o baro porrajmos! the holocaust of the romani people. romani diaspora. anti-Racism, anti-Gypsyism, anti-Blackness.

an important note about world war ii, that i find often remains unknown unless one of us romanies speaks loudly, is the holocaust of our people and how proportionate it was to the amount of jewish families and people being killed. we can never truly know the whole number, and i do not believe i could stomach the whole, true to life, number. the united states does not include this part of world war ii history in their textbooks. i would venture to say most places do not feel our story a necessary one to tell. representation for romani people is that of age-old stereotypes, literary and fantastical, made about us. you must look at the dark and deadly past if you want to participate in our opulent future.

 

foreign intruders, non-christians, physically different (appearance & genetics), exclusionary cultures, our way of life, parallel created (i.e. the romani vs the gypsy image that exists culturally in the mainstream and mostly any place that doesn’t have an outspoken, unabashed rom in the community), scapegoatism, and the absolutely intentional vague understanding most non-romanies have of romani origins.

racism, specifically that of anti-gypsyism, is essentially the belief or idea that one race is superior, and the other race is less than equal (white people v. romani people). i would like to direct your attention to what everyone knows but will never authentically address as far as the track record has been: racism deems non-white people the “same freedoms that one wishes for oneself” (hancock 35).

 

both here and on other areas of my site, you will find references to what we, meaning the romani people, know in our bones as o baro porrajmos! i explain in the origins and history section and anti-gypsyism sections of my website, and i want to touch on it here, in this section, again.

the words meaning the great devouring also equate to such brutal words in romanes that mean rape and destruction, agape. i find it hard to think of these things, especially as i live and exist in a fascist police state, yet if i did not engage in this history i would be ignorant and unsafe. or more unsafe than i already am, and so it is important to me to depict the horrific reality of the trauma my people collectively experienced and continue experiencing today.

 

i need you, the reader, the audience, to understand the gravity of existing under rule of law that your lifeforce is a threat to what your peers are taught is the greater good, to reduce criminality and societal strife. non-white readers, black american readers, and various other fatally marginalized groups do not need to ruminate on this emphasis, as it is, too, their lived experience.

my father’s family, and my mother’s family, had a select few who escaped hitler’s wrath against roma and jews. many parts of my family on both paternal and maternal sides were forced to assimilate to whichever religion the white community surrounding their lives and environments practiced. my mother’s aunts and uncles fled hitler. her grandparents, her lucky ones, who weren’t of the nazi variety. my mother’s german family, on her paternal side, were primarily of the abusive nazi variety. her father molested her sister, and most child predators do not stop at one victim, so while my mother’s abuse is inexecusable, she was raised by a mentally ill jewish-russian-polish woman and a nazi pedophile who couldn’t help himself when he got the urge to touch his child or sheer the hair of my mother and her sisters. the pictures broke my heart when i was a little girl, seeing my mom and my aunts standing there without their curled, messy tendrils. my mother is wounded deeply, and it is sad to say that it all goes back to nazism, white supremacy, and the lack of autonomy that exists in a world run by a fascist. i feel it is only right to acknowledge this here, because my father’s story is so obviously painful, and although i do not find it in me often to empathize with the woman who abused me, i wanted to do so in this space. the trauma of being raised by a nazi quite literally led her to partake in similar patterns in her relationships, and that cannot be a comfortable existence. maybe it is pity. intergenerational trauma, nevertheless.

my mother and her sisters had their individuality, wellbeing, and innocence ripped from them, at least one by rape, and it is no coincidence that the man who caused the wounds my mother projected on to me is deeply associated by ideology and behavior with a group of people who enacted plans and execution of genocide on the entire lineage of my father’s ancestry (and my mother’s own other half of ancestry). so much violence in a fourth of my grandparents explains so much pain, and i hate that, so i need to eliminate nazis and their ideology from this world, even if that is where i meet my end. no amount of trauma is necessary, yet all parts of me and where i landed in this world are borne by traumatic experience, and if a few people did not survive the holocaust and porrajmos, i would not exist. if that didn’t happen, i might exist in a different iteration of humanity, elsewhere in the world, and i find it appropriate and helpful to grieve the life i will never know because of the evils of white supremacy in the past and present of humanity.

