April 8th is International Romani Day. There's a lot I could say, but mostly just want to say thank you all for being a community where I don't have to be afraid to say I'm Gypsy. You'd be surprised how not all European leftists even care about us! So I appreciate you all. So thank you all, please continue to stay educated on our issues, and never be afraid to ask me any questions if you have any.
:heart-sickle:
Romanian is NOT Romani, Romanians are white, Roma are a very mixed group coming from India originally. Romanians enslaved Romani people. So that's the most important misconception.
Roma/Romani/Gypsy are all fine. It really doesn't matter. The language is complex and doesn't translate well to English. As long as people are standing up for us, I really don't mind what they call us.
Whoa I didn't know that. Interesting.
Yeah, it’s hypothesized we were Rajput warriors! And then travelled through central Asia and North Africa and Middle East. We have a lot of South Asian traditions still (like henna, sometimes bindis, etc.) If you take a DNA test, it’s like 30-70 South Asian, remaining being European and MENA.
I didn't think Roma were Romanians but didn't wasn't sure enough to say anything.
It's ok! Many people get it confused, and it's not their fault, but it definitely sucks because Romanians hate us 😪
The person saying this stuff wasn't being a jerk and is a long time friend of my roommate so I'm guessing her intentions were good but had some bad Intel.
Yeah don’t worry I don’t doubt it! A lot of misinformation is out there about us.
Thanks for clearing it up, as well as everyone else in this comment cluster. Really informative stuff.
When did the term Roma come about?
Is it connected to that relationship with Romania at all...or is it like a derivation from roam or something?
It comes from the word 'Rom' which just means man in the Romani language. So it's basically like Roma as an adjective, aka Romani people. Nothing to do with Romania at all.
I see