Myths and Truths of a True Gypsy!
Dr Raven Dolick/Romani Elder
Jan 14, 2014
Stop the Ignorance!
We are an ethnic society with our own language and customs.
If you or your friends call them self Gypsy challenge them Stop the Ignorance.
If a business claims to be Gypsy for financial gain Challenge Them! They definitely haven't shed our tears and hardships!
Gypsy and Traveler culture and history – the myths and the truth
Myth: Gypsies are foreign.
Much media coverage talks of Gypsies and Travelers “invading” places. Invasion is a military term used about armies. How can it be used about a community that has been a part of British society for centuries.
Truth: Gypsies and Travelers have been part of British society for over 500 years.
One of Christopher Columbus's second journey to now USA was the first DNA Rom stepping on this soil.
Myth: Gypsies are dirty.
Truth: Gypsy culture is built upon strict codes of cleanliness learnt over centuries of life on the road. Concepts such as mokadi and mahrime place strict guidelines, for example, on what objects can be washed in what bowls. Gypsies view gorgias . or gage depending on dilect of Romani, (non-Gypsies) as unclean because of the way they live.
For example, Gypsies and Travelers rarely let animals inside their homes, because they believe them to be carriers of disease.
Myth: Gypsies are criminal.
Many Gypsies and Travelers say that legislation passed to curtail their traditional way of life is inherently racist.
Truth: Members of the Gypsy Roma Travelers communities are statistically under represented in the main stream prison population. Just as in any other ethnic minority, some Gypsies are involved in crime. But Gypsies and Travelers say they have been criminalized by laws created to curtail their traditional lifestyle.
Myth: All Gypsies live in caravans
Truth: Romani Gypsies and Irish Travelers are recognized ethnic minorities with their own culture, language and beliefs. Yet planning law defines Gypsies simply as people with a nomadic way of life. While this is historically true. 90% of Gypsies across the world now live in houses. Being nomadic is more common in Western Europe. But even here only 50% of Gypsies live in caravans. Gypsies also live in houses but they take their culture indoors with them.
Myth: Gypsies and Travelers are work shy
Truth: Labor formed the bed rock of the agricultural economy until mechanization. Gypsy and Traveler often start work younger, traditional skills are passed down to the next generation. There is a strong work ethic, based on the need to survive. Many Gypsies also sacrificed their lives for this country in the 1st and 2nd world wars. My parents migrated to the USA from Romania after the Hitler uprising.
Myth: Gypsies and Travelers have become rich through avoiding paying tax.
There is no evidence for this at all.
Truth: Traditionally many Gypsies Roma and Travelers are self-employed and pay tax like anybody else. Both Romani Gypsy and Irish Traveler culture values portable wealth and unlike non-Gypsy culture this wealth is often highly visible. A Gypsy man with a new car and caravan may look flash, but his wealth is just more visible. The amount of capital their home is worth is far less than the equity many non-Gypsies have in their houses but is constantly depreciating in value.
Myth: Gypsies are endowed with special supernatural powers, including the ability to curse and see the future.
Truth: Some Gypsies may well have psychic powers, but no more than anyone else. But some myths can be turned to a community’s advantage. A nation without an army is forced to defend itself with curses and superstition. Some Gypsies have turned the myths about them on their head and earned a living telling fortunes. Gypsy and Traveller fortune tellers have cultivated the mystery that has always surrounded Gypsy culture.
Myth: Gypsies have a genetic wanderlust
Persecution has always been a factor in nomadic life.
Truth: As an ethnic group GRT people do have a nomadic heritage. Nomadic life has been created by two factors, the pull of economic opportunity and the push of persecution. Gypsy and Traveler culture has adapted to suit this by continually working within trades that are highly mobile. Historically, that may have meant working as agricultural laborers, nowadays, it means providing services in the building trade or products that can be easily transported.
Myth: Gypsies and Travelers have never contributed anything to the economy or mainstream culture
Here's an unbelievable entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica from 1954.
“The mental age of the average adult Gypsy is thought to be about that of a child of ten. Gypsies have never accomplished anything of great significance in writing, painting, musical composition, science or social organisation. Quarrelsome, quick to anger or laughter, they are unthinkingly but not deliberately cruel. Loving bright colors, they are ostentatious and boastful, but lack bravery.”
These amazingly ignorant “facts” in the Encyclopedia Britannica were printed just ten years after thousands of Gypsy men died fighting for this country in the Second World War. And to claim that Gypsies have not accomplished anything of great significance in the arts and sciences is astonishing. Gypsy and Traveler journalists, artists and musicians, academics and historians are all involved in Gypsy Roma Traveler History Month 2008. It is hoped that attitudes and knowledge has advanced since 1954, and GRTHM hopes to continue the process.
Truth: Romanies are Europe’s largest and fastest growing ethnic minority.
Execution, deportation and toleration have not dealt with the “Gypsy problem.” Gypsies and Travelers are here to stay and are becoming increasingly good at demanding that their culture and way of life is accommodated.
The current conflict over Gypsy and Traveler site provision is in nobody’s interests, it is in everyone’s interest to resolve it through educating the wider public about Gypsy and Traveler culture and needs.
