Romani - Tumblr Posts
so im finally reading the raven cycle and as a romani i can definetly see how blue s race is romani like. on point.
Decided to join in with everyone and do a little “home culture miku” even though I don’t have twitter because this trend is honestly the loveliest thing in the world and seeing everyone’s contributions making my heart smile 👍
Bonus Romani Miku with who I think is already Romani Miku
every holocaust memorial day, i always ask people to keep romani people in their thoughts, but this year i’d like to clear up some misconceptions that i see every year w/ a psa
romani people are not white. we’re south asian (from northern india), and each subgroup has a unique racial makeup of asian/white/etc, in different amounts. this is also why we vary wildly in physical appearance/skintone
we still face oppression. what we face, especially in europe, can still be constituted as attempted genocide, as we’re forced to live in hazardous conditions or to give away our children, be sterilized, etc just for the crime of being roma
the ‘g slur’ isn’t just an american issue. the reason some european roma prefer the slur is because, in many countries, there is no term for roma that isn’t a slur, and it’s either the g slur or the literal translation of the n word. i’m romanian, and if you used the slur in my hometown, you’d get slapped, since we just use ‘roma’.
we live in every continent across the world. some of the largest romani populations exist in south america, predominantly in brazil. they are no more and no less roma than their european counterparts, and they, like romani in asia, africa, etc all face unique challenges and oppression.
we’re the largest ethnic minority in europe, and yet have almost no political power, no land ownership power (in some places, we’re forbidden from owning land entirely), etc. with very few reputable charities- a lot of us reject charity by principle, as well as there being a general lack of education about us- the best thing you can do to help romani people is to just spread information, and help individuals when you can.
Very important
Dear White People
First and Foremost; you are not, nor ever will be a “g*psy witch” it is a slur, and if you think it is okay to call yourself such, get the fuck off of this blog and don’t come near me with a ten foot pole. Romani culture has nothing to do with witchcraft, Romani culture is heavily tied to Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity. Romani people to this day are typically stereotyped as thieves, criminals and varmint, in Europe it is common to have the Romani people segregated, denied services, denied healthcare, to most they aren’t people at all. Romani women are still frequently and forcefully sterilized like animals. During the Holocaust, Hitler exterminated 500,000 Romani people, the persecution dates back easily over 600 years and into the Middles Ages. We aren’t fortune tellers, witches, some mystical creature from a child fairy tale, or a Halloween costume. You know the term “ gypped” that come from the stereotype of the Roma being dirty thieves and comes from the slur g*psy, and now some of yall are combing “hipster” and this to form “ gypster”, like ??? Everyone tries to say, “that this witchcraft community here on tumbr is so open to everyone”, but, if you are any non-white person you know that is bullshit and it has to change. Some links to educate y’all fucking ignorant people Why g*psy is a racial slur Reporter’s Notebook: G*psies & Racism Segregation, bullying and fear: The stunted education of Romani children in Europe PERSECUTION AND POLITICIZATION: ROMA OF EASTERN EUROPE Roma women share stories of forced sterilisation The Story Of The Roma, Europe’s Most Discriminated Group Roma in Europe: Persecuted and misunderstood
As Always -A very pissed of Roma (and if you try to start shit you will be blocked)
I just wanted to clarify that no Didi, Tommy and Dil isn't Black if anyone thought that they are Romani. They get it from Minka who is fully Romani so Didi is only part Romani
Redesign of dilly s1/pilot to s2
Reminder that Dick Grayson is of Romani descent and so are Wanda and Pietro Maximoff and most fans don’t know this because they either don’t read comics and because a lot of writers don’t really acknowledge it when it comes to those characters
Writing Romani Characters, a PSA
Who are the romani?
The first records of the romani people in europe date back to the 1300′s. We think that they came from india based on linguistic evidence and cultural similarities, but since we have no written records from the romani themselves it’s hard to say for sure.
The romani were persecuted where ever they went. They were enslaved, mutilated, executed, and subject to multiple attempted genocides (@ spain & germany). Today they still face discrimination, coercive sterilizations, and even forced deportation. Because of this (and other cultural reasons) the romani people often traveled from place to place. Over time most romani settled down; very few are still nomadic.
Today most romani still live in europe, primarily in the balkans and turkey, but there are sizable populations in the usa and brazil (1 mil & 800 thousand respectively).
Very Basic Culture
-family & extended family are very important
-fear of persecution (valid)
-depending on what country they are from different romani are different
the sinti are from germany
The romanichel are from the uk (most american romani are romanichel)
the gitanos are from spain
and so on. Each group is slighty different & has their own culture and traditions and often their own dialect, and oftentimes there are subdivisions within each group.
-it would be interesting, if you were writing a romani character, to have them struggle with the need to fit in with society at large vs their need to participate in their own culture, but that’s just a suggestion
-or even, having been raised by parent(s) who repressed their romani-ness and trying to rediscover their own cultural identity.
-you know basically immigrant kid vibes without ever having immigrated.
Depictions of Romani
The most famous fictional romani were created by authors who were not romani themselves and relied heavily on stereotypes.
Notable examples
Esmeralda (culturally romani, but not ethnically), Clopin, & Quasimodo (ethnically romani, but not culturally) from the hunchback of notre dame
Javert (ethnically but rejects the culture) from Les Miserables
maybe heathcliff from wuthering heights
Dick Grayson (not culturally, but at least a little ethnically) from DC comics
goons from 101 Dalmations (the book)
henchmen from bram stoker’s Dracula
Madam Zeroni and Zero from Holes
Depictions of romani from romani creators-
Mikey Walsh has written a series of memoirs titled Gypsy Boy
Violet Cannon’s memoir Gypsy Princess
Latcho Drom a french documentary directed by Tony Gatliff
Gadjo Dilo a french film also directed by Tony Gatliff. Many of the actors are romani as well.
