Incidentally, isn't it interesting that the black violence in New Orleans, widely reported by the media at the time, probably didn't take place at all? Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek wrote in the magazine In These Times: "We all remember the reports on the disintegration of public order, the explosion of black violence, rape and looting. However, later inquiries demonstrated that, in the large majority of cases, these alleged orgies of violence didn't occur: Unverified rumors were simply reported as facts by the media."

For example, a police chief told The New York Times about conditions at the Convention Center: "`Tourists are walking around there, and as soon as these individuals see them, they're being preyed upon. They are beating, they are raping them in the streets.'" Žižek then quotes the police chief's admission a few weeks later that some of his most shocking statements turned out to be untrue: "`We have no official reports to document any murder. Not one official report of rape or sexual assault.'"

Over and over again, the fear and loathing felt by the defensive white majority toward groups or individuals seen as alien and dangerous manifests itself in times of crisis. These international crises serve as a mirror to defensive, closed societies. They tell us a considerable amount about their values.

Amid the current crisis in France, many voices in the Czech media have refered to "a clash of civilizations," demanding that authorities take a hard line against religious fanatics and suppress them. Czech public television recently broadcast a hostile and xenophobic documentary entitled I, Muslim, which linked terrorism, intolerance and suppression of women with the overall concepts of the Islamic faith. Czech public television seems to be spreading a message that whoever is a Muslim must be evil -- and many Czechs have responded with approval.

It's remarkable how many individuals in the Czech Republic, in their fear of the unknown, have interpreted the recent troubles in France as a manifestation of an Islamic rebellion that should be crushed. But isn't it rather the hatred of other people and other cultures, based on stereotypical misunderstandings, that is the most dangerous? Many Western commentators have pointed out that Islam has played almost no role at all in the French troubles.

It's still difficult for some Czechs to realize that, in a democracy, it's not only the views of the overwhelming majority that count. Some still see minority views as illegitimate, and find it impossible to put themselves in the position of "the other." If the Czechs stopped fearing an Islamic conquest, they would, perhaps, even be able to get along with the Roma in their own country.