The Rich Culture & Tragic History of the Roma

Figure 1: Roma people

 

Today’s installment of the blog post will cover the Roma (Romani) culture (Figure 1).  The Roma are most commonly known by the alternative term “Gypsy”, an incorrect and derogatory identifier for the 12-15 million Roma who exist across the globe today.  The Roma culture is very rich but largely misunderstood, which is in part why they will be discussed in this blog post.  Their culture, their history, and the challenges they have experienced will be addressed.

The Roma are an ethnic group that can be found scattered throughout the world, with the largest number being found in Europe.  They do not acknowledge a geographic place of origin or residence, which is in part due to their cultural tradition of being nomadic and also due to the severe discrimination and expulsion of them throughout history and today.  While the Roma may not settle in any given place for long they maintain their identities and relationships through complex and close knit kinship ties.  Typically, three generations of a family will live and travel together.  Because of their nomadic way of life the Roma typically seek employment that allow them flexibility and stability within the short periods that they will reside in an area.  Many Roma in the past were employed as entertainers, an occupation that lends itself well to nomadism, but today many Roma take jobs in construction or skilled, manual labor.

Figure 2: Roma populations in Europe

The Roma do not appear to have a history of one shared religious practice that is specific to their identity.  They have been known to worship the religions of the groups they reside with.  The majority of Roma today identify as Pentecostal Christians, which may be a reflection of the number who reside in Christian nations (e.g. the US, Canada, European nations, etc.) (Figure 2).  The preference toward Christianity may also be due to the strict gender roles and values of the Roma that align themselves well with Christian doctrine of cleanliness, order, and purity.  The Roma believe that non-Roma are less clean than themselves, which is evidenced at how spotless and clean the Roma keep their home spaces.  Roma women are also expected to be models of purity in dress, behavior, and language, which devout and Orthodox Christian faiths also adhere to.

Figure 3: Roma Origins and migration

Because the Roma have always been a nomadic people their origins are imprecisely known.  Their characterization as “Gypsies” comes from the misidentification of their origins as Egyptians, but linguistic anthropologists have traced the Romani language back to Indian languages in Asia (Figure 3) .  It is believed that the Roma may have either been a rejected caste or a group of foreign entertainers brought in to amuse the elite.  The Roma are believed to have left the Asian continent due to Muslim invaders to the region who either pushed out the Roma by force or who encouraged the Roma to leave due to conflicting values and cultural practices.  The Roma traveled to Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in response.

The Roma immigration, however, was not without challenges.  The Roma were viewed with contempt because of their nomadic lifestyle, and many Europeans took this disdain as an opportunity to enslave them.  Laws outlawing traveling entertainers were meant to sedentize the Roma, and it was common practice to steal Roma babies and children as a means of forced assimilation.  This is actually where the stereotype of the Roma being baby stealers comes from because if and when they could they would steal back their children.  The most devastating situations the Roma have had to deal with is forced sterilization of men and women (mandated by law among various European nations) and the Holocaust, where an estimated 1.5 million Roma were killed.  Unfortunately, discrimination against the Roma continues throughout Europe.  Most recently Roma children were left to drown in a river in Italy, and violence and murder against the Roma is commonplace.  These crimes are most often not solved (if even investigated) because there remains a strong anti-Roma sentiment due to negative stereotypes of the Roma. 

Despite these challenges the Roma continue to practice their culture and persist as an ethnic group around the world.  Several efforts are ongoing to help preserve the Roma language and culture, as well as educate people about who and what the Roma and their culture is actually about.  With these efforts there is hope that the Roma will soon coexist peacefully with other groups as they all continue their own unique cultures and ways of life.

Roma Children

References

Peters-Golden, H.  (2011).  Culture Sketches: Case Studies in Anthropology. 6th Edition.  Mc-Graw Hill Education.