Language
Not all romani speak the language.
Anyone who speaks romani is bilingual. No one only speaks romani.
There are many different dialects of romani, and most dialects are mutually unintelligible (meaning speakers of different dialects cannot understand one another).
Spelling and pronunciation is not standardized.
More similar to punjabi and hindi than european languages.
Definitely not the same thing as Romanian… C’mon y’all
It’s 100% valid for your romani characters not to speak the language.
If they do speak the language it’s valid for them not to be able to read & write it, or not know formal vocab n shit.
If you grow up only speaking a language with family & you’re never formally educated in it, shit like that happens.
A lot of romani speakers will use loan words from their other language(s) to fill in the gaps.
Appearance
Most have dark hair
Many are white passing (which like, trying to define what is white is problematic in and of itself but like ugh)
Like /generally/ romani from lighter skinned countries are gonna have lighter skin than romani from darker skinned countries, so like a romani from sweden would probably be lighter skinned than a romani from italy. This is 100% a generalization.
Please look at reference pictures of actual romani people before drawing, thanks
Remeber, describing someone’s looks as exotic is gross and you shouldn’t do it.
Stereotypes and Shit: general does and don’ts
romani ≠ romanian. I will fight you.
if your romani character is
a thief
irresponsible & flighty
chronically dishonest
you’re on thin ice.
If your romani character is-
stealing children
literally just a sex object
only there to put a curse on your main character or tell fortunes
literally just a mindless henchman
you might just need to.. rework your story to be less.. bigoted, thanks.
Just.. do your research? And don’t assume you know shit.
every holocaust memorial day, i always ask people to keep romani people in their thoughts, but this year i’d like to clear up some misconceptions that i see every year w/ a psa
romani people are not white. we’re south asian (from northern india), and each subgroup has a unique racial makeup of asian/white/etc, in different amounts. this is also why we vary wildly in physical appearance/skintone
we still face oppression. what we face, especially in europe, can still be constituted as attempted genocide, as we’re forced to live in hazardous conditions or to give away our children, be sterilized, etc just for the crime of being roma
the ‘g slur’ isn’t just an american issue. the reason some european roma prefer the slur is because, in many countries, there is no term for roma that isn’t a slur, and it’s either the g slur or the literal translation of the n word. i’m romanian, and if you used the slur in my hometown, you’d get slapped, since we just use ‘roma’.
we live in every continent across the world. some of the largest romani populations exist in south america, predominantly in brazil. they are no more and no less roma than their european counterparts, and they, like romani in asia, africa, etc all face unique challenges and oppression.
we’re the largest ethnic minority in europe, and yet have almost no political power, no land ownership power (in some places, we’re forbidden from owning land entirely), etc. with very few reputable charities- a lot of us reject charity by principle, as well as there being a general lack of education about us- the best thing you can do to help romani people is to just spread information, and help individuals when you can.
@decolonize-the-everything
Roma musicians play at the Holocaust Memorial Gardens, London, during Roma Holocaust remebrance day
Today on Roma Holocaust Memorial Day, also known as Romani Genocide Memorial Day, I want to honour my ancestors who were ruthlessly tortured and murdered by Nazi occupation.
The Roma struggle for dignity, safety, and justice has not ended. My love for all Romani people extends across the earth.
I will never forget.
I will always fight for you. I love you for eternity. Romani people deserve so much than this damn world.
Romani Tropes 101: A Comprehensive Guide to Writing a Romani Character
Although I strongly discourage non-Roma from writing Romani characters that involve any sort cultural or linguistic association, I am in no way opposed to authors writing characters that happen to be Roma.. as long as said authors don’t rely on tropes and stereotypes.
We will start with some obvious and common ones:
Magic | Mysticism This one is pretty obvious. Romani people have long been stereotyped as having some sort of magical or mystical abilities. In reality, though, we are just ordinary people. What’s important to remember, however, is that this stereotype has played a pretty big role in the oppression we’ve faced, which stems from a fear-mongering campaign led largely by the Catholic Church.
How does this impact writing Romani characters: if you are considering a Romani character that has some sort of magical ability you need to ask yourself some questions before continuing writing. 1. Is magic or mysticism necessary to the plot? 2. Is your Romani character the only one with magical abilities? 3. Is magic or mysticism used to augment the “Gypsy-ness” of your character? 4. Are you treating magical or mystical abilities as cultural or ethnic phenomenon?
If you answered yes to anything other than the first question, you need to stop and reevaluate your character. If your writing involves anything listed in numbers 2-4 then you are relying on stereotypes and perhaps you should not include a Romani character at all.
Fortune-Telling | Palmistry | Tarot Cards Yes, many Roma do these things, but they are also common in many other cultures. This is a really common stereotype. If you’re not Roma then I would avoid any having your Romani character perform any sort of fortune-telling. We’re not going to go through any evaluation questions for this topic because it pretty obviously relies heavily racist stereotypes.
Maybe you want to touch on those stereotypes in your writing, though. That’s a good idea! So, using the topic of fortune-telling is okay when you’re doing it in a way to combat stereotypes.
For example, your Romani character could be asked to do some form of fortune-telling and respond with some history or an explanation as to why it’s a stereotype. There are ways to actually combat stereotypes about Roma by using the stereotype itself. Just be super careful to not demean or accidentally reinforce the stereotype.
Belly-dancing This is a big misconception about Romani people! We don’t belly-dance in the traditional sense. We have a type of dance that uses similar hip motions, and some Roma in the Balkans and Turkey do perform belly-dance. However, belly-dancing comes from MENA [Middle Eastern / North African] cultures and is not actually Romani. It also plays into the hyper-sexualization of Romani women, but we will touch on that next.
Keep reading
