|
|
The Roma Kelli Daher English 102 The forced cultural assimilation of one group into another
is a terrible occurrence that has happened throughout time. One of the groups
that have endured this type of “culture mixing” is the Roma, more commonly
known as the gypsies. In this paper, the history, culture, persecution and
assimilation of the Romani culture will be discussed at length. The Roma, more commonly known as gypsies, were and still
are a people with very unique cultural and ethnic background. They are found
in historical documentation as far back as 1300 A.C.E. Because they were
considered “different” from a majority of the population, they were
persecuted for a very long time. Eventually, in an effort to save themselves
and their culture, they assimilated into the towns and cities that they would
travel through. However, because there was this merging of cultures, many of
their beliefs began to die out. They started out as a traveling group, but
due to how times have changed so much, many are settled down now. Today, the Roma are trying to gain back many of the rights
lost to them. Movements are occurring, usually led by major Romani
organizations, in an effort to overturn anti-gypsy laws that date back as far
as the late 1400s. They are working to make things equal for themselves,
similar to that of other minority groups. The main questions that kept coming up during the study of
this topic were who are the Roma? What
is the history about them? Why were they persecuted? Are they still alive
today? These questions fueled many different answers that were able to
finally be put into one single paper. Because the Roma are so distinctive,
categorizing various aspects of them, their history and their culture is
quite difficult. However, the general areas of study are as follows: Historical Background Culture and Beliefs Persecution and Assimilation Organizations, Rights Groups The main topic that I found to be most intriguing was
Culture and Beliefs. The Romani believe and follow multiple customs that would
seem unusual or discriminatory to a person living in today’s society. Women
and men have separate yet equal rights in their group, and they follow those
pre-laid out rules no matter what the situation is that they are in.
Everything from clothing styles to washing of objects can be considered
strange from the perspective of an outsider looking in. To most people, the Roma would be considered a very
special people. They come from an unusual background and have endured many
years of persecution during their travels. Currently, they are working to
overturn laws made against them so they have the same rights as other groups,
minorities and otherwise. B.A., Robinson. “The Religion and Culture of the Roma.”
ReligiousTolerance.org. July 1998. Maintained by the Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance, this website discusses the history,
persecution and some beliefs of the Roma. It also includes a small section on
what is occurring with the Roma in present-day. "The Caravan." Virtual Home of the Gypsies of This website proved to be extremely useful to me. It is
the website for the Kumpania Wispersteppe, a group that reenacts a Romani
traveling caravan at the Scarborough Renaissance Festival in "Comparison of Romany Law with Israelite Law and Indo-Aryan
Traditions." Myths, Hypotheses and Facts. 23 Feb 2006 http://www.imninalu.net/Zakono.htm
. As the title states, a comparison on the Romani laws and
laws of the Israelites, the Christians and the Indo-Aryans is made. Each one
is compared, from the history of the law itself to what each one means and
how they are interpreted. Different topics are covered, including birth,
marriage and death. Harris, Mark. "Gypsies-msg." Stefan's Florilegium.
2 Aug 2001. Society for Creative Anachronism. 22 Feb 2006 http://www.florilegium.org/files/CULTURES/Gypsies-msg.html
. An intriguing website and forum from a few
members of the Society for Creative Anachronism (A medieval recreation
group). The website includes a lot of information about the history of the
Romani culture and how they came to be. I found it to be quite intriguing
when it came to all of the information that was compiled there. "Information on
Gypsy & Traveler Cultures." The Gypsy Lore Society . 1 July
2005. 22 Feb 2006 http://www.gypsyloresociety.org/cultureintro.html . An
interesting website, the Gypsy Lore Society provides a brief history of the
Roma and how they came to be, along with explaining other cultures that are
seen as “travelers”. They namely talk about the Roma that reside in The Patrin Web Journal. 1996. Roma National Congress. 22 Feb. 2006. http://geocities.com/~patrin/patrin.htm An excellent source for the
historical background of the Roma. It includes an introduction to Patrin and
the web journal as a whole, a full timeline of Romani history, beliefs and
cultural practices, the history of Romani persecution, Romani in the
Holocaust and more. Polansky, Paul. "Original Research on Gypsies." Books
by Paul Polansky. 24Feb 2006 http://www.paulpolansky.nstemp.com/gypsies.htm
. Paul Polansky is an anthropologist that chose to study the
gypsy culture and has written a few books about it. He includes much about
the history of the Roma and some of their traditions. He also describes
different tribes and how he believes them to be related to the Roma in one
way or another. "Roma Background: A Broad Overview." Traveller
Support. 29 Feb 2006 http://www.travellersupport.org.uk/romhist.htm
. An overview of the Roma and where they come
from is provided on this site. It contains a background history of the Roma,
where they traveled to when they first started emigrating from "Roma People." Wikipedia.com. Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc. 29 Feb 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_(people)
. This is taken from “Wikipedia, the Free
Online Encyclopedia. It consists of explaining the Roma, their history and
different parts of the culture, including, but not limited to, History,
Population, Genetics, Language and Relations to Other Cultures. Though it
does allow anyone to provide information on the website, the information that
I found there coincided with information on other websites, so I would say it
is fairly accurate. "Ethnic Clothes: The Gypsies/Roma." The Boys
Historical Clothing Website. 15 Dec 2005. 22 Feb 2006 http://histclo.com/style/ethnic/eth-gyp.html
. This website gives a thorough explanation of the clothing
styles of the Roma in various parts of the world. It explains each one,
including the historical background behind it and what may be worn today.
There is also a brief explanation on dance styles, music and the Holocaust.
