Treatment of gypsies worldwide - from the Borat thread

[raildogg]

I was just looking at some information regarding gypsies, which were mentioned in the thread about Borat's mistreatment of the villagers in Romania - most of whom were gypsies.

It seems like the gypsies have been mistreated everywhere they have gone to. There is some disagreement over their origin and how they moved and when. They also have differenent names. For example, in Europe, they are called Roma - correct me please if I'm wrong. In India, they are called banjaras.

Found two links which I found helpful:

Banjaras

THE GYPSY LORE SOCIETY

I really do not know much about the gypsies and their history. Please post what you know so we can have a good discussion and learn.

 

[BullyCanadian]

I thought Gypsies were a travelling group of people from India, who travelled across Asia to Europe?

 

[raildogg]

Yes, I think they are - at least according to most articles I have read. Is it 100%? I do not know. The first article says somewhat otherwise. I find it very curious as to why Sascha Baron Cohen decided to pick a gypsy village in Romania to shoot his movie, and then make fun of gypsies in the movie.

 

[glenn beck]

Gypsies were sent to detention camps with the Jews I believe

 

[Molondo]

Originally posted by: glenn beck
Gypsies were sent to detention camps with the Jews I believe

yes they were, a little fact people don't care to remmeber.

 

[theeedude]

I used to be real scared of gypsies when I was a kid.

 

[nageov3t]

gypsies seem all cool from a distance, till you get one trying to pick pocket or hustle you.

 

[Shawn]

what makes someone a gypsy?

 

[Colt45]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_people

 

[raildogg]

Yes, but do you think the negative image of the gypsies is really true? I tend to think that people generalize a bit too much and some of the stuff that people say about them might be what they heard from someone else and not what they have experienced first hand.

Anyone else have to share something?

 

[Colt45]

Originally posted by: raildogg
Yes, but do you think the negative image of the gypsies is really true? I tend to think that people generalize a bit too much and some of the stuff that people say about them might be what they heard from someone else and not what they have experienced first hand.

Anyone else have to share something?

Are the generalizations about <insert race here> really true?

Obviously partially true to cause the stereotype, but not the case for the whole race.

 

[saymyname]

I can say this from experience.

I spent about a week or so travelling around Romania and there are way more gypsies there than in most other places in Europe. When I think Gypsies I think of Romania. They are at the bottom of the social ladder and when they beg or bother a local they literally kick them. I was told to do the same. Kick them like a dog. I saw it a few times but I never did it.

You see these gangs of kids roaming the streets. They look like they're 7 or 8 years old but they're actually around 17. These kids sniff glue until they're literally a bluish green color. They look very very sick. Their growth is severely stunted.

They are very very annoying. Far worse than your typical touts that you might encounter. They grope you and try to get in your stuff. They won't stop. You might have 10 of them on you. Finally it got to be threatening.

What are your options?

I tried walking away. I tried yelling at them. I tried threatening them.

I eventually had to push a few of them around to show that I wasn't messing around. They simply wouldn't leave us alone and followed us for blocks and blocks. They wouldn't take their hands off my brother. It was very aggravating and they simply wouldn't stop until we showed them that we were ready to really hurt them.

All in all my only losses are about 10 bags of food. The gypsies in Spain were very clever and they threw up a distraction to steal from us and about 50 other people. They'll dance and play music and it's pretty cool but their motives are purely to steal from you.

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: saymyname
They are very very annoying. Far worse than your typical touts that you might encounter. They grope you and try to get in your stuff. They won't stop. You might have 10 of them on you. Finally it got to be threatening.

my friends and I had a pretty similar experience the last time I was in Italy... this one asked a friend of mine to hold something for him, and next thing she knew, the guy had tied a bracelet onto her wrist and started yelling at her to pay for it.

 

[raildogg]

Originally posted by: saymyname
I can say this from experience.

I spent about a week or so travelling around Romania and there are way more gypsies there than in most other places in Europe. When I think Gypsies I think of Romania. They are at the bottom of the social ladder and when they beg or bother a local they literally kick them. I was told to do the same. Kick them like a dog. I saw it a few times but I never did it.

You see these gangs of kids roaming the streets. They look like they're 7 or 8 years old but they're actually around 17. These kids sniff glue until they're literally a bluish green color. They look very very sick. Their growth is severely stunted.

They are very very annoying. Far worse than your typical touts that you might encounter. They grope you and try to get in your stuff. They won't stop. You might have 10 of them on you. Finally it got to be threatening.

What are your options?

I tried walking away. I tried yelling at them. I tried threatening them.

I eventually had to push a few of them around to show that I wasn't messing around. They simply wouldn't leave us alone and followed us for blocks and blocks. They wouldn't take their hands off my brother. It was very aggravating and they simply wouldn't stop until we showed them that we were ready to really hurt them.

All in all my only losses are about 10 bags of food. The gypsies in Spain were very clever and they threw up a distraction to steal from us and about 50 other people. They'll dance and play music and it's pretty cool but their motives are purely to steal from you.

Do the gypsies dress in unique clothes that you can tell them apart from the Romanians? There seems to be a lot of gypsies in Eastern Europe.

I asked a nice lady I know, who is from Turkey, about gypsies in her country. She said that they are a happy folk who sing and dance. She said there is an old saying "Happy like a gypsy" or something similar.

 

[TechnoPro]

Originally posted by: loki8481

Originally posted by: saymyname
They are very very annoying. Far worse than your typical touts that you might encounter. They grope you and try to get in your stuff. They won't stop. You might have 10 of them on you. Finally it got to be threatening.

my friends and I had a pretty similar experience the last time I was in Italy... this one asked a friend of mine to hold something for him, and next thing she knew, the guy had tied a bracelet onto her wrist and started yelling at her to pay for it.

Very common. I grew up in Italy and the gypsies are a societal nuisance. There was a bizarre scare some years back. Police cracked a code that gypsies used to mark houses. The would put small, somewhat innocuous graffiti-like symbols near doorways. This was code for how a fellow gypsy could exploit that household. One of them was "talk about God and they will open up".

I have driven through a gypsy camp and was quite shocked to see fleets of Mercedes. Apparently, the woman and children beg and steal, and the men park their stylish rides in dirty trailer parks.