I've never heard anyone say that the term "gypsy" is offensive before. I know it used to have a negative connotation, but it seems like it hasn't for a couple of centuries. Do people still identify as gypsies? I'm not arguing, but this is news to me and I would like to understand more.
Thanks for asking with the intention of understanding better!
On my father’s side, my family is Romani, the ethnic group historically called gypsies by outsiders. The name came from the misperception than we originated in Egypt (we’re actually from India). Other names for us include words that literally mean unclean or untouchable (in a taboo and gross way). We have always called ourselves Roma or Romani, so it’s not that we identify as gypsies, it’s that others identify us as gypsies. This name or label was forced on us.
Like Native Americans, we are not a dead culture. We have become splintered, and many Romani have been pushed into inescapable poverty thanks to institutional racism. Many of us have assimilated into the dominant culture of the places we live (my family fits here).
But the negative connotation to the word is very much alive and well. Romani girls and women are among the most targeted by sex traffickers. In 2017, Fox “News” aired a scare-mongering “report” on Gypsy immigrants threatening the very fabric of the US.
Historically speaking, the Romani have been forcibly relocated, sterilized, and subjected to genocide. To address the “gypsy problem,” in the 1800’s, Switzerland rounded up Romani males and sent them to North America. This is how one branch of my family arrived in the US. It tends to not get mentioned in history classes, but twenty-five to fifty percent of the Romani population living in Europe in 1939 died at the hands of Nazis.
Taking a word that has been used to label and other an ethnic group, and romanticizing and using it to describe a free-spirited and mischievous nature does not erase the baggage or harm that has been done. Gypsy and its derivative gyp (to steal or swindle) are vulgar and hurtful words that need to be retired and relegated to history.
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Here are some sources and articles, should they be of interest:
The Problem with the Word ‘Gypsy’ (this whole site can be helpful)
The Harmful History of ‘Gypsy’ – discusses the modern myths and the current state
Romani Genocide – Romani specific Wikipedia article on the Nazi Holocaust
Remembering the Roma victims of the Holocaust – discusses how the Romani are often excluded from historical accounts of the Holocaust, and the impact on the people – less dry than the Wikipedia article
Persecution and Politicization: Roma (Gypsies) of Eastern Europe – nice summary of the history associated with the word from Cultural Survival Quarterly magazine
The “G” Word Isn’t for You: How “Gypsy” Erases Romani Women – from the National Organization for Women (NOW) this focuses a little more on how the long-standing stereotypes and racism hurt Romany, especially the women.
Very important. A good read to further understand what Romani people have gone through is Bury Me Standing by Isabel Fonseca (though please note and keep in mind while reading that the author herself is not Roma).
