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impromptu thread abt romani/rromani people, by a romani person!! lets go!!
who are the romani people?
the romani people [also spelled "rromani" to avoid confusion w/ romanians or rome, bc the abbreviation "roma" is also used] are a group of indian diaspora that mostly live in europe and the united states! ppl also call us "gypsies" but thats a slur. 1/?
the romani people [also spelled "rromani" to avoid confusion w/ romanians or rome, bc the abbreviation "roma" is also used] are a group of indian diaspora that mostly live in europe and the united states! ppl also call us "gypsies" but thats a slur. 1/?
the term "gypsy" in relation to romani ppl originates from the belief that we came from egypt. historically its been used to call us dirty or bad, and was even used to target us in the holocaust [laws against us were called "anti-gypsy laws"]. 2/?
in fact, my own family has history with the prosecution of our ppl [also called the porajmos, translated to "the devouring"] as my great grandparents were prosecuted for this in hungary. the black triangle was also used against us as we were deemed "asocial" by n/zis along w/ 3/?
other groups that were deemed "asocial" such as prostitutes and others. but our oppression also branches WAYYY further back than this. in early our history of existing in europe we were often forced into slavery, which wasnt abolished until 1856. mind you, we first moved to 4/?
-europe in the middle ages. so the slavery of the romani ppl went on for centuries. we were often expelled from a number of different european countries and were even put to death simply for existing in these countries. during colonial times we also immigrated to the americas 5/?
from what i can find treatment of romani ppl in america is seemingly better than it is in europe as the blood of romani ppl on americas hands is a lot less severe but many european stereotypes still prevail here and arguably around the globe. though theres also a lot to say 6/?
about how we're treated in the modern era. in bulgaria, studies show that a whopping 59-80% of gadjikane [not romani] people view the romani ppl in a negative light. MANY anti-romani laws are passed and romani people are forced into poverty there and other european countries 7/?
a notable example of romani discrimination is a rumor that occurred in france stating that a gadjo kid was stolen by romani people. this resulted in romani ppl all across the country being brutalized and murdered. the real kicker? this was LAST YEAR. 2019!! and it gets worse. 7/?
[the one above is supposed to be #8 pls ignore that]
across the entirety of europe, romani people are consistently forced into poverty and are excluded from educational and financial opportunities. in bulgaria alone, only *0.3%* of romani people have a university-level education. many romani ppl, especially those with 9/?
lighter skin or didicoy [mixed romani/gadjo], hide the fact that they are romani in order to keep their jobs or get better opportunities in life. "dont tell anyone im romani" is unfortunately a phrase many people have to say in order to maintain a good livelihood. 10/?
so what are romani stereotypes? theres quite a few. many have parallels to stereotypes of jewish ppl [presumably bc of the holocaust and also gadje thinking theres a big overlap], such as hooked noses and a general greedy personality. in the case of romani ppl, we are often 11/?
called thieves. the idea of romani people being able to see the future or do palm reading is a BIG one too, as well as the idea of fake palm readers who try to swindle people out of their money. romani men are often perceived as violent and romani women are HIGHLY sexualized 12/?
the sexualization of romani women and the whole "mystical palm reader and exotic dancer" idea also ties back to controversy surrounding the movie and novel Hunchback of Notre Dame. we roma ppl have differing opinions on this, some ppl like it and others dont. i hate it imo 13/?
so please take what im about to say with a grain of salt bc im not a notre dame apologist. esmeralda is, arguably, a caricature of the romani people. aside from the fact that her design is quite sexualized and she seems to be a very big "token minority" trope, theres a lot 14/?
of other things that are upsetting about her character. for example, there's a scene where she reads quasimodos palm which as previously stated is a HUGE stereotype. in addition in the film when shes praying to the virgin mary she states that she "shouldnt speak to" her, but 15/?
the majority of romani people are christians [islam is the other most dominant religion amongst romani ppl], which directly contradicts her unless she believes in the romanipen, aka a set of beliefs connected to romani ppl [though its not very common nowadays iirc] 16/?
theres also the issue that in the novel, esmeralda wasnt even romani! she was born gadjikane but got switched at birth with quasimodo and kidnapped, which adds to the stereotype that romani ppl are kidnappers that i touched on a little bit earlier in the thread. 17/?
i have to go do something so ill add to this thread later, but its not over!!
OK we're back. now id like to talk about the term "gypsy" some more, more specifically the discourse over whether or not it is a slur. 19/?
i have heard some people say that the term is used to identify irish travelers, though i dont know enough about this to really have a say. however, in reference to romani people, it is most definitely a slur, especially considering its *extremely* violent past. 20/?
like i said before, this term was used to identify romani people in a negative light and was used by n/zis extensively. an attempt to arrest and force romani people into labor camps in spain during the 1700s was called the "great gypsy roundup". ive even seen ppl say that it 21/?
was branded on the skin of romani people during the holocaust, though i don't have a source on this so im not 100% certain. long story short, if youre not romani, its REALLY not your word to use. at all. some romani people embrace the word and reclaim it, others hate it. 22/?
but in the end if youre a gadjo, you really shouldn't use the word, at least to describe romani people. the history behind it is so harmful and has been used so violently that you shouldnt really even WANT to use it. romani people reclaiming it is none of your business. 23/24
i think thats about everything i have to say on the subject for now. stay safe, love one another, and please keep all of this in mind. i might add onto it more later but im not sure. i hope this was informative! 24/24