 

my father grew up in a community of romani family, aunts and uncles, cousins, both jewish and romani. he had a full life, both desirable and undesirable events sprinkled about, value systems unlike those of his peers meticulously and kindly taught to him, so that he could make his world and community the best he could manage. his grandfather, an old romani man with a heart of sunflower gold, raised him. as a young man, my grandfather left his military leave in austria-hungary by fooling around and being a witty, creative human. he asked one officer to sign his leave slip, and so that officer did sign his slip. this officer went on leave. the next officer reported for duty, and eventually, my grandfather mustered another signature from another officer for another leave. his plan, to return home to his village to see his mother and cousins, his siblings and father, succeeded for more than the two week leave he finagled out of his superiors.

it wasn’t until the military police showed up at his door — les, you’ve gone awol.

he went back without much protest, seeing as his leave extended far past what any man of his ranking would have been organically given. his plan had not been foiled, yet his brief reprieve simply fueled more creative and hilarious schemes to raise morale among himself and his peers.

 

this is what the romani spirit looks like. in the face of violence and abuse, control and power, joy permeated his entire being no matter what consequences he faced in any given situation — work battalion or death camp.

i mention this and tell you these anecdotes because this is not something you can teach. this is part of who we are as a people, the romani spirit that so many non-romani gadze claim with their lowercase g gypsy disrespect. this is the part of us that ensured we survive o baro porrajmos! this is the music and ferocity of the flamenco, this is the resourcefulness of the appalachian romani encampments of the 16th century, and this is the fire of our ancestors who fought with discarded pipes and garden equipment, equipment used to work my people to death and starvation, exhaustion, to the death to protect future generations of roma and jews and so on. we sing to the death, and in death, our song plays in the hearts and bones of other romani people. you cannot erase a spirit, a soul, an energy. you cannot eliminate our essence, and i refuse to be eradicated by the white man. i refuse to allow the white man steal the joys of furthering the romani people and allowing my family the rights to grow and flourish as a field of sunflowers so grows and flourishes, turning to face one another in the darkest shadows.
when you hear the flitter and soul of gipsey jazz, you are hearing the sorrow and joy that coexists within our souls. this is not meant to be romantic or glamourous; this is meant to make you aware of and considerate of the content and culture you consume — it comes from somewhere for those who create and continue culture. the pain of my people cannot exist without the joy of my people. the beauty of my art cannot exist without the internal conflict my body, mind, and soul battle at all times, even on my best days. the sophistication and fervor of the flamenco cannot exist without the brutality and suffering of colonialism and enslavement. you see, without suffering, we cannot appreciate joy, and without the suffering that is a part of our experience, you cannot partake in culture that is not yours and call it your own. you cannot tell me how to flame the passions of my own fire, lit by the hands of oppressors long gone. do not complain of the heat when your hand strikes the match. we must protect each other and our community, and we must educate and emphasize both the pains and pleasures of our experience. we must not let anyone devour us again, and we must protect each other with unconditional love, kindness, and the fiery rage that communicates to us we need movement and action.

 

for example, per hancock’s writing, racism may look like accepting a white family for immigration issues while denying a romani family entry. this happened to my grandfather. he had to resort to another country for refuge. police, not only in america but across the globe, essentially police areas they would never be caught dead in, so the harm they cause gets tucked away with their badge and gun, so they don’t have to feel guilty about it. did you know the bitches over at america’s police fraternity pay for trainings that teach cops to be more racist, to do things that specifically target anyone who fits the romani profile.

race upholds the system white supremacy needs to continue dictating who deserves to live or die. this is not solely a romani issue and never has been solely a romani issue. i am talking about us romanies, though.

the white nationalist ideal that europeans or aryan people or whatever is a “pure” and “perfect” race caused the holocaust for the jews, the porrajmos for the romanies. it is hard to spot covert racism, abuse, or any other inflammatory attack against another human being — passive aggression is a motherfucker. nazis popularized the mass murder of our people because of our racial impurity, the largest threat to german blood, apparently.

