Everything you think you know about Romani people is probably wrong – here’s why

When it comes to the Roma: is the word ‘gypsy’ a slur? There is no one answer to this, and that’s partly because there is no single Romani group. Romani history and identity is varied, and takes different shapes depending on the country they’ve settled in. 

Romani presence in Britain dates back to the 16th century. Waves of Romani migration followed in the 20th and 21st centuries: after the fall of the Iron Curtain, and when Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007. 

The Roma themselves are a people with many subgroups: the division goes by ‘nation’, or natsya, and then there are smaller subdivisions still, the vitsa, the community, the family. There are the Kalderash, spread across the Balkans, who make up a significant proportion of recent migrants from eastern Europe; there are the Lovara, traditional horse traders in the region of Hungary; and there are, of course, the Romanichals, or Romany Gypsies as they’re often known in Britain. There are many others too. 

The answer to that loaded question about ‘gypsy’ will depend, then, on who you ask. For some, it’s a preferred term; for others, offensive. But the issue is less about its connotations, and more about its meaning, or how it’s used. 

The term was originally linked to the Roma. Short for ‘Egyptian’, it stems from the belief that the Roma had originated in Egypt rather than northern India. What’s more, ‘Egyptian’ is a term that pops up across different territories: the Spanish term gitano, for example, is similarly derived from a term for ‘Egyptian’. But in the English language, it’s taken on a life of its own.

Over time, it became associated with the concept of nomadism. This change has created the idea that a ‘gypsy’ is someone who chooses a certain lifestyle, rather than belonging to an ethnic group. 

The acronym ‘GRT’ does nothing to dispel the myth. Standing for ‘Gypsy Roma Traveller’, it collapses Roma and Travellers (indigenous European, usually Irish, Travellers) into each other. Broadly ‘G’ is taken to refer to British Romanies and ‘R’ to Roma. It’s also then reinforced the idea that the Romanichals are somehow less Roma, or that ‘Roma’ refers strictly to those recent migrants from central and eastern Europe.

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In reality Roma is, in the Romani language, a plural noun, meaning ‘men’ or ‘husbands’. Romani is an adjective. Such loose, imprecise terminology means Romani culture can be erased in a heartbeat. On the rare occasions the Roma are remembered, it’s under misguided ‘GRT’ labels, emphasising nomadism and erasing the specific racism a significant number of Roma face because of the colour of their skin. 

Nearly all Roma from central and eastern Europe live in settled communities. Indeed, in Romania an architectural style has developed in the form of the kastellos, mini palaces with ornate towers. When the focus falls exclusively on contemporary nomadism, these cultural traditions are forgotten.

A diffuse idea of a ‘traveller’ or a ‘gypsy’ has swallowed Romani culture as a whole. The unique history of the Roma, including 500 years of chattel enslavement in the territories of present-day Romania, and the Samudaripen, the Romani Holocaust, whose effects are still felt today, remain unaddressed – partly because the idea that it’s about a lifestyle has made the racism invisible. 

Still, if the Roma aren’t nomadic today, who are they? Linguistic analysis confirmed in the 18th century that the Roma originated in northern India. The Romani language, still spoken today, remains an Indo-Aryan language. Take the word ‘I learn’ in Romani: sikhau. It’s etymologically related to ‘Sikh’, meaning disciple – so, someone who learns. And the word for ‘eye’ in Romani: yakh; it’s related to the Hindi aankh.

This doesn’t mean the Roma are Indian. Our identity was formed on the road after our ancestors left India. But these facts speak of our identity. Romani culture is not that of European travellers: these cultures are beautiful, unique, and distinct. The Roma are a south Asian diasporic group, and that identity seeps into our language, and our culture. 

Roma is not a religion: there are Christian and Muslim and atheist Roma. But cultural codes hold us together. The vision of a gypsy, replete with wanderlust and freedom, is deeply at odds with those cultural codes, which often dictate every aspect of Romani existence and cultural conduct. 

And it is this cultural specificity that we need, as a society, to uncover and acknowledge, to address the continuing challenges faced by Romani people, facilitate inclusion and societal participation, and to celebrate our survival.

The Roma: A Travelling History by Madeline Potter is out now (Vintage, £22). You can buy it from the Big Issue shop on bookshop.org, which helps to support Big Issue and independent bookshops.

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