New Series of Maps Reflects High Levels of Czech Xenophobia

Aside from questions about dating, the survey also asked participants how they would feel working with various minority groups including (including gays, lesbians, transgender people, Roma, and Muslims).

Over 50 percent of Czechs said that they would not feel comfortable with a Roma or Muslim colleague.

The survey asked people if they would feel comfortable having a person from a different ethnic origin than the majority of the country fill the highest elected political position.

Fifty-two percent of Czechs said they would feel “totally uncomfortable,” while over fifty percent of Czechs said that a job candidate’s skin color or ethnic origin put them at a disadvantage despite equal skills and qualifications.

More than half of the Czechs interviewed acknowledged that discrimination based on ethnic origin was “widespread” in their country.

But while the maps tend to confirm the long-held belief that foreigner phobia is typically high in post-Communist states, they also show that Czechs are less tolerant than many of their former Soviet bloc neighbors including Poland and Hungary.

So what do all those glaring red marks actually tell us about Czechs and discrimination and should one take the maps at face value?

A number of sociologists have made the argument that the country’s isolation under totalitarianism is the reason for its lingering prejudice.

Others would argue, however, that his explanation overlooks the fact that the Soviet regime did welcome certain groups of foreigners, namely Vietnamese and Cubans.

Another explanation given by the study is the Marxist doctrine of the time, which, with its stress on class antagonism, hatred and struggle, left little space for developing friendly relations with foreigners.