Roma

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The touchy subject of

Race

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Key concepts
Racism and racists
The Romani, also known as Romany, Roma, Rom, "Gypsies," Manouche, or Tsigane, are an ethnic group primarily found in Europe. Romani, an Indo-Aryan language, is their traditional mother tongue.

The Romani are a frequent target of racism. About a million Roma perished in the Holocaust; a greater proportion of Europe's Romani were killed than Europe's Jews, and the Romani were totally wiped out in several countries.[1] Romani were also targeted in communist countries for forced sterilization to lower their birthrate.[2] Racism against the Roma people is called "anti-Ziganism."

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[edit] Terminology

The proper name for this people is "Romani." Most people know them as "gypsies." "Gypsy" is derived from "Egypt," based on a misnomer that came from the 16th century, when it was thought that the Romani originated in Egypt. Today, linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that the Romani may have migrated away from India 1,500 years ago, and many Romani consider the term "gypsy" to be derogatory.[2] The term can also be confusing, since other travelling communities are often referred to as "gypsies," including Irish Travellers (commonly known as 'pikeys', most of whom are not ethnically Romani) and sometimes "New Age travellers" (i.e. hippies).

[edit] Traditions and stereotypes

Romani communities have often been nomadic, living on the road in caravans — conventionally horse-drawn wooden wagons, which can still be seen in parts of Eastern Europe, or else modern mobile homes — and moving their camp from place to place, providing seasonal migrant labour and cash-in-hand work, as well as itinerant trades such as mending household goods, selling various crafts, horse trading, and fortune-telling. They are also widely associated with petty crime, and this has often been used as an excuse to justify persecution or expulsion of Romani. The popular image of Romani as rambunctious and superstitious travelling folk is ingrained in Western popular culture, especially the common portrayal of female Romani fortune-tellers.

Some Romani communities follow a traditional belief system which is loosely derived from Hindu and so dates back to the Romani's origins in India. Other Romani communities tend to be either Christian or Islamic, owing to European or Middle Eastern cultural influences.

Romani refer to their own language as "Romanes" or "Romani Chib," which means "the Romani language."[3] Today, there are about 3-5 million speakers of the Romani language in eastern and central Europe.

[edit] Famous people of Roma descent

  • Django Reinhardt: "Gypsy jazz" guitar virtuoso.
  • Charlie Chaplin: Silent film pioneer.
  • Ante Pavelić: Croatian fascist politician.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

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