Reply to consensus on the word "gypped"?

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Reply to "consensus on the word "gypped"? "

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

I've lived among them and agree with the Pp you're quoting 100%. Go live among them too and come back and tell us what a noble culture they have. [/quote]

I don't doubt that this was your experience. But the issue is that you're generalizing about millions of people--many from families who left Romania generations ago and have never set foot there--based on that. It's comparable to going to West Baltimore and observing that the social structures there are fundamentally broken, poverty is endemic, and violence is so deeply entrenched that the cycle is hugely challenging to alter. You wouldn't be wrong--but if you then concluded that "the truth is that black culture and character is the problem," you'd be way off base. The truth is that a complicated set of social, economic, and political factors are the problem--both in West Baltimore and in the Romani settlements. These are obviously inextricably linked to race and ethnicity in many ways, but they are not one and the same.

There is a deep history as to why the Romani culture and values in settlements in Romania or in other parts of Europe are what they are today. But it is not ingrained in individuals simply by virtue of their ethnicity, and I like to think most of us are past the point of presuming that race or ethnicity dictate character and values (or intelligence, or anything else).

I'm not really sure what to make of this thread. I'm the PP who said I've never felt personally affronted by use of gypped since I generally presume people just don't know the background of the word. But now that I see the number of posters who do know the history and are using the word explicitly to underscore the ethnic connection, I'm left wondering how best to deal with this the next time I encounter it. Keeping quiet and assuming good intentions is apparently not the way to go.[/quote]

I'm not talking about people who have some connection from generations ago. I'm talking of those who are presently still in Europe growing up in their Roma communities and those who are here first generation. Also there are Roma all over Europe, not just Romania (which you acknowledged, though I'm not sure why you specifically mentioned Romania).. The name Romania has nothing to do with the term Roma. The term Roma comes from the Romani word for "man/husband". The term Roma in the context of "Romanian" means citizen of Rome. [/quote]

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