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Varislintu wrote:Well, this is a bit of a beehive of a topic. It's intertwined very strongly with racism and discrimination.
Romani
Koko wrote:Now, I'm going to say that any opinion I may have on them is purely through what I've heard. I have no connections with any communities (if any) they have in my city, because I have never met one.
But I was looking for a video on YouTube to listen to Czech when spoken (I listened to Jozin z Bazin a while ago) to see if I like spoken Czech, and I ended up watching a clip from a game show. The contestant was asked questions for money, he had to answer honestly. The questions related to gypsies and if he was racist towards them, basically. As it turns out, yes, he was. In the comments, people who weren't Czech were talking about how that's sad, some agreed with the contestants views.
A couple Australians or New Zealanders (can't remember which) explained that the gypsies they knew were kind and like them. Yet, apparently the ones from Czech are rude and/or cruel to the Czechs.
This made me wonder about the gypsy communities and what the overall opinion on them is. Since, as I said, I have never met one, I can only sympathize for the Czechs judging by how the comments explain how they are treated by gypsies.
Varislintu wrote:Well, this is a bit of a beehive of a topic. It's intertwined very strongly with racism and discrimination.
Finnish Romani have traditionally also been viewed negatively. Mostly the prejudice is that they are thieves and overly loud. They also used to have this blood feud culture which sometimes led to them being mortally violent to each other, but not really towards "white" Finns (I'll use this term even if I don't think it sounds descriptive). I don't think it happened very often, but this was part of the image white Finns had of them. They've faced a lot of discrimination from white Finns, including the ususal forceful assimilation tactic of the state taking custody of their children so that they would learn proper white Finn lifestyles.
This is what Finnish Romani often look like nowadays. Boys and men always wear long, dark pants, and the women who choose to adopt traditional dress as adults dress in a big black velvet skirt and a very decorated, often brightly coloured blouse, and they let their hair grow long. Some, of course, dress more mainstream.
EDIT: Here's a comic I found. It says:
- They're walking around in a big group again!
- Really weird.
- They're staring again! I'm glad you came along, I feel safer in a group.
Koko wrote:Wow, if so many have caused other people to hate them so, you'd think the Romani would've learned by now not to act as they have been. I'm sure there are some communities who get along well with their neighbours, but to those that act how I've heard them to, I must admit that I am quite glad I haven't met any now, for fear of stumbling upon one such group.
I have opened a sad thread But I find it interesting to learn about a race from a secondhand view and finding so many connections.
vijayjohn wrote:And again, I don't know about Finland specifically, but certainly some Romani communities emphasize the importance of a Romani person to stay in the company of other Romani people for cultural/religious/spiritual reasons.
Varislintu wrote: "white" Finns (I'll use this term even if I don't think it sounds descriptive).
Saim wrote:Varislintu wrote: "white" Finns (I'll use this term even if I don't think it sounds descriptive).
Je suggère: ethnic Finns and Swedes ou non-Romani Finns.
Koko wrote:I definitely sympathize for the Romani, too. Since I have heard nothing from them (probably for obvious reasons), I have a one-sided opinion that is based only on reports. The fact that they come from the cultures that have a thing against the Romani doesn't make it a good opinion either.
I appreciate your input vijay Since you know a thing about the topic, it's as close as I think I'll get to hearing the Romani's side.
Perhaps the only reason they are treated today as they is because of their history? Though, that's a big grudge to hold :/
When I was in like, grade six, I read a book called Milkweed and the protagonist was a Romani (Gypsy was used (is capital G okay? It would save over-repetition.) during the Holocaust.
Misha was a bread thief, but only because he was an orphan and had absolutely no home. Since I cried at the end of the book, I have sympathy for the Romani, too, because I liked Misha (name given to him; he didn't remember his name so Uri gave him one). A weird reason, but I got connected to a fictional Romani.
Varislintu wrote:I hadn't heard about that before, sounds interesting. Can you tell a bit more about that, like what do the cultural/religious/spiritual reasons entail?
To live properly is to abide by a set of behaviours collectively called Rromanipen, Rromipe or Rromanija, and this entails maintaining spiritual balance. This Ayurvedic concept, called karma in India (and in Romani kintala, or in some dialects kintari or kintujmos) is fundamental to the Romani worldview. Such a dualistic perspective groups the universe into pairs, God and the Devil, Romanies and non-Romanies, adults and children, clean and polluted - even the stages of life are two in number: adulthood (when one is able to produce children) and, together, childhood and old age (when one is not able to produce children).
Time spent in the non-Romani world (the jado) drains spiritual energy or dji. Sampson (1926:257) gives the various meanings of this word as "[s]eat of the emotions, heart, soul; temper, disposition, mood; courage, spirit", comparing it to Sanskrit jīva, Hindi jī, "life, soul, spirit, mind" and Armenian (h)ogi, "soul". One's spiritual batteries can only be recharged by spending time in an all-Romani environment - in the normal course of events, in family homes. It is in this area of spiritual and physical wellbeing (baxt) that the Indian origin of our Romani people is most clearly seen.
Babelfish wrote:the author mentioned that unlike the Jews, they don't seek their own state
in the words of their national poet, "Home is where my two feet stand".
Babelfish wrote:Ugh. This is so reminiscent of attitudes towards Jews The stereotyping, the question whether it's something to do with their behavior... No, it's because they're different, and people tend to hate and fear the different. Keeping within their own community by tradition isn't much help (but neither is it their fault of course!). I remember the comparison with Jews has been made somewhere, a National Geographic article I think, and the author mentioned that unlike the Jews, they don't seek their own state; in the words of their national poet, "Home is where my two feet stand".
Levike wrote:Sadly we don't have many Jews left
Johanna wrote:They're also pretty much ignored when it comes to the Holocaust, despite being as affected by it as the Jews, which may be a key.
Set wrote:I feel like a lot more people will stand up against racism against black people or Jewish people nowadays or stand up for LGBT rights, but you rarely see people making a stand for Roma and travellers since they're not an "accepted minority" so to speak.
vijayjohn wrote:Not only that, but Romani people and Travellers are hardly even discussed in academia and suffer discrimination there as well to this day. AFAIK, it is impossible for a Romani faculty member to gain tenure without hiding their ethnicity.
linguoboy wrote:vijayjohn wrote:Not only that, but Romani people and Travellers are hardly even discussed in academia and suffer discrimination there as well to this day. AFAIK, it is impossible for a Romani faculty member to gain tenure without hiding their ethnicity.
Isn't Hancock tenured? He was a prominent spokesperson for the rights of Sinti and Roma in the UK during the 60s. How did he keep his Romani heritage hidden after that?
Johanna wrote:I searched on Wikipedia for hancock, no luck, and then went to Hancock – surname, and nowhere in that list does it say anything about Roma or Sinti. So still no luck.
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