there is no “superior race.” there is no subhuman race. to compare “race” or skin color and decide who is more deserving of life and authentic freedom, who is more deserving of the other side of suffering, well… that’s just apartheid. we don’t know what romanies are, so we call them egyptian and now that’s what they are. it starts interpersonally. that’s why we call shit out. do better, truly. never again, right?

my ethnicity is tied to the indian subcontinent and a great people who migrated through lands unknown as a means of survival, not truly by choice, thus allowing smaller, and larger, governments to criticize us for never being settled, though they won’t address the disproportionate effects of their policies on us, and they will not rectify it either. my ethnicity is part of me that white people erased and evaded for far too long. it’s our culture, our children. our history of our people, that hardly gets passed down in text, because germany went so far as to ban our “criminal and made up” language. banned our marriages to non-romani people, something that has affected me personally. it’s so much, and you don’t even understand the half of it while you’re shouting and screaming focus on the true racism, the real abuse.

this shit is real for us and was for our ancestors.

foreign intruders, non-christians, physically different (appearance & genetics), exclusionary cultures, our way of life, parallel created (i.e. the romani vs the gypsy image that exists culturally in the mainstream and mostly any place that doesn’t have an outspoken, unabashed rom in the community), scapegoatism, and the absolutely intentional vague understanding most non-romanies have of romani origins.

racism, specifically that of anti-gypsyism, is essentially the belief or idea that one race is superior, and the other race is less than equal (white people v. romani people). i would like to direct your attention to what everyone knows but will never authentically address as far as the track record has been: racism deems non-white people the “same freedoms that one wishes for oneself” (hancock 35).

 

for example, per hancock’s writing, racism may look like accepting a white family for immigration issues while denying a romani family entry. this happened to my grandfather. he had to resort to another country for refuge. police, not only in america but across the globe, essentially police areas they would never be caught dead in, so the harm they cause gets tucked away with their badge and gun, so they don’t have to feel guilty about it. did you know the bitches over at america’s police fraternity pay for trainings that teach cops to be more racist, to do things that specifically target anyone who fits the romani profile.

race upholds the system white supremacy needs to continue dictating who deserves to live or die. this is not solely a romani issue and never has been solely a romani issue. i am talking about us romanies, though.

the white nationalist ideal that europeans or aryan people or whatever is a “pure” and “perfect” race caused the holocaust for the jews, the porrajmos for the romanies. it is hard to spot covert racism, abuse, or any other inflammatory attack against another human being — passive aggression is a motherfucker. nazis popularized the mass murder of our people because of our racial impurity, the largest threat to german blood, apparently.

there is no “superior race.” there is no subhuman race. to compare “race” or skin color and decide who is more deserving of life and authentic freedom, who is more deserving of the other side of suffering, well… that’s just apartheid. we don’t know what romanies are, so we call them egyptian and now that’s what they are. it starts interpersonally. that’s why we call shit out. do better, truly. never again, right?

my ethnicity is tied to the indian subcontinent and a great people who migrated through lands unknown as a means of survival, not truly by choice, thus allowing smaller, and larger, governments to criticize us for never being settled, though they won’t address the disproportionate effects of their policies on us, and they will not rectify it either. my ethnicity is part of me that white people erased and evaded for far too long. it’s our culture, our children. our history of our people, that hardly gets passed down in text, because germany went so far as to ban our “criminal and made up” language. banned our marriages to non-romani people, something that has affected me personally. it’s so much, and you don’t even understand the half of it while you’re shouting and screaming focus on the true racism, the real abuse.

this shit is real for us and was for our ancestors.

understanding the difference between institutionalized antigypsyism and personal antigypsyism is imperative to any amount of growth the gadze wish to make in their ties to the romani community, in my opinion. it would take a lot for a lot of people to end up in my graces again at all, let alone the good ones. the personal antigypsyism occurs on a more micro(aggressive) level, a more situational level, a more interpersonal level. this might look like a look, a comment, or refusal of patronage or employment. it shows itself in cartoons, jokes, and physical violence. person racism and antigypsyism can also look like a teacher ignoring, undervaluing, or demeaning a romani student, targeting that romani student.