It also gives some brief explanations of why the Roma assimilated into the
cultures of the countries they were living in. "Famous Gypsies." Angrusti Romani. 1999. The
Gypsy Ring. 23 Feb 2006 http://www.imninalu.net/famousGypsies.htm
. This website, though not used in the research essay,
provides information on all the famous Roma. It gives a background
description of each person known almost anywhere in the world in a variety of
genres, such as sports, presidencies, actors, nobel prize winners, musicians
and more. Franzese, Sergio. O VURDÓN: English Version. April
1997. 1 March 2006. http://www.vurdon.it/english.htm This is the site of Sergio
Franzese, an anthropologist who studied the Roma for many years. He includes
a thorough explanation of how the family works, a brief historical outline of
where they come from, prospects for change in the future, poetry, and various
organizations in Italy that support the Roma. Pixton, Tom. "Gypsy Musicians." Romanian. 2004.
23 Feb 2006
http://www.pixton.org/TomsRomaniaGypsyPage.html
. This website, created by Tom Pixton, explains all about
Romani music, how it came to be and what it is now. It focuses mainly on the
country of "Romani ( Gypsy ) Customs and Traditions." 2001.
Winter-Steel Productions. 16 Apr. 2006 http://www.homestead.com/WinterSteel/files/ShanaArticles/Roma__Gypsy_Beliefs.htm A site providing thorough
information on the culture of the Roma, including food, clothing, taboos,
customs, religion and traditions. The information was used frequently in this
research paper, as it gave a lot of information describing various aspects of
the Romani culture. Smith, Rose. "Gypsy Fortune Teller Halloween Costumes – Easy
to Make." Halloween Howl. 2005. 23 Feb 2006 http://www.halloweenhowl.com/article-gypsy-costumes.shtml
. A silly sort of website dedicated to gypsy costuming. It is
actually a website for making Halloween costumes, but it provides accurate
historical information on what the Roma would wear. It also gives a
description on how to dress if you wish to be a “gypsy fortune teller” for
Halloween sometime. Although it may not be a proper educational website, it
still provided me with a lot of information. Grewal, Daisy. "HIDDEN VICTIMS: THE UNKNOWN ASSAULT ON An explanation is given on this website
about the Roma and the persecution they have faced, especially during World
War II. There are subsections, each one devoted to an aspect of the
persecution; one being before the Holocaust, one during it and Hitler’s
reign, and one after. A very colorful website, it provides a lot of
information on the Holocaust and how the Roma were forgotten during it. Kenety, Brian. "The 'Devouring': A look at the Romani
Holocaust." Roma in the This website gives an extremely blunt, very
thorough explanation of the Roma during the Holocaust. Including pictures, it
talks about everything from when Hitler first came into power to where the
Roma were sent to until they died and how they were freed when the war
finally came to an end. It gives a heartbreaking story about a few Roma who
did survive the Holocaust and what occurred to them during it. "PERSECUTION OF ROMA (GYPSIES) IN PREWAR This website, taken from the "The True Origin of Roma and Sinti." Myths,
Hypotheses and Facts. 23 Feb 2006 http://www.imninalu.net/Roma.htm
. This website provides information on the Roma and their
assimilation into other cultures. It provides different scholars’ ideas on the
Roma and why they chose to assimilate into other cultures. It includes some
background information, but the main topic is why the Roma chose to do what
they have done. Association of
Gypsies/Romani International. Digital Millennium Copyright Act- DMCA. 1995. 5
Apr. 2006.
http://www.christusrex.org/www2/gypsies.net/
. This site, run by the Association
of Gypsies/Romani International “…is
a not-for-profit ECRE Home Page. 4 Feb 2005. European Committee on Romani Emancipation. 22
Feb 2006
http://www.eu-romani.org/legal.htm
. The European Committee on Romani Emancipation is a group
dedicated to “…provides a single non-exclusive representation on behalf of
European citizens wishing to promote common rights of equity of treatment,
protection and improvement in the conditions of the Roma in "ERRC." European Roma Rights Centre. 2003.
International As stated on the opening page of the website, “The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC)
is an international public interest law organisation engaging in a range of
activities aimed at combating anti-Romani racism and human rights abuse of
Roma. The approach of the ERRC involves, in particular, strategic litigation,
international advocacy, research and policy development, and training of
Romani activists. The ERRC is a cooperating member of the International
Helsinki Federation for Human Rights and has consultative status with the
Council of Europe, as well as with theEconomic and Social Council of the
United Nations.” Romani World. 2005. British Committee on Romani Emancipation & the
European Committee on Romani Emancipation. 23 Feb 2006 http://www.romaniworld.com/index.html
. This website, sponsored by the British Committee on Romani
Emancipation and the European Committee on Romani Emancipation, provides a
variety of information on the Roma and what is occurring with their culture
in regards to earning backs rights that were forcibly taken away from them.
It is categorized into different groups, including government, education,
Economics, Finance and Constitution. Rom News Network Community. 2004. 22 Feb 2006 http://romnews.com/community/index.php
. The Rom News Network acts as a way to find the most recent
information on the Roma today. They have a wide variety of articles on Roma
from around the world and in different languages. They also have a history on
the Roma give a thorough explanation of what they are and what they wish to
be about on the opening page. “RomNews Society” RomNews
Network. 10 Sept 2005. 22 Feb 2006 http://www.romnews.com/
. The RomNews Society is a branch of the RomNews Network.
They publish different news articles about the Roma and their current state
in today’s world. Their goal is to act so that they can inform anyone the
truth about the Roma and what is important to them and their ideals. The wish
to help end any prejudices and misinformation that is given about the Roma
and teach others about what is true. Research PDF File Romani English essay2.pdf |