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On April 16, the young man Angel from the village of Ovchepoltsi beated a boy from the same village only because the latter told him that Roma and Bulgarians are equal. The boy's name is MItko. Angel is unemployed, mostly because he is not looking for a job and spends his time mainly in the village pub. Mitko works anything - looks after sheep and any other work, but he doesn't steal and there is noone saying anything bad about him. And because he sincerely believes, that Roma and Bulgarians are equal, he became a subject of bullying. And that happened in the Day of Constitution, April 16. To make the humiliation complete, Angel made a video and uploaded it on the internet ...

If Angel was Roma and Mitko - Bulgarian, the incident would cause outbursts in social networks, football fans would make protests across the country against the "arrogant Gypsies" and terror to which Bulgarians in villages are exposed. And further (pseudo) patriotic deputies would read statements in the National Assembly to "deal with Gypsy crime" and "children who play with the pigs on the streets" ... But, the hardworking and nice Mitko is Roma and the bullier Angel is Bulgarian who sees his main dignity, not in education and skills, but in his ethnicity. As well as in beating gypsies who dare to think they are equal. And strange silence reigned: social networking remained silent, football fans were protesting only against corruption in football and politicians are silent as in "Ballad" of Veselin Hanchev: "How many days they beated him - not a word, no cry, no moan ... ".

To beat not only the Constitution

I write these lines, because what happened in Ovchepoltsi and the subsequent silence are terrible. They are not minor hooliganism, but a strike over: the Constitution, over basic principles, on which modern Bulgarian society and state were founded, over the basis of modern democracy. And if the "patriot" Angel can hardly understand that in the village pub, policymakers should recognize and respond.

Article 6 para. 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria states "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights". All humans, which makes it a fundamental principle. And the adopted on April 16,1879 Tarnovo Constitution says "57. All Bulgarian citizens are equal in front of the law. Division of classes ln Bulgaria are not allowed".

Even before the Tarnovo Constitution, formulating the idea of modern Bulgaria, the Apostle Vasil Levski sees it as a country of "consent, brotherhood and perfect equality among all nationalities. Bulgarians, Turks, Jews, etc. will be equal in every respect, whether in faith or in nationality, in civil terms, or in anything else". And even before that the French Revolution of 1879 defined the three main principles of modern democracy as "Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood" ...

The "Patriot" Angel decided to beat the Constitution (on its day), Levski and even the French Revolution and modern democracy. For which he need to pay a fine of as little bully. But the problem of our society is not so the "little" bully, but the silence with which politicians "honored" his behavior (the latter, of course, is much more than hooliganism). Thankfully, this time many public figures and even the media reacted appropriately: did not remain silent and said "In Bulgaria we are all equal." But politicians are silent! And that silence is worse than Angel's fists ...

What to do now?

Today, all of us, including politicians, especially the government, must realize our responsibility and  to respond! We must realize that what happened in Ovchepoltsi was not minor hooliganism, but an insolent to the fundamental principles of our society and constitutional order, made even on the day of the Constitution. And here any talk of "Roma, who have killed, beaten or raped ..." are signs of very poor taste. Criminality is not ethnic, but bullying Mitko is precisely because of his ethnicity. However, Mitko itself has never "killed, beaten or raped someone...". The responsibility to realize this and react is a shared responsibility of us all  - citizens, public figures, politicians ...

Politicians have to realize something else: with their actions and inactions, words and silence, they create a favorable environment for youths, such as Angel. When the parliamentary tribune is a place for anti-Roma statements, ministers write "Enough with talks of rights" and the first state men and women remain silent, the rural bachelors from the village pubs will have "legitimacy" to be greater racists than Hitler.

Of course, awareness is not enough, we need to react: all of us, including politicians, especially the ruling ones. The first step is to say "We are equal". To reaffirm clearly and explicitly this basic principle of our society and Constitution, of modern democracy and the European Union.

It is very important to come from the politicians, especially from the ruling ones. As well as from the so called "Nationalists". On this issue, the public and political consensus must be full! Even if they do not believe in it, the principle "We are equal" must be explicitly stated by all: the silence is equal to its rejection.

Clearly, this is only the first step. It will take many others in the future. But without the first step there will be no path...

Answer of the young people

"#WeAreEqual" is the name of the campaign, initiated by hundreds of Presidents of School Parliaments and volunteers to Center "Amalipe." With their enthusiasm and originality (without dividing themselves to Bulgarians, Roma and Turkish), they decided to write "#WeAreEqual" on a piece of paper and to take photos- even if someone decided to bully them. They also decided to challenge politicians to stand behind the inscription. Intuitively,  youths caught what our society needs. What is needed now is politicians, public figures and citizens to continue this challenge.

Dilemma facing the political nationalist

What happened in Ovchepoltsi and the rising youth campaign "#WeAreEquali" place in stalemate those who gain political dividends from not being equal. What to do? There are two options:

1. To remain silent (ie to say "We are not equal!"). It would be better for them - thus they will keep their "name" to the electorate. It will be good for many NGOs as well - they will alert donors to the growing racism in society and will receive and implement projects to overcome it ... Asit is said "win - win situation": both sides are winners, but thousands as Mitko,  Roma community and the whole society are losers;

2. To declare "# WeAreEqual": likely to lose - at least partially - their legitimacy. But the society will be a winner.