Gypsy Is A Racial Slur
So. I'm reading through my friend's list earlier today on Facebook when I come across this article. 90% of the time, this article would be really interesting, and perhaps even be kind of entertaining. However, I have a really big problem with a primary premise of the article. That premise is taking how horrible life is for Gen Y'ers and applying a cutesy little acronym to this problem.
Gypsy.
I am quite sure that the author of the article doesn't have a clue that the word gypsy is a racial slur on par with the n-word. Most Americans don't actually have a clue that a gypsy is anything other than a person who wears multi-colored scarves and lots of gold jewelry. That is, after all, the American view of what a gypsy is - never mind the fact that that's a racist viewpoint anyway (or that Hollywood has capitalized on that viewpoint).
The term gypsy originated as a derogatory term to mean anyone who was from Egypt. Anyone of dark skin, anyone ignorant. Sound familiar? Sounds an awful lot like the colloquial variant of the word 'negro', doesn't it? How about the fact that if you're gypped, you've been cheated or ripped off? Gypsies aren't to be trusted, you know. They'll cheat you. They'll rip you off. They'll steal from you, everyone knows that.
The Romani people and the Jews were specifically persecuted against under Hitler's regime. Being deemed a gypsy was not and is not a good thing. Insult to injury is taking that slur and using it to point out just how hard it is to be a privileged little yuppie (as in the article above), and how you can fix being sad about being a privileged little yuppie (of note, we're basically talking about the white, moneyed kind; the ones who expect things to be handed to them on a silver platter). Which is a fantastic term to compare with folks who have been driven out of country after country or had genocide committed against them.
Some folks aren't happy with the fact that I've pointed out that this is a massive racial slur. In America, it isn't. There isn't a significant Romani population. However, ignorance of the world is NO EXCUSE in a country that doesn't blatantly prevent its people from accessing the web. We want to inherit the world and make something better of it. America's youth wanted its own Arab Spring, it's own rising up against the status quo, in order to create anew a better, more equitable world.
And yet we think it's okay to use racial slurs. I guarantee you that if someone came up with a cute little acronym about yuppies or a privileged social group, and decided to make it into an acronym that equates with the n-word, that person would be lambasted and thrown off the face of the internet. They would receive death threats, because it is Not Okay To Use That Word. But there are educated adults in this country who think that because this term is being used as an acronym that it is acceptable. That it's okay. That people who look at that and cringe are seeing racial issues where there are no racial issues, you silly, silly thing.
No. That's not how this world works. Technology has brought the far reaches of the world extremely close to home and made it very easy to see what's going on in our metaphorical backyard, with the folks we want to reach out, protect, and bring democracy to.
But it's okay to use derogatory terms if they're acronyms.
But it's okay to turn a blind eye to racism and ethnism that isn't rampant in this country.
But it's okay to put down an entire people and completely make comic their own plight, because Hollywood and Lifetime have done it, and it's just an acronym anyway.
No. It's not okay. Learn about the language that you use, and don't sit back and quote peace-loving and world-changing gurus while perpetuating the problems that we inherited with the first world.
Or, you know, you can sit back and pretend you want to be different and change things, and make sure you point out how horrible your life is as a person of privilege. #firstworldproblems are a really, really big deal, yo.
Gypsy.
I am quite sure that the author of the article doesn't have a clue that the word gypsy is a racial slur on par with the n-word. Most Americans don't actually have a clue that a gypsy is anything other than a person who wears multi-colored scarves and lots of gold jewelry. That is, after all, the American view of what a gypsy is - never mind the fact that that's a racist viewpoint anyway (or that Hollywood has capitalized on that viewpoint).
The term gypsy originated as a derogatory term to mean anyone who was from Egypt. Anyone of dark skin, anyone ignorant. Sound familiar? Sounds an awful lot like the colloquial variant of the word 'negro', doesn't it? How about the fact that if you're gypped, you've been cheated or ripped off? Gypsies aren't to be trusted, you know. They'll cheat you. They'll rip you off. They'll steal from you, everyone knows that.
The Romani people and the Jews were specifically persecuted against under Hitler's regime. Being deemed a gypsy was not and is not a good thing. Insult to injury is taking that slur and using it to point out just how hard it is to be a privileged little yuppie (as in the article above), and how you can fix being sad about being a privileged little yuppie (of note, we're basically talking about the white, moneyed kind; the ones who expect things to be handed to them on a silver platter). Which is a fantastic term to compare with folks who have been driven out of country after country or had genocide committed against them.
Some folks aren't happy with the fact that I've pointed out that this is a massive racial slur. In America, it isn't. There isn't a significant Romani population. However, ignorance of the world is NO EXCUSE in a country that doesn't blatantly prevent its people from accessing the web. We want to inherit the world and make something better of it. America's youth wanted its own Arab Spring, it's own rising up against the status quo, in order to create anew a better, more equitable world.
And yet we think it's okay to use racial slurs. I guarantee you that if someone came up with a cute little acronym about yuppies or a privileged social group, and decided to make it into an acronym that equates with the n-word, that person would be lambasted and thrown off the face of the internet. They would receive death threats, because it is Not Okay To Use That Word. But there are educated adults in this country who think that because this term is being used as an acronym that it is acceptable. That it's okay. That people who look at that and cringe are seeing racial issues where there are no racial issues, you silly, silly thing.
No. That's not how this world works. Technology has brought the far reaches of the world extremely close to home and made it very easy to see what's going on in our metaphorical backyard, with the folks we want to reach out, protect, and bring democracy to.
But it's okay to use derogatory terms if they're acronyms.
But it's okay to turn a blind eye to racism and ethnism that isn't rampant in this country.
But it's okay to put down an entire people and completely make comic their own plight, because Hollywood and Lifetime have done it, and it's just an acronym anyway.
No. It's not okay. Learn about the language that you use, and don't sit back and quote peace-loving and world-changing gurus while perpetuating the problems that we inherited with the first world.
Or, you know, you can sit back and pretend you want to be different and change things, and make sure you point out how horrible your life is as a person of privilege. #firstworldproblems are a really, really big deal, yo.