Europe's mistreatment of gypsies continues amidst right-wing fears

Gypsies

The gypsy community is laden with mystery, with stories from its own culture and other groups.  But that community, despite his colorful ways, music and dance, and ability to maintain a sense of togetherness while enduring  great economic hardships, has been a group that is consistently persecuted in Europe, even as right-wing groups single them out to be moved from the countries they have called home for centuries.

As the rise of the right-wing political organizations present arguments against immigration of minorities to various countries, the gypsies continue to be at the bottom of the social and economic heap of humanity, scorned by governments and feared by their citizens.

History records gypsies arrival in Europe from India 1500 years ago.  They were nomadic as a consequence of their uniqueness, cultural ways and the distaste of Europeans to those differences.  They often were the slaves to landed gentry throughout much of Europe.  In the 20th century they were among the groups singled out by the Nazis as inferior people, thus imprisoned, tortured and killed along with people with disabilities and the Jews.  Now  they are the target of European efforts to rid themselves of individuals whom they consider a threat to economic security.

In 2010 President Sarkozy of France evicted hundreds of gypsies from various camps, creating considerable controversy among the people of France as well as other countries.  The gypsies became the target for major crackdowns on their encampments, as they were forced to return to Romania and other areas of Eastern Europe.  The problem became, however,  that these European countries,  once a homeland for many gypsies,  didn't want them either and thus shuttled them to garbage-filled areas of the countrywide, where many of them now live.

Jerome Taylor of The Independent writes that " Right-wing politicians and media are stoking fears that Romanian Gypsies plan to flock to Britain. But the reality is very different, the residents of the country's worst slums say.

Taylor writes of the terrible conditions in which gypsies live outside of Romania's major cities.  Yet many won't leave because it is their homeland, where their people have lived for many generations.  And they affirm that despite the prejudices and rumors, they work, educate their children and hope for a better life, just like their non-gypsy neighbors.

It isn't just the far right, however, that targets gypsies, according to civil rights activists in Europe.  In Romania the far right has been kept in check, but not for altruistic reasons. "There isn't really much need for extreme-right groups because you find racism and stereotyping in all the mainstream parties," explains Marian Mandache, head of Romani Criss, a Bucharest-based group that campaigns for Roma rights. "Roma face hardship, exclusion and discrimination in almost all fields of public life."

Music has been one of the ways gypsies have been able to make a living and showcase their culture.   A guide to their music presents a number of traditional and public domain offerings, with such prominent names in the gypsy music community as Acquaragia Drom, Fanfare Ciocãrlia and Kálmán Balogh.  Music about gypsies has also held some fascination for people with songs like "Golden Earrings" in the film starring Marlene Dietrich represented.

Despite their contributions to music and the arts, and their attempts to integrate into whatever culture is the pattern in the countries where they reside, Roma people, or the gypsies, continue to retain the image of mystery, that they are criminals and looking only for devious means to get what they need and want. Yet those who have written about the culture and taken the time to examine the history of the Roma people, maintain it has been their poverty and special cultural differences that set them apart, creating problems in securing employment and status wherever they might reside.

Much of the discrimination against the gypsies emanated from their history, as they are an Indo-European people from India and Pakistan, taken as slaves by Muslims, according to online information focusing on their history and culture, somewhere between the 6th and 11th centuries, ending up in Europe, where they became outcasts.  The fact they had been slaves were part of the pattern that kept them as outsiders and led to many of their problems of assimilation.

The gypsy people are more than a round of applause for their music, their fortune-telling skills and their nomadic lifestyle, but a people of consequence in the world's culture.  With respect for their traditions, this song's author offers a tribute to a misunderstood but unique group of people whose home always seems to be where the heart is but who are not allowed to live in it.  The song can be found on YouTube here and on Fandalism at this address.