a teacher told me once i’d never get married because of how i was; culturally different than the white kids in class because i was from a biracial home, though white passing enough to never be able to share myself or my home or my life with my friends at school — white kids don’t live like poor romani kids.

institutionalized racism differs from person racism in that it is often a weapon used by white people in exploitative positions. it is quite literally baked into the crust of this country. who came to this land and stole it from the indigenous people of north america? if you guessed white europeans who enslaved black people and romani people, you are correct! if you guys anything else, you have some more work to do,

institutionalized racism differs from person racism in that it is often a weapon used by white people in exploitative positions. it is quite literally baked into the crust of this country. who came to this land and stole it from the indigineous people of north america? if you guessed white europeans who enslaved black people and romani people, you are correct! if you guys anything else, you have some more work to do.

the offenses against romanies also qualify as institutionalized racism because they originate within an institutionalized society, and those who perpetrate it used and use it day-to-day, today, in the year 2022, to beat down people they deem impure, a threat to white supremacy, and undeserving of life.

because someone is romani, and they make it known in an assimilated america, they must be taken as a threat to be neutralized or a falsehood to be disproven? you can’t erase us, as much as you might want to do so.

i have unfortunately encountered many instances of anti-gypsyism in my life, most of them occuring at the hands of my nazi mom, teachers in school, coworkers, and my weirdo gadze in-laws. my father came from a poor, romani family, so i’m not the most financially secure person living in poverty.

however, my in laws essentially attacked that by calling our marriage a financial risk, a vulnerability that i not only was open about with my partner, but also with them. boundaries are a beautiful thing, but i digress. i was not silently or obediently allowing abuse or fuckshit, and when i sniffed out the very particular, very familiar type of abuse, i became the number one target of their anti-gypsyism and classism. they accused me of being a fake, and they denied both my ethnicity and my disability when my husband tried to guide them to the anti-racist direction. they attempted to use my vulnerability and lack of the support of my family of origin, or any family really, against me to preserve their perfectly toxic white, christian family dynamic. 

lemme make one thing clear: i would rather be an outsider.

 

some aspects of romani culture are so distinct from those of the european societies that they have, at times, been regarded as their very antithesis; as kephart (1982:43) has said, “if peolpe perceive of gypsies as a counterculture, then unfortunately for all concerned, prejudice, and discrimination might be looked upon as justifiable retaliation”. an editorial by matthew braham that appeared in the british newspaper the guardian on 8 april 2000, stated that:

“the roma are perhaps the most singularly disliked ethnic group in the world… the roma too are part of the problem, through the persistence of a culture that is as much a source of their marginalization as is the majority prejudice against them.”

guenther lewy also believes we are to blame for our problems: “prejudice alone,” he wrote, “is not sufficient explanation for the hostility directed at gypsies…certain characteristics of gypsy life tend to reinforce or even create hostility” (2000:213). not only does our culture create this prejudice, according to his point of view, but we are apparently also responsible for fanning the flames of xenophobia ourselves: “prejudice and discrimination have not disappeared, being kept alive especially by the large influx of gypsies from eastern europe” (lewy, 2000:11).

some of the “characteristics” that lewy refers to are simply misinterpretations of romani culture, but they can inadvertently lead to discrimination, nevertheless. the author was contacted for advice by a hospital in san francisco in 1995, where a young father who was saying a prayer for his newborn daughter had been overheard by a nurse. she thought that our word devla, which means “oh god", was the english word “devil” and she reported him as a satanist.

 

 

WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE: THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT MUST RECOGNIZE ROMA, GYPSY, AND TRAVELLERS AS A PROTECTED ETHNIC AUTHORITY, OUR ORIGINS ARE NOT IN EUROPE OR AMERICA BUT THE INDIA SUBCONTINENT. ONCE RECOGNIZING ACTIONABLE CHANGE TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR NORTH AMERICAN ROMANI PEOPLE. ANTI-RACISM IS IMPERATIVE. WE ARE NOT FREE OF OUR CHAINS UNTIL WE ARE ALL FREE OF OUR CHAINS. WE MUST LOVE AND PROTECT ONE ANOTHER.