Dr Raven Dolick/Romani Elder
Jan 14, 2014
Stop the Ignorance!
We are an ethnic society with our own language and customs.
If you or your friends call them self Gypsy challenge them Stop the Ignorance.
If a business claims to be Gypsy for financial gain Challenge Them! They definitely haven't shed our tears and hardships!
Gypsy and Traveler culture and history – the myths and the truth
Myth: Gypsies are foreign.
Much media coverage talks of Gypsies and Travelers “invading” places. Invasion is a military term used about armies. How can it be used about a community that has been a part of British society for centuries.
Truth: Gypsies and Travelers have been part of British society for over 500 years.
One of Christopher Columbus's second journey to now USA was the first DNA Rom stepping on this soil.
Myth: Gypsies are dirty.
Truth: Gypsy culture is built upon strict codes of cleanliness learnt over centuries of life on the road. Concepts such as mokadi and mahrime place strict guidelines, for example, on what objects can be washed in what bowls. Gypsies view gorgias . or gage depending on dilect of Romani, (non-Gypsies) as unclean because of the way they live.
For example, Gypsies and Travelers rarely let animals inside their homes, because they believe them to be carriers of disease.
Myth: Gypsies are criminal.
Many Gypsies and Travelers say that legislation passed to curtail their traditional way of life is inherently racist.
Truth: Members of the Gypsy Roma Travelers communities are statistically under represented in the main stream prison population. Just as in any other ethnic minority, some Gypsies are involved in crime. But Gypsies and Travelers say they have been criminalized by laws created to curtail their traditional lifestyle.
Myth: All Gypsies live in caravans
Truth: Romani Gypsies and Irish Travelers are recognized ethnic minorities with their own culture, language and beliefs. Yet planning law defines Gypsies simply as people with a nomadic way of life. While this is historically true. 90% of Gypsies across the world now live in houses. Being nomadic is more common in Western Europe. But even here only 50% of Gypsies live in caravans. Gypsies also live in houses but they take their culture indoors with them.
Myth: Gypsies and Travelers are work shy
Truth: Labor formed the bed rock of the agricultural economy until mechanization. Gypsy and Traveler often start work younger, traditional skills are passed down to the next generation. There is a strong work ethic, based on the need to survive. Many Gypsies also sacrificed their lives for this country in the 1st and 2nd world wars. My parents migrated to the USA from Romania after the Hitler uprising.
Myth: Gypsies and Travelers have become rich through avoiding paying tax.
There is no evidence for this at all.
Truth: Traditionally many Gypsies Roma and Travelers are self-employed and pay tax like anybody else. Both Romani Gypsy and Irish Traveler culture values portable wealth and unlike non-Gypsy culture this wealth is often highly visible. A Gypsy man with a new car and caravan may look flash, but his wealth is just more visible. The amount of capital their home is worth is far less than the equity many non-Gypsies have in their houses but is constantly depreciating in value.
Myth: Gypsies are endowed with special supernatural powers, including the ability to curse and see the future.
Truth: Some Gypsies may well have psychic powers, but no more than anyone else. But some myths can be turned to a community’s advantage. A nation without an army is forced to defend itself with curses and superstition. Some Gypsies have turned the myths about them on their head and earned a living telling fortunes. Gypsy and Traveller fortune tellers have cultivated the mystery that has always surrounded Gypsy culture.
Myth: Gypsies have a genetic wanderlust
Persecution has always been a factor in nomadic life.
Truth: As an ethnic group GRT people do have a nomadic heritage. Nomadic life has been created by two factors, the pull of economic opportunity and the push of persecution. Gypsy and Traveler culture has adapted to suit this by continually working within trades that are highly mobile. Historically, that may have meant working as agricultural laborers, nowadays, it means providing services in the building trade or products that can be easily transported.
Myth: Gypsies and Travelers have never contributed anything to the economy or mainstream culture
Here's an unbelievable entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica from 1954.
“The mental age of the average adult Gypsy is thought to be about that of a child of ten. Gypsies have never accomplished anything of great significance in writing, painting, musical composition, science or social organisation. Quarrelsome, quick to anger or laughter, they are unthinkingly but not deliberately cruel. Loving bright colors, they are ostentatious and boastful, but lack bravery.”
These amazingly ignorant “facts” in the Encyclopedia Britannica were printed just ten years after thousands of Gypsy men died fighting for this country in the Second World War. And to claim that Gypsies have not accomplished anything of great significance in the arts and sciences is astonishing. Gypsy and Traveler journalists, artists and musicians, academics and historians are all involved in Gypsy Roma Traveler History Month 2008. It is hoped that attitudes and knowledge has advanced since 1954, and GRTHM hopes to continue the process.
Truth: Romanies are Europe’s largest and fastest growing ethnic minority.
Execution, deportation and toleration have not dealt with the “Gypsy problem.” Gypsies and Travelers are here to stay and are becoming increasingly good at demanding that their culture and way of life is accommodated.
The current conflict over Gypsy and Traveler site provision is in nobody’s interests, it is in everyone’s interest to resolve it through educating the wider public about Gypsy and Traveler culture and needs.
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