Links to Websites and Blogs

Blogs:

http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/entries/international_roma_day/

http://piven.blogspot.com/

Websites:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8225989.stm

http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/racism/010905.roma.html

http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/Media_and_public_information/Broadcast_materials/Video_News_Release/lang--en/WCMS_074514/index.htm

The Cause for My Curiousity

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Immigration to our continent

Several groups, generally known to outsiders as "Gypsies," live today in North America. In their native languages, each of the groups refers to itself by a specific name, but most translate that name as "Gypsy" when speaking English. The distinct groups of Irish Travelers and Scottish Travelers do not refer to themselves as Gypsies, however. Each of these groups had its own cultural, linguistic, and historical tradition before coming to this country, and each maintains social distance from the others. They differ from one another in social organization: form of marriage, internal politics and social control. With the exception of the Hungarian-Slovak musicians, Gypsy and Traveler groups share elements of economic organization. The Rom and Romnichels share elements of an ideology which stresses the separation of pure from impure and Gypsy from non-Gypsy. The Rom, Romnichels, and Hungarian-Slovak musicians share a linguistic prehistory, but their ethnic languages are not, for practical purposes, mutually intelligible. (Roma History)

Secretary Clintons Message on the Roma

Continuing their struggle for freedom

"The World Romani Congress has adopted a Romani flag which is respected by all the Roma the world over. It comprises of blue and green traditional colors with the red wheel in the center. Blue is the blue sky and the heavens. Green is the land, organic and growing. The blue symbolizes eternal spiritual values; the green earthly values. The wheel in the center symbolizes movement and progress." (Roma)

April 8th has been designated as International Day of the Roma. The Roma people (Gypsies) held the first world congress just outside London in 1971 where the official flag of the Roma people as a separate ethnic group was adopted as was the term Roma as the accepted name for their people. Representatives from many different countries attended including those of the former Soviet block. Six more conferences have been held since, not always having delegates from all the lands represented due to government interference; even so they have received formal recognition from the United Nations. It was at the conference held in 1990 that International Day of the Roma was adopted.

Many celebrities and governments have recently spoken up about the human rights violations and abuses of the Roma today in many European countries. Many of the policies today are reflective of those during the Nazi regime of the 1930's and 40's. Their struggle continues and it is on our watch that "never again" will once again be tested.

Present Day Persecution: We fear what we do not understand.

They speak their own language. They disregard local law. They practice suspicious professions - fortune tellers, dancers, fiddlers, horse traders, living a mysterious romantic lifestyle Around the globe gypsies pass across the landscape - always the quintessential outsiders.... The Gypsies! They suffered centuries of persecution at the hands of those who found them strange, disturbing, and alien. But, paradoxically, the very societies that castigated gypsies have also revered their special skills, and ascribed mysterious magical powers to them. Romantic to some, threatening to others, always seen from a distance by outsiders' eyes, the gypsy ways are largely hidden to us. (Roma History)

Roma Rights, give some indication of the day-to-day discrimination and persecution throughout Europe (ERRC) that Roma still suffer. Such persecution -- often officially meted out-- is particularly severe and brutal in the countries of eastern Europe.

Bulgaria:

The latest news on Roma in Bulgaria is of starvation and food riots and police abuse in their wake. February 1997 that three Romani children from the town of Stara Zagora starved to death. On 4 February, following a rise in bread prices, two thousand Roma in the central Bulgarian city of Pazardzhik demonstrated to protest against discrimination by the government and local authorities. Following the demonstration, a group of Romani children allegedly began throwing stones at three food shops and shouting, `We are hungry!' One of the shops was looted for food while, according to testimony, approximately fifteen police officers looked on and encouraged the appropriation of food, but warned the looters not to cause damage to the shops. (Roma: Persecution)

Romania:

Madonna was jeered by the audience in Bucharest after saying the discrimination "made me feel very sad".

Publicist Liz Rosenberg said Madonna made the comments after being made aware of the prejudice towards Romany people in Eastern Europe.

The star uses a group of Roma musicians on her Sticky and Sweet tour.

Madonna paused during her two-hour show to say: "It has been brought to my attention, that there is a lot of discrimination against Romanies and Gypsies in general in Eastern Europe - it made me feel very sad." (Madonna)

Nearly half of Europe's estimated 12 million Roma claimed to have suffered an act of discrimination over the past 12 months, according to a recent report by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency.The agency says Roma face "overt discrimination" in housing, health care and education.

The Nazis first target; The Roma

Roma families were among the first victims of the holocaust. In some cases their policies forced the Roma to become assimilated, but many Roma fled persecution and took to the road again. Those who did not escape, became some of the first victims of Nazi policies which led to the Holocaust or Porajmos-"The Devouring" as it is called by the Romany. They were sent to die in the gas vans of Chelmno or were subject to gruesome experiments in the extermination camps. It is believed that over 500,000 Roma died during this time of facist rule in Europe.

In the autum of 1941, German police authorities deported over five thousand Sinti and Lalleri Gypsies from Austria to the ghetto for Jews in Lodz, where they resided in a segregated section, nearly half of the Roma died within the first months of their arrival, due to lack of food, fuel, shelter and medicines. German SS and police officials deported those who survived those dreadful conditions to the killing center at Chelmno in the first months of 1942 to die with over ten thousand Jews from the Lodz ghetto.

Anti-Roma propaganda (Vagabonds)

Only in late 1979 did the West German Federal Parliament identify the Nazi persecution of Roma as being racially motivated, creating eligibility for most Roma to apply for compensation for their suffering and loss under the Nazi regime. By this time, many of those who became eligible had already died.

The Outcasts

Because they were carrying customs and memories connected to their Hindu gods, the Roma were regarded as heathens in Byzantium and were assimilated into a heretic sect: "the Untouchables" or Atsingani. This designation is the root of the words used for "Gypsy" in most European languages, such as the French "Tzigane" and the German "Zigeuner". (Roma History)

Roma have worked as coppersmiths possibly since the "Persian period"
They worked on the land or as craftsmen but in two Romanian principalities, Wallachia and Moldova, they were pushed into slavery and feature prominently in property deeds. At this time, the Roma fled towards Ukraine and Russia, where they were given aid or shelter. This welcoming attitude changed dramatically around the year 1500.

Historians believe this might have happened because the numbers of the immigrants grew bigger, but they also were seen as spies for the Turks, and consequently hunted and killed by decree. This led to what some historians dub "the first Roma genocide" - a period of fierce repression. There were hangings and expulsions in England; branding and the shaving of heads in France; severing of the left ear of Roma women in Moravia, and of the right one in Bohemia. Following these expulsions and killings, large groups of Roma travelled back East, towards Poland, which was more tolerant. Russia was also a place where the Roma were treated less heavy-handedly, notably being allowed to retain nomadic or semi-nomadic ways of living, as long as they paid the annual taxes - the "obrok". (On)

A History of The Roma

Historians agree that the Roma's origins lie in north-west India and that their journey towards Europe started between the 3rd and 7th Centuries AD - a massive migration prompted by timeless reasons: conflicts, instability and the seeking of a better life in big cities such as Tehran, Baghdad and, later on, Constantinople. Some of these Indian immigrant workers were farmers, herdsmen, traders, mercenaries or book-keepers. Others were entertainers and musicians. Large numbers moved into Europe, where the D, which was anyway pronounced with the tongue curled up, became an R, giving the word Rom. Today's European Roma (the plural of Rom) are their descendants. The Rom and Romnichels share elements of an ideology which stresses the separation of pure from impure and Gypsy from non-Gypsy.