Comment

Comment by Lukus Albin on August 7, 2012 at 10:18pm

My family is one of those that still travels and as such we are subjected to quite a bit of hate throughout the country. I am moving towards a more settled life as I leave the military and start college.

Comment by Liam S. on August 7, 2012 at 8:31pm

I should add, in response to Nick, part of the "refusal to join your culture" is out of mistrust... and there are many who have assimilated quite well - most of my family is unrecognizable as Roma - we live in houses, are on committees, have college degrees, etc. It is unfortunate that it is a relatively small percentage of the Roma, who have come to be the caricature that most people think of. 

Comment by Liam S. on August 6, 2012 at 1:24pm

Paul - I do not know. But it has been so for hundreds of years. Certainly in many places they have been forced to do things which do not better their situation, or the good will of the people around them. But to put the blame squarely on any one group or factor is to grossly oversimplify the problem (with some obvious examples that can be squarely put on the shoulders of Hitler, Stalin and the like).

Education is the biggest hurdle right now. If we can get the Roma better educated, they can do more to help themselves - but the barriers are myriad and difficult.

Comment by Paul_of_TX on August 6, 2012 at 1:13pm

Why are Gypsies treated in this way?

Comment by Nick H on August 6, 2012 at 8:01am

It must be difficult to live along side others who refuse to join your culture though. I never experienced it growing up but in other parts of my home province there is issues with co-habitating with Inuit and Innu peoples (and in some areas Míkmaq indians). In Ireland I'd seen first hand the issues of living in harmony with the nomadic Traveller community (called Irish Gypsies in the US I think). Anyway, difficult or not, there has to be better options than building walls, abuse, and forced segregated schools.

Like you said, sad.

Comment by Liam S. on August 4, 2012 at 2:46pm

Nick - yes... Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia all are having problems with increased anti-tsiganism (anti-gypsy) and anti-sematism. In some cases, it has never really been reduced. In Romania, they are actually building concrete walls to segregate romani populations from the rest of the town. Walls! And in Czech, they put romani kids into "special needs" segregated schools as a matter of course - where they receive vastly substandard educations - making them unfit to enter the workforce in any useful capacity. 

 

Sad indeed. 

 

We are trying to raise awareness, and help education efforts where we can. But there is a lot of hate in the world.

Comment by Nick H on August 4, 2012 at 10:46am

They say these things would never happen again but then I read about France's "offer" to pay for Romani immigrants to return to their country of origin and just this week I read in the Economist about the rise of anti-Semitism in Hungary,

Sad. Glad to see someone continuing to keep the flame lit for the memory of these people.

Comment by Liam S. on August 3, 2012 at 2:42pm

Comment by Liam S. on August 2, 2012 at 5:13pm

Gelem, gelem, lungone dromensa
Maladilem bakhtale Romensa
A Romale katar tumen aven,
E tsarensa bahktale dromensa?

A Romale, A Chavale

Vi man sas ek bari familiya,
Murdadas la e kali legiya
Aven mansa sa lumniake Roma,
Kai putaile e romane droma
Ake vriama, usti Rom akana,
Men khutasa misto kai kerasa

A Romale, A Chavale

Puter Dewla le parne wudara
Te sai dikhaw kai si me manusha
Pale ka gav lungone dromencar
Ta ka phirav bachtale Romensa

A Rromalen, A chavalen

Opre Rroma isi vaxt akana

Ajde mançar sa lumáqe Rroma

O kalo muj ta e kale jakha

Kamàva len sar e kale drakha

A Rromalen, A chavalen.

----

I went, I went on long roads
I met happy Roma
O Roma where do you come from,
With tents on happy roads?

O Roma, O brothers

I once had a great family,
The Black Legions murdered them
Come with me Roma from all the world
For the Roma roads have opened
Now is the time, rise up Roma now,
We will rise high if we act

O Roma, O brothers

Open, God, Black 
 doors
You can see where are my people.

 Come back to tour the roads

And walk with lucky Romani

O Roma, O brothers

Up, Gypsy! Now is the time
Come with me Roma world

 Brown face and dark eyes

 Much as I like black grapes

O Roma, O brothers