Divorce Court

I can't say it only happens to Gypsies. It happens everytime there is a disaster and national television shows up to interview someone who witnessed the event. The well dressed newscaster will never seem to be able to find anyone around who looks even semi-normal. He finds the large woman wearing a frumpy house dress and fuzzy animal print robe. She hasn't taken the curlers out of her hair yet, even though it is four in the afternoon. She is wearing makeup, however, usually a gaudy red lipstick and powder blue eyeshadow so she looks like the scary woman on The Drew Carey Show. She may or may not have her teeth in. This seems to be optional for being on national television. She will explain in her own interesting fashion how the incident occured, showing off her linguistic skills and sharpened vocabualry.

This is the important thing to remember. She is not a representative of that entire population. See, she is the one gawking and squawking while there is work to be done. She has opted to go before the camera instead of working to clean up, fix the problem, or do something, anything, that seems helpful. She is looking for her 15 minutes.

The couple that appeared on Divorce Court today, "Gypsy and Honey", are like that woman. They do not represent me or any other Romani I know. I don't know any Romani who were taught to steal as a child, who would discuss such matters on camera, or who would even take such matters to a gadji court.

Whatever motivated them to go on screen and say what they said only disgraced themselves, entertained a people who already think all Gypsies are this arrogant and stupid, and set relations with the gadji back even further.

Any member of any race or religion can be a criminal, a cheat, and a liar. You can't judge an entire race based on a few people you have seen or a few stories you have read. To do so is racist.

Please learn more of what it really means to be Romani. Learn the history, the traditions, the customs. You may be surprised to discover that what you think you "know" as truth is actually a stereotypical myth.

Don't let Gypsy and Honey lead you the wrong way to see what wonderful people the Romani really are.