05.01.2011 gypsies in the news

[graspthethorn]

For some reason today was super busy with gypsy news, so I thought I'd lump it all in together and maybe we can ~chat about it.
So yeh, here's 05.01.2011 gypsy style~

Comments

[jslayeruk]

People say you can't use "romani" or "gypsies"? WUT? I've never heard of those words being slurs. I've heard them used as slurs but that's not the same...

I've not been entirely clear on this one, but I was under the impression that the majority of gypsies in the UK were Irish Travellers and not of Romani descent. They are different, right?

*sigh* I wish I were unsurprised by any of this, but for some reason anti-gypsy sentiment is like some cancer in Europe that never goes into remission. Even people you expect to know better come out with shocking things when it comes to gypsies (Mum, I'm looking at you...).

[graspthethorn]

yeh, they're different things. irish travellers are (so surprisingly, i know) orig from ireland and count as a white ethnic minority. romani are orig from india/pakistan and are a racial minority. there's a bit of ~tension~ between the two groups for various reasons, but we tend to put it all to one side when there's other white people involved so we can pretend we're a united front, haha.

People say you can't use "romani" or "gypsies"?
yeh, people are always always telling me not to use it because don't i know i'm insulting myself???? lol. it's really annoying and idk why gadje seem to think they know better than gypsies what is and is not offensive TO gypsies. :/

[graspthethorn]

yeh, it's for all non-rom people not just the white ones.
though tbh, in the omg-don't-call-yourself-gypsy case it's pretty much always white people doing the correcting. non-white non-rom tend to trust us to know what we're doing when it comes to supposed ~slurs~ against ourselves, lol

and because of the weird way the language got romanised, it can be spelt in a bajillion different ways. gadje, gadji, gadjy, gorger, gajer, etc etc. pretty much every gypsy group spells it a little differently, lol. clearly we like to make things difficult for ourselves.

[zeborahnz]

Yay Turkey!

The France one reminds me a couple of days ago I read an article about the poor widdle non-gypsies whose yurts got caught up as 'criminal' when the racial-discrimination serial numbers were filed off the act, and who are now shocked, shocked and dismayed that they're being lumped in With the gypsies. I can't find the original article, but the text at Treehugger is identical to my memory. (The first two comments notice this issue, but beyond that gets nasty.)

[graspthethorn]

Here's where the trouble starts: many yurt dwellers are afraid that this legislation will be used against them. They fear that they are being put in the same category as the Roma which are being singled out by President Sarkozy as a menace to society

lmao, o no the poor hippies and their appropriated yurts~
ty for directing me to that article bc i hadn't seen it and omg it is a thing of beauty.

[jiaren_shadow]

IKR? Poor widdle trust-fund hippies.

I went to a summer camp/go to a college filled with trust-fund hippies, and they annoy me to no end. Maybe I'm being hypocritical since I'm more or less from the same social class as they are (and perhaps I'm giving off that vibe of "but I'm a GOOD white/rich person!"; if I am I apologize for my dickery), but that whole attitude of "lalala not giving a shit about deportation of gypsies from their homes by the French government---OH HOLD THE FUCK UP THEY'RE GOING TO MAKE ME MOVE OUT OF THE YURT I BOUGHT WITH MY PARENTS' MONEY AND THE BULLDOZERS MIGHT SMASH MY $500 BONG. INJUSTICE, I SAY!" is so odious to me.

[azetburcaptain]

I'm mean so I laughed. Also lol that picture.

[azetburcaptain]

I've heard that "gypsy" is a slur, but then I was reading how there's a lot of organizations with the name in it, so that kind of confused me. So in other words, thank you for putting that at the bottom of the post

[ishtar79]

Greece government. Well. After the riots, nothing surprised me anymore for a while. But seriously, police? What, you didn't see her? UGH. How many others, killed and unreported?

I'm usually the first to rant about our pigs cops, but considering I've witnessed three motorcycle crashes in the last year alone, I can totally buy it was an accident. The driving in Athens is...intense.

Not that the police force isn't racist as fuck, on an institutional and personal level. I just doubt they ran over the little girl on purpose.

[azetburcaptain]

Aaah I didn't know motorcycle related accidents were the problem, thanks for clarifying that. I didn't necessarily assume the ran over her on purpose, I just hate that excuse "ohh I didn't see her/him" when people run over someone. And a lot of accidents go unreported.

I still think police gotta do better, but I hear you on the driving. In Romania there are tons of accidents. It's nothing like Canada. (and some Americans say driving here is bad? ummm no. I wouldn't drive in NYC for example)

[graspthethorn]

haha, well romanian roma are the BIG exception to the "gypsy is fine" rule, so i don't blame you for being confused. pretty much everyone else is fine with gypsy because so many (non-rom) people equate "romani" with "romanian" and with "roma", and by using "gypsy" instead they can escape that connotation and the constant never-ending mix-ups + assumptions (honestly, the amount of times people have asked me what romania is like?! lololol). but romanian roma don't have that problem so they're pretty, er, ~intense~ about it. also, pretty much all the gypsies in romania ARE part fo the roma subgroup, so calling them roma (or rroma, really) is perfectly correct, haha.

don't worry, you're doing it fine. just don't call ALL gypsies everywhere roma because only some are and then it gets confusing, haha.

[virginflesh]

i'm surprised by turkey. considering their continued denial of the genocide they committed and all.

[graspthethorn]

yeh ikr? i'm hoping that this means this government is trying to turn over a new leaf and start actually giving a shit about the basic human rights of non-turks, especially armenians.

i mean, it'd be pretty weird/random if the only non-turk group they start caring about is gypsies, right?

[azetburcaptain]

This isn't about to defend Turkey in any way, but afaik their government changed/they had three different revolutions since the genocide. It may be possible that the newer government is open to making moves toward reconciliation. I am by no means an expert on this, but I was thinking about that the other day in a different post and forgot to mention it.

Again, not defending Turkey, genocide was absolutely awful and by no means are Armenian or Greek people supposed to accept any apology offered. I still hope to see some come up soon, though. If anyone knows more, please feel free to correct me. Thank you.

[azetburcaptain]

* or obligated to accept, or w/e

language problems, sorry

[owl_eyes_4ever]

[zedmeister]

The article goes into it a bit, but I really would like to understand more of why this happens. Because teachers make it clear to them they're not wanted in school. I had three gypsy kids in my first grade class in Belgrade and none in my second grade class. I stayed in touch with one of them, and I know they made him repeat grade one three times until he finally dropped out of school

[owl_eyes_4ever]

[azetburcaptain]

Everything about your post I have seen in our schools. Everything. And the "behaviour" thing is not even meant to be used that way. DISGUSTING.

My friend is a quarter Rroma, her father is darker than her. He always had a beard, and dark hair and features. So when he was in University he showed up to take an oral exam. The professor wasn't his regular prof, and told him right to his face: "I don't like the look of your face. Come back in the fall and take the exam". The prof didn't even LISTEN to him to present his exam. It made me so angry when I heard this, and not only this, there is worse. He told my friend "I waited to tell you this because I didn't want you to stop loving Romania because of this" . It was so sad, jfc.