The Roma

The History of the Romani People and the Controversial Persecutions of Them Across Europe

By: Charles River Editors

Narrated by: Bill Hare

“We are all wanderers on this earth. Our hearts are full of wonder, and our souls are deep with dreams.” (Old Romani proverb)

In the 21st century, cultural differences and individuality are often celebrated and protected across much of the world, and given society's conscientious awareness of such phenomena, it is, therefore, all the more surprising when considering the ignorance or indifference that the world, at large, exhibits toward the Romani people.

Otherwise known as the “Roma” or by their popular misnomer “the gypsies”, the members of this highly undervalued and grossly misrepresented community have long been considered outcasts.

More often than not, the Romani are branded by even those who fancy themselves liberals as “pikeys”, “gyppos”, and “gips”. There's also a regrettably common term “gypped” meaning “to cheat, or swindle” which perpetuates the damaging stereotype that the Roma are dishonest nuisances and societal pests.

Even well-intentioned attempts to shine the spotlight on the community have sometimes been counterproductive, for they are often reduced to no more than exotic, whimsical entertainers for the privileged.

According to a shocking email authored by an anonymous whistleblower in 2012, the staff at the Laurieston Job Center in Glasgow's Southside regularly referred to their Romani customers as “gypos, scum, beggars, suicide bombers, thieves, and pedophiles”. The whistleblower cited the staff's disturbing comments regarding an unnamed Romani woman who had brought her two children along to the job center: “The staff were all joking and saying they should sanction her for claiming whilst pimping out her kids. They then went on to make horrible remarks about the children, saying they were "mongs".

On August 5th of the same year, over 700 far-right “activists” stormed the heavily Romani-populated Hungarian village of Devescer. “Gypsy criminals,” the mob chanted as they hurled rocks, paving stones, and other projectiles at the homes of their prey. “We will set your homes on fire. You will burn inside your homes!” The police, who were called to the scene, supposedly stood on the sidelines with their arms crossed, unwilling to intervene.

The dangerous blanket statements issued by various European politicians in the past and recent years are also a cause for concern. In 1992, Bert Karlsson, a prominent member of the Swedish New Democracy Party, claimed that “Gypsies [were] responsible for 90 percent of crime against senior citizens”. In June 2008, the conservative Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ordered the fingerprinting of the 150,000 Romani, children included, as a way to crack down on street crime. In France, political parties from either end of the spectrum have blamed the Romani for the nation's problems, economic and otherwise. The gypsies, asserted one interior minister, were responsible for one in every 10 crimes.

It’s fair to wonder why the abhorrent treatment of the Romani continues to slip below the radar of many social justice warriors, particularly in this age of globalization. This is all the more confounding given that many are aware of the ways the Roma have been persecuted over several centuries, most notoriously during the holocaust.

©2019 Charles River Editors (P)2019 Charles River Editors

Thank you

I am Romani and my mother was from Romania. I was adopted internationally. Thank you for this informative historical perspective on my people. It saddens me that so much of the oppression is still going on today, but I know more fully that I come from a line of strong, resilient people.

Very brief but informative

My family recently discovered we had Romani heritage. This book gives a brief historical perspective and teases out the truth from fiction.

beautifully informative

this was wonderful to listen to. a great description of Roma history and way of life. I wish there was more information on the subject matter.

excellent

As someone who is of Romani descent I found this book to be very important. This book needs to be read in schools. Sadly, the history of the Romani is rarely taught and purposely ignored.

not good enough.

feels like something a high schooler put together for project and didn't have enough time to do it well. It fails to answer who the Romani people are as a culture their culture isn't described well. The history of their controversy isn't good, it leaves more questions than answers. If a group is shunned everywhere they go a question I have is, "why?". I didn't get a good answer instead I hear they're persucted but no good explanations. Even if a book is short it should still have answers.

eh, an ok start on subject of the roma

I was curious on the history of the Roma and wanted to know some history of them after hearing all the stereotypes on them in popular media for years. Thought this was a good start on the topic. I was hoping for more. I'd say this is a good intro book, pretty short if you're driving or getting a work out in.

wish there was a larger follow up.

narrator read this well and sounds good.
decent intro
I'd give this a soft recommend on the subject. hope Audible adds more audio books on this topic.