History has taught Gypsies that the less contact they had with gajze the better off they would be. For this reason Gypsies were able to survive much of their persecutions, yet for the same reasons they are cursed today. If someone slandered the Gypsies with a name unbecoming of them there was no one to protest. The Gypsies were so segregated and afraid of the gajze that they lacked the capabilities to fight the slanders that were made against them. They were forced into distancing themselves out of fear. And so Gypsies have become society's easiest targets for blame.

When we pick up an article on a crime believed to be a crime committed by a Gypsy, based on misguided information about Gypsies, we find words like Gypsy crime and Gypsy scams. How unfortunate it is for Gypsies to be the only race to be identified by a particular crime based on someone's negative experience of someone they presumed to be a Gypsy. In all my experiences I have not come across many Gypsies who were happy to reveal they are Gypsy. I cannot possibly see how a Gypsy involved in a criminal act would identify themself as Gypsy.

So, by what method are these people identified as Gypsies? Simple, the answer is misguided generalizations and sterotypes of what Gypsies are. There are many Gypsies who have given much and are continuing to add much to this world. There are Gypsies who are actors, factory owners, lawyers, teachers, and so forth. Yet, because of the many negative generalizations against Gypsies, these successful people fear losing their place in society once they have exposed themselves as Gypsies. However, the media chooses to avoid those Gypsies who are brave enough to be noticed. A Gypsy scam makes much better headlines in the media than a Gypsy teacher taking an active role on behalf of his people, for instance.

The media has even managed to have Gypsies change their last names. For example, the last name Kwiek is as popular among Gypsies as is Smith among gajze. The major difference is Smith does not receive bad media, but Kwiek does. Imagine you have the last name Smith and are denied entry into a country solely on the basisof your name, or try picturing yourself receiving constant police harassment because your last name is Smith. I imagine if this was the case not too many Smiths would be around!

We are called by the name Gypsy, and I must acknowledge this fact when this word refers to my people and me, although our preference is to be called Rroma. The only way I foresee for us to change misconceptions of us, and for the gajze to call us by our proper name, Rroma, is for all of us to educate others by whatever capabilities we have.

Posted by the Patrin Web Journal with permission of the author, 05 July 1998.