LET'S LIVE WITHOUT CAUSING HARM!: ROMANI PEOPLE, BE HONEST WITH NON-ROMANI PEOPLE. NON-ROMANI PEOPLE, TREAT RESPECTFUL ROMANI PEOPLE WELL.

April 8 is International Romani Day, making it a good time to reflect on how to improve coexistence between this ethnic group and others. Undoubtedly, Romani communities are as varied as any other large human collective. Within all of them, there are individuals of every kind, from the kindest people to the most psychopathic.

That said, let us acknowledge that a portion of the members belonging to traditional Romani culture have a strong ethnic identity accompanied by the belief that they can abuse non-Romani people because it benefits them and because non-Romani people belong to different ethnic groups. Therefore, they believe they have the right to steal from them, deceive them, squat in their homes, live off their work through social welfare, or commit other types of dishonest acts.

They try to take advantage of non-Romani people by creating win-lose relationships where the former gain at the expense of the latter. The result is that when the victim suffers abuse, their natural reaction is to distance themselves from Romani people to avoid being victimized again. If many individual experiences of abuse accumulate, it becomes a social phenomenon where non-Romani people try to keep their distance from the traditional Romani community as a defense mechanism to avoid harm, thus eroding trust and respect.

There are Romani people who demand that other ethnic groups respect them. And of course, they deserve it, as long as they are also considerate of others. They advocate against professional discrimination, discrimination when renting property, or any other form of discrimination. This is also a reasonable request, as long as they are honest with non-Romani people. Because it is normal for many people to want to keep those who try to abuse them out of their lives (at all levels), since we all have the right to avoid being trampled upon.

No landlord wants their apartment squatted, no neighbor wants to be robbed, no client wants their supplier to deceive them, and no company wants employees who shirk their duties. Therefore, all of them have the right to exclude anyone who acts in this manner, regardless of their ethnicity. Many Romani people expect non-Romani people to treat them well, but for this to happen, they must do the same for others.

Some may be tempted to say that the previous accusations are an overgeneralization, an exaggeration, a defamation, or the creation of a false and malicious stereotype. But trying to hide that  harmful ethnicism characteristic of a portion of the Romani community would be as misguided as trying to hide the abusive racism of Nazis or white supremacists in the United States.

Let us not turn a deaf ear, because it is good to listen to each other: non-Romani people to the complaints of Romani people, and vice versa. 

Fortunately, for any form of unjust thinking (such as sexism or racism), there is always someone who takes a stand against it and denounces it, just as there is always someone who wants to silence them, whether in bad faith or good faith. It is better not to sweep the dirt under the rug; let’s bring it to light as a first step towards cleaning it up.

All human societies require a reform to improve themselves and reduce abuses to a minimum. Indeed, in many of them, this civilizing process has taken place over the last centuries. And the Romani community also needs it, like all others. For this, it is essential that there are members within it who convince and pressure the rest for it to happen.

Some people present them as victims of non-Romani people. But  in general, the opposite happens: it is non-Romani people who are victimized by Romani people, because in most cases, it is a portion of the latter who abuse the former, and the former simply adopt a defensive and protective stance against these abuses. “In general” means that in certain cases, there are indeed innocent Romani people who are abused by certain non-Romani people. a portion of them are the ones who abuse the former, and the latter simply adopt a defensive and protective stance against those outrages. “In general” means that in certain cases there are indeed certain innocent Roma who are abused by certain non-Roma.

MAY NO ROMANI PERSON ABUSE ANY NON-ROMANI PERSON, NOR ANY NON-ROMANI PERSON ABUSE ANY ROMANI PERSON!

Thank you for sharing to achieve better coexistence between Romani and non-Romani people and a better, more pleasant world to live in, with less abuse.