Ok, so the Romanians don't like calling the Rroma in the country "Romani" because it sounds too much like Romanian and they think this causes embarrassment to their country. So, they decided to try to pass a bill, very quietly, that says that the Romani in Romania will now be called Tigan, the name they were called when they were slaves in that country.
Do they not see that step as very embarrassing? I would. Think of the statement they are making.
"In order to make the world see us in a better light, we will refer to the free people called Rromani by the name we gave them when we enslaved them for over over 500 years, the perfectly good word, Tigan."
I would think, this would be a great source of embarrassment since the country is already seen a as little behind the times. This bill gives the Romanian government the perfect opportunity to prove such a belief to be true.
One might consider the effects. When a government or majority in a country separate a minority in such a manner, it is part of a dehumanization process. The Nazis did it be forcing every Jew to give his middle name as Israel. It makes it easier for the rest of the country to see the victim not as a human, but as a thing, someone different, someone outside the rest of the civilization. The dehumanizing process is a tool to make genocide easier.
I'm not saying Romania is out to slaughter the Rromani at this time. But shall we look at the things we have seen i n the past two years in Europe? Romania, Hungary, and Italy have had problems with skin heads and other citizens bombing, beating, and murdering the Rromani in their countries. If the police are called, they sometimes join in the beatings, or at best, prevent the violence from escalating into the non-Rromani areas or against non-Rromani citizens. Italy began a program of fingerprinting and photographing all Rromani above the age of six in order to prevent crime. The EU backed this plan. France and now Germany are in the process of deporting the Rromani. All of these things happened in Germany in the 1930s.
We are afraid. Those who live in the safety of the US are concerned for relatives who live in Europe. In some cases, they've lost contact with them. Again, reminders of the Nazis.
Who stands up for the Rroma? Not the EU. No the UN. Not the US government. Who then will help us?
The answer? Us. We, the Rromani, must stand up for those who can't, must find a way to make the world aware of who we are and what we want. Without a united voice, we can do nothing.
If you are looking for a way to help, join The Artists Initiative Against Romaphobia and Anti-Tziganism. http://artists-for-roma-net.ning.com/main
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