Are the UK Travelers, and Gypsies discriminated against as Black Americans were here in the US between the years 1955 and earlier?
The documentary Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, which supposedly attempted to malign the Travelers, and Gypsies mostly and paint a less favorable picture of them. Also, comments made by the Travelers, and Gypsies that appeared points to a lot of prejudice against them. I know it cannot quite be the same because they are all Europeans so it is not as if the Gypsies were a different skin tone, or come from a whole different nation. Even if the documentary was disingenuous, I believe some facts trickled pass about prejudice against Gypsies, and Travelers. They might not have thought much of it, less they edited out that footage. That being Travelers and Gypsies appear to be regarded the same way Black Americans were here, that we were trash, crooks, n*****s, and basic ”throwaway” people. Mostly what I read in the media here in the US up to that point I viewed the documentary, was that people of Middle Eastern descent that were catching the most hell and prejudice. Is the treatment Travelers, and Gypsies similar to Black Americans under Jim Crow? Are Travelers, and Gypsies regarded less than Middle Easterners? Are they looked upon as the lowest class in the UK? This is probably a question only UK Jellies know better, I am curious to know, though
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I can’t speak for anywhere else, but when I was in Ukraine, gypsies were clearly discriminated against. They were deliberately avoided, insulted, people would grab their children closer as if to shield them.
Growing up, my grandparents would always use the word “gypsy” as an insult, and the word was always said with a distasteful snarl.
There is a lot of discrimination towards travellers here in the UK. One of the men that was on the documentary you mentioned is currently in Celebrity Big Brother and appears to be quite popular so this may help their cause. I’ll be honest though, many members of the travelling community don’t do anything to help themselves in this regard and can be highly anti-social.
We used to have a Jelly who was a Romanii who could speak to this issue well. I don’t think you can draw an exact parallel with the institutionalized racism against African-Americans and the Romanii but certainly they are discriminated against and decried. Many were killed during the Holocaust as well.
@RareDenver I’ll be honest though, many members of the travelling community don’t do anything to help themselves in this regard and can be highly anti-social. Logically if the people you would try to reach out to see you as dirt, crooks, or worse, would you go out of your way to try to be friends or avoid them? Even if a non-Traveler came to you trying to be friendly, would you not be suspicious as why? If I had been born earlier in the South were my mom came from and some white people tried to be nice and pleasant to me I think I would be suspicious. That innocent gesture might have left a burning cross near your home. It might not be that bad for the Travelers, and Gypsies, but I can see them not waiting with open arms for people who seem to despise them.
@janbb I don’t think you can draw an exact parallel with the institutionalized racism against African-Americans and the Romanii[sic] but certainly they are discriminated against and decried. That is why I tried to separate the two. I know the discrimination comes from different places. Travelers, and Gypsies could go pretty much unnoticed less they say who they were. If I were in the UK before I seen the documentary and I seen a group of 3–6 hot girls in Daisy Dukes, minis or booty shorts, with no guys around I would have figured what luck. Then mad an arse of myself trying to chat them up. Now I would assume they maybe Traveler girls. Even thought the discrimination is not due to race, the distain for them seem palpable to me. Than in magnitude compared to all the groups there it near equals the type of distain Black Americans received in the South in the height of the Jim Crow era. A Traveler or Gypsy would not stick out just because they were. If I say a woman in the bookstore I would know if she were Asian, Middle Eastern or Black before I knew she was a Gypsy.
@Hypocrisy_Central I spelled it that way because that is the way the Romanii Jelly spells it.
@RareDenver That would hold true of any group, OK, maybe not the Amish, even some Euro based people in the US who rode the night on white horses, spewing hate with burnt crosses, they didn’t help out those who were truly peaceful. It is a given, or should be, not all travelers and Gypsies were going to be saints; no matter how many 1st communions they attended. ;-P
@RareDenver true but violent and criminal behaviour within the traveller community in the UK is far more prolific than in the community in general.
@RareDenver I knew what you meant. It is the same with Black on Black crime that happens in the inner cities. It is not up in the ‘burds, or effecting them so, no one really cares. The memory of what does get in the news can taint the perception of those Black Americans that are doing something for themselves.
@Hypocrisy_Central I think you have misunderstood me. The violent and criminal behaviour is generally aimed at those that are not travellers. There is a certain amount of fighting within the community too
@RareDenver The violent and criminal behaviour[sic] is generally aimed at those that are not travellers. Was that because the prejudice against Travelers made them ingratiate themselves less to non-Travelers, are was the violence directed against non-Travelers the catalyst for the prejudice against Travelers and Gypsies? Kind of like a chicken or the egg deal.
@Hypocrisy_Central I really wouldn’t know, all I have is the experience of my own contact with travellers. It’s easy to get away with criminal behaviour when you can just up and move on at a moments notice.
UPDATE: The Gypsy just won Celebrity Big Brother
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