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The Largest Gypsy Ghetto in Europe – Stolipinovo, Bulgaria (2016)

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21–30 of 258 posts

Re: The Largest Gypsy Ghetto in Europe – Stolipinovo, Bulgaria (2016)

#21
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know Roma?

My friend. Let me help you with a definition from the top hit on Google for this word.. racism /ˈreɪsɪz(ə)m/ noun prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.

Don't you think that makes it a bit easy? Every european knows Roma. If I were to cite crime statistics, that would make me a racist? It would also be illegal for me, depending on the judge.

This whole comment section is just insane. A bunch of Americans complaining about racist Europeans. I would really like to encourage to visit a big European city and watch them.

Re: The Largest Gypsy Ghetto in Europe – Stolipinovo, Bulgaria (2016)

#22
post #2

I have quite a few European friends on social media and they always seem perplexed whenever racial tensions flare up in the USA. Some even have openly asked "why do Americans find it so hard not to be racist? It's not that hard." I always respond by pointing out that the citizens of almost every country are naturally xenophobic and/or racist, just not necessarily against people of African descent. In the case of Euro…

[flagged]

Re: The Largest Gypsy Ghetto in Europe – Stolipinovo, Bulgaria (2016)

#23

Nice to see them being portrayed as friendly and in a somewhat positive light. Unfortunately, this is one of the most unfairly treated ethnic groups in Europe - the prejudice runs high even amongst people with generally progressive views - and I have to object to this headline's labelling of the area. I hope that in the coming years that would be treated as a racial slur.

I never met a Sinti or Roma, but many eastern europeans, and they all had nothing but hate for this group, based on stories of crime and theft. Ticked me off a bit, since that was exactly the prejudice eastern europeans faced and face in western europe.

>Ticked me off a bit, since that was exactly the prejudice eastern europeans faced and face in western europe.

At least here in Spain that is because most of the Eastern Europeans we get are Roma. So people automatically assume Bulgarians or Romanians are all Roma and act like them.

Re: The Largest Gypsy Ghetto in Europe – Stolipinovo, Bulgaria (2016)

#24
post #2

I have quite a few European friends on social media and they always seem perplexed whenever racial tensions flare up in the USA. Some even have openly asked "why do Americans find it so hard not to be racist? It's not that hard." I always respond by pointing out that the citizens of almost every country are naturally xenophobic and/or racist, just not necessarily against people of African descent. In the case of Euro…

I know exactly what you mean, I'm european and it bothers me too. From my perspective the United States is amazing because a lot of "white" people who stick together are actually from different parts of Europe who might not have always been fond of each other. This is all conjecture but as a european I feel like I can easier spot where a european is from based on their appearance, while white americans don't see that…

> I feel like I can easier spot where a european is from

That's because you have seen italians speaking and acting italian, romanians speaking romanian etc. Americans see americans speaking american

Re: The Largest Gypsy Ghetto in Europe – Stolipinovo, Bulgaria (2016)

#25
I ask myself quite genuinely if under the same circumstances I would live like that. It's really very hard to imagine that I or anyone I know would just accept living in trash like that. We would surely all agree to get some shovels and at least clean up the sidewalk in front of our house...right? What stops them from doing that? It seems like a choice.

Re: The Largest Gypsy Ghetto in Europe – Stolipinovo, Bulgaria (2016)

#26
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you know Roma?

My friend. Let me help you with a definition from the top hit on Google for this word.. racism /ˈreɪsɪz(ə)m/ noun prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.

[deleted]

Re: The Largest Gypsy Ghetto in Europe – Stolipinovo, Bulgaria (2016)

#27

Nice to see them being portrayed as friendly and in a somewhat positive light. Unfortunately, this is one of the most unfairly treated ethnic groups in Europe - the prejudice runs high even amongst people with generally progressive views - and I have to object to this headline's labelling of the area. I hope that in the coming years that would be treated as a racial slur.

I never met a Sinti or Roma, but many eastern europeans, and they all had nothing but hate for this group, based on stories of crime and theft. Ticked me off a bit, since that was exactly the prejudice eastern europeans faced and face in western europe.

There used to be a time when ‘entrepreneurs’ were much more likely to travel abroad than law-abiding citizens for a combination of reasons and I imagine a similar combination makes only the worst of them travel and be seen outside of their usual places, giving a very bad rep to the wide group as a whole.

Re: The Largest Gypsy Ghetto in Europe – Stolipinovo, Bulgaria (2016)

#28
post #10
post #2

I have quite a few European friends on social media and they always seem perplexed whenever racial tensions flare up in the USA. Some even have openly asked "why do Americans find it so hard not to be racist? It's not that hard." I always respond by pointing out that the citizens of almost every country are naturally xenophobic and/or racist, just not necessarily against people of African descent. In the case of Euro…

I came here to write pretty much this. Here's a picture to clarify even further. https://imgur.com/m88rKwx

Honest question: I can't figure out what the point is that that image is making. (I can't reconcile the image with the caption.) Could someone explain?

Re: The Largest Gypsy Ghetto in Europe – Stolipinovo, Bulgaria (2016)

#29
post #12

Nice to see them being portrayed as friendly and in a somewhat positive light. Unfortunately, this is one of the most unfairly treated ethnic groups in Europe - the prejudice runs high even amongst people with generally progressive views - and I have to object to this headline's labelling of the area. I hope that in the coming years that would be treated as a racial slur.

I do not think they would be friendly to any local Bulgarian that wandered into the neighbourhood. Also "many children don’t attend school." is rather a problem, isn't it. And though I do not know much about Bulgaria, I doubt it's because of the money. I'd assume Bulgaria has free schools and probably social support for financially struggling kids. There are so many different nations in Europe, some with their nation…

Post author here:

Note that the people that live in Stolipinovo are Bulgarian. I guess you meant to say "I do not think they would be friendly to any non-Roma Bulgarian". That's an assumption that (from experience) is incorrect.

Also, I'm not American, but I get that a lot.

Re: The Largest Gypsy Ghetto in Europe – Stolipinovo, Bulgaria (2016)

#30
post #2

I have quite a few European friends on social media and they always seem perplexed whenever racial tensions flare up in the USA. Some even have openly asked "why do Americans find it so hard not to be racist? It's not that hard." I always respond by pointing out that the citizens of almost every country are naturally xenophobic and/or racist, just not necessarily against people of African descent. In the case of Euro…

I agree that many Europeans are racist towards Roma and the other gypsy peoples. Much of what they say will be pure nonsense (e.g., they are stupid, not fit for work, etc), but other common statements you might hear also have some truth to them. For example, "they all steal" is of course a gross simplification, as many Roma are well integrated and live a regular life. However, if you are surrounded by a group of people clearly discernible as gypsies (women in long robes, etc) there is a high likelihood you're in trouble.
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