Gypsies: the price and the value of the difference

Gypsies: the price and the value of the difference

It demands great spiritual resilience not to hate the hater whose foot is on your neck, and an even greater miracle of perception and charity not to teach your child to hate.

James Arthur Baldwin

Since the existence of humans, Europe has been well known by its geography, politics, culture, etc. but most important of all, it has gainedrecognition by its multiethnic and peculiar people known as the Gypsies, bohemians, caravan-dwellers etc. According to Lucassen, (2003) the word Gyspy can be defined as “a member of a race of people originally from northern India who typically used to travel from place to place, and now live especially in Europe and North America” (p.284).Gypsies since the Middle Age are well known because of howthey constructed their lives, living in the streets as nomadic people in caravans or tents; performing all kind of activities like dancers, musicians, minstrel etc. in the streets so they can have some money to survive in a precarious way of living.
Since the XVI century, Europe has lived with a spot in their hearts known as Gypsies´ racism. Over the years gypsies racism has covered more forced inthe EU; these group of people have remained unassimilated for years. Gypsies have faced inhuman atrocities; they were part of Nazis extermination program, they have been involved in massacres in Spain, they were expulse from their natural territory, just because they were different etc. Nowadays, Gypsies´ racism has spread quicker compared to past years. According to the BBC News (2010), Europehas a high level of racism against gypsies compared to other countries around the world. One of the most polemic acts in 2010 has been the expulsion of immigrant gypsies all around Central Europe “France has repatriated 10,000 Gypsies and other European countries, including Germany, Italy, Denmark and Sweden pursued similar policies” (Fraser,2010).
Gypsies have been isolated for centuries,racism is a word that can be seen as a small word that is easy to pronounce but is easier to carry out; and why it´s so easy, because human mind is not used to accept what is different form its believes and thoughts. Throughout this paper a context will be given to assert how racism has followed European gypsies´ since XVI century until 2010?
In order to understand Gypsies stigmas that hadbeen developed in a discriminatory society it is important to understand first their historical context. According to Mayfield (2008), the Gypsies settled in Easter Europe at least 500 years ago (M edieval Period). Most of them run away from the Middle East, likely due to its brutal persecution of their polytheistic religions. The Gypsies settled in Hungary, Romania, Maldova, Russia, Ukraine,Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania. However, Gypsies are well known because they are a tribal people that carry out values, religious beliefs, traditions and customs from India. Their physical characteristics are similar to the people who settled in the India, Pakistan and Bangladesh “straight dark hair, darker skin, shorter stature, a broader skull, a long nose, and dark pigmentation under the eyes”(Mayfield, 2008, p.1). Gypsies settled in tent colonies and ghettos. Their foreign features make them an easy victim of discrimination and interethnic conflict with native Europeans. They have been segregated from their native populations as it can be seen nowadays. There was and remains almost no assimilation due to abstinent inter-cultural antagonism.
Over the past several centuries untilpresent days “Gypsies have been treated as a bacillus or parasites and have even frequently been expelled, attacked, or even in the case of World War II, exterminated altogether” (Mayfield, 2008, p.2). During World War II, the Gypsies became victimized, as European countries adapted Fascist national movements. In Europe, especially in Germany were seen as parasites that brought destruction to their...