True History of the Romani People

The Gypsy Stigma: Fact Versus Fiction

By: Newbury Publishing

Narrated by: Jim D Johnston

Who are the Romani people? The Romani people have been historically known as “Gypsies”, or bands of travelers who journey across the land without a permanent home. The word Gypsy comes from the English word Gyptian, short for Egyptian. This comes from the widely held belief during the Middle Ages that the Romani people originated in Egypt. However, the Romani are unique among people groups as they do not identify their cultural heritage with a particular territory or homeland. They do not claim any rights to any of the lands on which they reside or any national sovereignty. Rather, Romani identity is tied to the ideal of radical freedom expressed by not having a particular homeland.

Many countries have their own various words to name the Romani people other than Gypsies, though this is the most widely known English word for the group. In most countries of Eastern Europe, locals refer to them using the universal word tzigane, which is derived from the Greek word for untouchable and is considered a highly offensive slur. Most of the names given to the Romani people have negative connotations. The Romani people most frequently refer to themselves as "Roma", which means “people”. They are also known as “Rom”, “Romany”, or “Romani”.

©2022 Newbury Publishing, LLC (P)2022 Newbury Publishing, LLC

Finally information about the Roma in English language

I am 50% Roma woman, 50% Norwegian, raised in Sweden until the age of 19, having lived in Hungary, Austria, and now America. I am very familiar with the Roma life, but find that Americans have little or no knowledge about the Roma people, or Gypsies in general. Thank you for finally having information available in English.

Romani

I really enjoyed this brief history of the Romani people and look forward to learning more!