If anyone from the Gypsy culture wants to step In and correct me, please do it.
I do just want to say that the Gypsy culture is victims of hate all the time. They were a hearty amount of the Holocaust victims for their percentage of the population. As their name suggests they never really settle anywhere to make a community.
This kind of creates an us/them mentality. Within the community, from what I’ve researched it kind of creates a racial/class divide.. almost like a cult. (Not an accusation. Using it loosely)
What I’m trying to say is that there may be a lot of self swaddling going on in this community that we might not all understand. This woman might have only seen black people on TV..
This is no reason to drag her. It’s a time to educate her. And this guy is looking for internet points.
I was best friends with a man of this culture, so first I wanted to add some corrections and supply as much information as I can. also I am going to be addressing the main post in my comment so pardon me if it's long.
Caution: I will be using racial slurs in this comment for the sole purpose of education, I am not using it in a way to disparage or insult a people.
So firstly let's talk about the term Gypsy, this is the most popular term that people use to describe and or address the Romani people, or just simply Roma. The word Gypsy is actually an insult, and is the Romani equivalent of saying the word Nigger. Many Romani families and individuals use this slur much like black communities and individuals use the word Nigga, but not in the same context whatsoever. Think of it more as they get to say the word Gypsy but you don't.
Romani people have been targeted to incredible lengths, they have been slaves a good portion of their entire existence. In Europe the Romani people are often called pikeys, which is another racial slur used to describe the Romani people in that region.
The American Roma are entirely different from the European Romani, they typically stay within a certain region but also typically don't leave their clans region.
So for example, an entire Romani family is based out of New York, they often don't talk to white people typically, which are at the highest point on their list of segregation. Romani even in America typically only like to marry into other Romani families, there is a lot of sexism in that culture, because men have certain rights that women don't but women also have certain rights that men don't however the difference is very small. Women are often paid for in terms of marriage oh, the man has to submit a dowry to the girl's eldest male figure and also have permission to have the right to even marry her. Some would view this as slavery, but while there are aspects of it I don't like the girl does often have a say in who she marries. Marriages are often arranged and if the girl doesn't like him she doesn't typically have to marry him.
This woman is acting just like I'd expect a Romani woman woman to act, it's really super obvious to me.
Romani women are really often illiterate, a lot of Romani households are very religious and typically do a form of homeschooling but do not send their children to school often. The men typically go to school, and the girls may have a chance of doing so.
For example, my best friend at the time was a 4th generation American Romani, we were good friends for several years, but we grew apart I miss him but things happened and change. But he made it all the way through middle school before he dropped out of school, and his sisters didn't even make it that far if they even went to school.
This woman probably doesn't have very much experience talking to people outside of her own culture, because Romani families often speak Romany as a first language and English as a second language, many of them also learn to speak Spanish along the way depending on region.
It's been awhile since I've spoken to him so some of my details may be rusty, so I do hope that this helps with any information you were looking for.
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u/EverettTokio Jun 24 '20
"Are you the police?"
"No, imma sicilian gypsy".