack of recognition of Roma history and culture, in society as a whole, but especially in the educational system, which continues to suffer from the lack of coherent and sufficient information in the mandatory curricula for all students and the lack of a school culture that favors interculturality.

According to official data, the Romani language is the mother tongue for 244,503 of the Roma reviewed in 2011. According to these data, the Romani language is the mother tongue for 40% of the Roma living in Romania. At the level of 2019, the IRES study reflects that, from the nationally representative sample, of the responding Roma population, 59% speak Romanian, 31% the Romani language and approximately 10% speak other languages, such as Hungarian, Turkish, etc.

Studies and research in the field mention the fact that many of the Roma have a low ethnic self-esteem caused by internalized social stigma, as well as the forced assimilation processes that the members of the Roma communities in Romania went through. The strains of a history of exclusion had decisive effects on the Roma collective mind. Depriving the individual of rights and access to social development resources leads to the loss of ethnic dignity and to the installation of self-blame and ethnic self-shame. The ethnic self-esteem of the Roma can be regained through
expanding the learning of the Romani language, history and culture in school, including, where conditions allow: communities of Romani-speaking Roma, the option of Romani parents to study their mother tongue, the existence or employment of qualified Romani teaching staff, the existence or publication of textbooks schools in the Romani language, etc., through a bilingual or monolingual education in the Romani language.

The lack of institutions of cultural representation – essential for the promotion of Roma culture – represents another problem that prevents the affirmation and reconstruction of Roma identity.

A solution for regaining Roma ethnic dignity would be the institutional reconstruction of identity, by establishing viable and credible institutions for training and identity representation (eg: schools with teaching in the Romani language or specialized in the Romani language, history and culture, cultural centers, community centers , museums, publishing houses, libraries, theaters, etc.). The preservation, development and promotion of Roma ethnic identity is currently threatened by the lack of an institutional framework for the preservation of ethnic cultural identity: the lack of a National Museum of Roma Culture and History, a State Roma Theatre, a Roma Philharmonic, a research institute of Roma history and culture.

It is also necessary to continue the preservation, research, development and promotion of Roma cultural heritage and Roma identity through Roma cultural production financed by central and local public institutions. Thus, the Strategy aims to strengthen and adapt the legal framework in the field of the protection of the rights of citizens belonging to national minorities to the current situation and needs of the Roma minority by: promoting the conditions that allow people belonging to the Roma ethnicity to maintain and develop their culture ,
as well as to preserve the essential elements of Roma identity, namely language, traditions and cultural heritage; guaranteeing respect for the right of any person belonging to the Roma ethnic group to fundamental freedoms – freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, freedom of expression and freedom of thought, conscience and to practice one's religion; the adoption of appropriate measures to facilitate the access of Roma people to the means of information, to promote acceptance and to favor cultural pluralism; guaranteeing the right
any person belonging to the Roma ethnic group to freely use the Romani language in private or in public, orally and in writing.

The issue of reconciliation with the past and the recognition of slavery, the Holocaust and the assimilation of the Roma The history of the Roma in Romania is one marked by exclusion and racial discrimination, starting from the five centuries of slavery, continuing with the genocide during the Holocaust, followed by the policy of forced assimilation during the communist regime. The lack of knowledge in society, at all levels and in all age groups, of the historical facts that generated generational traumas, human tragedies and social stigma, which still produce negative effects for the Roma in Romania today, by perpetuating stereotypes and prejudices about the Roma minority, places Romania among the countries that still have an acute need for reconciliation with the past and
recognition of the institution of slavery, the Holocaust and the assimilation of Roma during the communist regime.

There is a need for an active debate and promotion in society and in the educational system in Romania regarding the need for knowledge regarding:

(i) The Holocaust that had as its victims the Jews and the Roma from the period of the Second World War,

(ii) the period of Roma slavery and the social implications of the present, (iii) the policy of forced assimilation of Roma during the communist regime.

These historical episodes ignored in the educational system and not sufficiently known or even denied in society, are generators of social stigma, the perpetuation of hate speech and crimes motivated by hate with the Roma minorities as subjects, regardless of their socio-educational status. In order to address these topics of public debate, the following are necessary:
a. revision of school programs and university courses in which these transgenerational historical traumas are researched, studied and taught to the new generation,
b. continuous training of specialized teaching staff,
c. the establishment and financing from the state budget of a system of scholarships for Roma researchers and about the Roma minority, in fields such as historiography, archival and literary historical research, interdisciplinary social sciences, psycho-social, in the field of sciences
education etc. for the deepening of these historical episodes and the foundation of future public policies,
d. complementing any anti-discrimination campaigns with actions, projects, programs that bring to the public's attention the three types of persecution of the Roma in the Romanian space - slavery, the Holocaust, cultural assimilation - with a wide range of actions, such as historical research , thematic cultural actions, organization of public debates among young people,
themed school camps, camps for visual artists, dramaturgy, visual arts, documentaries, scholarships.
e. last but not least, actions are essential to evoke the personalities of the Roma minority in Romania and beyond, with the aim of contributing to increasing the self-esteem of the Roma and to the awareness among the majority population of the contribution of the Roma, like the other minorities nationally recognized, to the Romanian and universal cultural heritage.

At the same time, it is necessary to ensure synergy with complementary measures and strategies, for example the Strategy for combating anti-Semitism, xenophobia, radicalization and hate speech.

Action directions Cultural activity

• Valorization of Roma cultural heritage and Roma cultural identity through institutional representation
• Valorization of Roma cultural heritage and Roma cultural identity through the Romani language
• The valorization of the Roma cultural heritage and the Roma cultural identity through the traditional Roma port
• Valuing Roma cultural heritage and Roma cultural identity by preserving traditional Roma crafts
• Promotion of the modern culture of the Roma
• Revision of school programs at all levels of education for the discipline of history in order to teach specific elements of historical traumas with negative consequences for the Roma minority in Romania
• Teacher training in order to teach specific elements of historical traumas with negative consequences for the Roma minority in Romania (slavery, Holocaust, forced assimilation during communism)
• Organization of thematic school camps on the topic of reconciliation with the past and recognition of slavery, the Holocaust, Roma assimilation, financed from the state budget
• Organization of camps for artists: dramaturgy, visual arts, plastic arts, documentaries, filmography, etc., financed from the state budget
• Establishing study/research grant programs allocated for Roma researchers and about the Roma minority
• Public promotion of Roma history through the placement of the Roma Slavery Monument