Roma, Discriminatory Injustice
People called "gypsies" have been written about for literal ages. Thomas Hardy wrote of gypsies in some of his books. Gypsies were always thought of as being on the wrong side of the law. They lived in caravans, and moved about constantly. They did engage in co-opting domestic animals for their personal use, to the ire of their estate owners. Some owners of large estates, however, looked kindly on them, taking pity on their poverty and constant movement, allowing them temporary stays on their property.
But the reputation of gypsies as untrustworthy verging on the criminal remained. Yet their colourful costumes, jewellery and beautiful women were legendary and much admired. Their music and their legends were exotic and held an attraction for many within staid and 'normal' society living their conventional lives, dreaming of the romance of the gypsy life in comparison as infinitely more satisfying than their own.
It's somehow hard to imagine that to the present era, gypsies, Roma, remain discriminated against. That in European countries there is a continuing covert social movement to isolate them, to ensure that they remain disadvantaged, to ignore their plight and to visit physical harm to them from disgruntled and vicious racists. Civil societies aren't thought of, in this era, as being so utterly prejudiced, but they obviously are.
Human nature loves nothing better than a perennial scapegoat, one without champions to defend them. And now Czech Republic Roma, who have been persecuted over the years, and remain so, are desperately attempting to find safe havens and opportunities for their futures, abroad. Canada has seen a large increase in the numbers of Roma applying for asylum. Even so, this represents a minuscule proportion of the emigrants that Canada sees annually.
Why the reluctance to accept Roma to Canada? Are we little better than those countries whose social generosity and laws are not sufficient to embrace and accept Roma? While the world spurns those whom they term "gypsies", the world of fashion, romance and jet-set culture has absorbed the exotic beauty of what is termed the 'eclectic gypsy' look. Are we not utterly mad?
But the reputation of gypsies as untrustworthy verging on the criminal remained. Yet their colourful costumes, jewellery and beautiful women were legendary and much admired. Their music and their legends were exotic and held an attraction for many within staid and 'normal' society living their conventional lives, dreaming of the romance of the gypsy life in comparison as infinitely more satisfying than their own.
It's somehow hard to imagine that to the present era, gypsies, Roma, remain discriminated against. That in European countries there is a continuing covert social movement to isolate them, to ensure that they remain disadvantaged, to ignore their plight and to visit physical harm to them from disgruntled and vicious racists. Civil societies aren't thought of, in this era, as being so utterly prejudiced, but they obviously are.
Human nature loves nothing better than a perennial scapegoat, one without champions to defend them. And now Czech Republic Roma, who have been persecuted over the years, and remain so, are desperately attempting to find safe havens and opportunities for their futures, abroad. Canada has seen a large increase in the numbers of Roma applying for asylum. Even so, this represents a minuscule proportion of the emigrants that Canada sees annually.
Why the reluctance to accept Roma to Canada? Are we little better than those countries whose social generosity and laws are not sufficient to embrace and accept Roma? While the world spurns those whom they term "gypsies", the world of fashion, romance and jet-set culture has absorbed the exotic beauty of what is termed the 'eclectic gypsy' look. Are we not utterly mad?
Labels: Life's Like That
posted by Pieface | 7:50 PM
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