Because the UK is dead set on almost always qualifying Roma or Romani with "and other travelers" or as "GRT," a lot of people in this country believe Romani people are white like travellers. I want to make a thread to address this common misconception: 1/

Romani people are a South Asian ethnic group (from Northern India) that is diasporic, meaning we do not live in the geographic region where we originally come from. Romani people have now traveled and settled all over the world. The largest communities of Romani people 2/

live in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, but there are also sizable communities in North, South, and Central America. While as a global ethnic group we have no uniform, monolithic physical trait, most Romani people are not considered white NOR can most pass 3/

while "GRT" is a great way to build solidarity and there have been a lot of cross-cultural connections between white Travellers and Anglo-Romani, this conflation leads to a lot of misconceptions in the UK. I have a lot of solidarity and love for the non-Romani Traveller 4/

community, but the ethnic and cultural distinctions deserved to be considered socially and politically, especially now that the UK has a fast-growing Eastern and Central European Roma community making this nation their home. 5/

I fear that, because the general public is so uninformed about GRT or the differences between Romani people and non-Romani travellers, Romani people are not considered relevant for BAME or POC schemes to ensure equity and diversity, in academia and in government policy 6/

Anti-Romani racism is one of the oldest forms of structural, systemic racism in Europe, including the UK, and yet little has been done to bring Romani activists and scholars to the table to speak for ourselves, to educate the public, and to ensure a future in which we thrive 7/

And yes, non-Romani travellers do face systemic discrimination as well, and have for a long time (especially Irish travellers, whose oppression is directly linked to Irish colonialism) but because of colourism and other anti-Romani racist and white supremacist initiatives 8/

Romani communities have specific needs and histories that need to be addressed singularly. Just as non-Romani traveller communities have specific needs and histories that cannot be addressed if only Romani needs are being met. 9/

I have no way to end this thread other than to say that Romani communities in the UK and the US, particularly non-passing Romani communities which make up the majority, should be included in BAME schemes, in networks of BIPOC solidarity, and decolonization initiatives. 10/10