131–140 of 258 posts
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Here in Czechia many use the 'vulgar' variant (cikán) themselves. I wouldn't use it in my writing though.
It's "циганин" (tsiganin, or ciganin) in Bulgaria. But this is now deemed offensive, hence roma.
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…
When I was growing up in New England in the 1970's, children commonly used the term "gyp" / "gyped" as a slang version of "cheat" / "cheated". It's only as an adult that I realized this was probably a racial or cultural slur.
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…
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You're probably being downvoted for mentioning neo Nazis but you're absolutely right. Racism and these various similar tensions aren't "natural", they're constructed over time by people with their own agendas. In the U.S. what we've come to know as racism is a set of ideas constructed to justify slavery. Roma people were similarly held as slaves in the medieval area - discrimination against them benefitted slaveholde…
[citation needed]
>"And, personally, honestly, I’m actually deceiving you right here on this page. It can’t be helped. No set of photos, nor a thousand or so words, gathered over the course of a single day in Stolipinovo, could possibly begin to tell the whole story."
What a great summary. What great photos. This whole post was a wonderful bit of travel journalism. Thanks for sharing.
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To be fair, that behaviour is probably more associated with poverty than their "culture". North America also has people "wearing dirty clothes, carrying a trolley, and going through garbage cans" but it has nothing to do with their ethnic or cultural background, it's due to a lack of better options. In some places, like Andalusia, the Romani people flourished and developed a distinctive and globally appreciated cultu…
It is absolutely a poverty problem first. Racism is much harder to maintain when the evidence in front of your face is of doing just fine, and where continuing to be racist costs you something. Capitalism got this right. On one hand, European culture is indeed hypocritical to throw stones at the US over racism. Quite staggeringly so, actually. If I may, it's also an excellent demonstration that skin colour really isn…
As a gentle counterpoint to this, most of the derogatory terms for Roma translate to "black" - even in areas where the gadji are predominantly dark
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You use the word "gypsy" a lot. The Roma I've met consider it very offensive, almost n-word level offensive. Is that not the case in Europe?
It’s complicated. Ultimately it’s rude to refer to anyone by their skin colour, ethnicity or racial “group”. There are almost no situations where it’s appropriate.
Outside of that bubble, though, it ranges from neutral to positive to acknowledge a person's ethnicity.
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You're probably being downvoted for mentioning neo Nazis but you're absolutely right. Racism and these various similar tensions aren't "natural", they're constructed over time by people with their own agendas. In the U.S. what we've come to know as racism is a set of ideas constructed to justify slavery. Roma people were similarly held as slaves in the medieval area - discrimination against them benefitted slaveholde…
>Roma people were similarly held as slaves in the medieval area - discrimination against them benefitted slaveholders economically and justified their exploitation. [citation needed]
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…