Roma and Gypsy Lives Matter: Or do they?

The Roma/Gypsy community are by far the most persecuted group in Europe. This is why I am making a case for Roma and Gypsy Lives Matter (RGLM). If we are looking for true equality and support for minority groups, why does this not make sense? The Romani in case people reading this don’t know or care (in which case proves my point) are an Indo-Aryan Ethnic group, who have been persecuted for many centuries and are considered the most intolerable group as recorded in several studies.

A survey in 2015 was conducted by YouGov.com in; Denmark, Finland, France, Britain, Germany, Norway and Sweden. In each nation this minority group garnered the most negative impressions. As an example, in Britain, a question asking “which group do people have the most negative impressions of”; Roma Gypsies scored 58%, Muslims 40%, gay people 9%, Black 8% and Jews 7%. Now, given recent high profile campaigns from Black Lives Matter and the weaponisation of anti-Semitism within the Labour Party (UK), you would be forgiven to display a certain amount of shock regarding the result. Especially given how the media have pushed the plight of both of these groups incessantly over the last few years.

It would seem that minority groups, therefore, do matter, but only certain ones or at the very least there is a pecking order. If at this point you are tempted to suggest that Romani/Gypsies lack power due to small numbers, it is worth noting in Britain that there are approximately 225,000 in the UK, which is a little less than the Jewish community (290,000). So, is it possible we have a ranking system that generally favours groups who possess power in the upper reaches of the establishment or who can manufacture enough political pressure to mobilise the ruling elite into supporting them? Maybe, people really don’t like Romani/Gypsies as discovered in the survey. But isn’t that racist? Or is that a term only reserved for the protection of certain groups?

I’m sure people will be quick to state that racism currently being protested has occurred for many years among black people and this is indeed true. Equally Romani/Gypsies were widely enslaved in what is now called modern day Romania in the 13th and 14th century. They were also persecuted by both the Mongols and the Ottoman empire. In 1749, Spain conducted “The Great Roundup of Romani (Gitanos)” in the region. Later in the 19th century Romani were forbidden on a racial basis to go outside of Europe, primarily into the English speaking world.

In both Austria and Spain, Romani were forced to assimilate, while surrendering large parts of their culture, primarily horse and carts (Austria) and their language (Spain). Also in Spain, Romani men were sent to separate workhouses, while their children were transported into orphanages. This type of forced assimilation also occurred in countries such as Norway, who took 1,500 children from their parents in the early 20th century.

In more recent history, in 1935 Nazi Germany stripped Romani people of their German citizenship. They were imprisoned in concentration camps and many later exterminated. This genocide was supported also by allies of the Nazis such as; Croatia, Romania and Hungary. Numbers are hard to ascertain, but figures are generally thought to be between 200,000-500,000, but could be as high as 1.5 million people. This is what Romani call “Porajmos“, which means devouring and was part of Nazi Germany’s ethnic cleansing campaign.

In the contemporary world, Romani are associated with poverty and accused of high rates of crime, while perceived by others as antisocial and inappropriate. In Eastern Europe some children still have to attend separate Roma schools which places them at an academic disadvantage. In Kosovo following the war, Romani people have been practically wiped out by ethnic Albanians. Furthermore, as late as 1973 Czechoslovakia carried out a terrible program of sterilisation of Romani women which continued until 1989.

The list of oppression is a long one, but the point is, when we are looking at group oppression certain ones get widespread recognition and others clearly don’t. This is a tricky game to play, unless you don’t truly care about equality, in which case you are free to pick the groups that you find palatable. Or maybe you support a group that you think will get you more likes or follows on social media. Which again smacks of racism.

Wouldn’t it be easier if we just treated all people with respect. Or as Dr Martin Luther King Jr more eloquently said;

Sadly, even the words of one of the most important human beings in history does not seem to pass the purity test in the minds of many of these so called anti-racists. As I have repeatedly said, identity politics will lead to nowhere good and will achieve nothing positive. It serves to divide us and alienate us from our shared humanity. I used the Roma/Gypsy community as a suitable example in order to highlight the double standards on display and the misguided use of this divisive form of politics. The bottom line is, we need to treat all people with dignity and respect, judging people by immutable traits we cannot control is not the way forward.

Tribal power: The strange world of us and them.

All human beings belong to one tribe or another. We search for common goals that bring us together be it; a sports team, a political party, a religion, a type of music, our nation, a geographical area, the colour of our skin, sexuality or maybe just our age. We are all apart of some larger entity and often more than one. It’s also reasonable to acknowledge that some factors bind us together more than others. A tribe can unify people forming an in-group and by definition everybody outside of this are apart of the out-group. In a book by Jonathan Haidt, The Righteous Minds: Why good people are divided by politics and religion, he suggests that “our minds were designed to unite us into teams, divide us against other teams, and blind us to the truth”. Weirdly, I started to ponder this idea shortly after New Zealand’s defeat to England in the Rugby World Cup semi final.

Alas, this is not a tale of another Kiwi crying into their beer after a comprehensive loss. It’s slightly more complicated than that. I was born in Manchester, England and lived there for 40 years. Notice how I stopped short of calling myself English. I started typing English, but I felt uneasy about using this as a descriptor. I’ll be honest, I was never someone who sang “here we go” at the top of my lungs in Ibiza, nor did I go searching for a “full English” the morning after a hangover. In contrast, I did commit to 8 years in the British Navy travelling to the far flung corners of the earth. I also suffered the collective deep pessimism each time England took penalties during a major football tournament. No, I don’t have 3 lions tattooed on my arm or any other part of my anatomy, but I have supported England in varying sports around the globe

So what happened? Put simply, I moved. I left England in 2011 and have now lived in Whangarei, a largely forgotten part of New Zealand for the last 8 and a half years. At first, I continued to follow England in most sports, after all, I still knew many of the players. But increasingly, I kept an eye on how New Zealand were doing, be it the Olympics, Rugby, League or Cricket. It must have crept over me like a shadow, but I suddenly realised during the one day cricket final against England (another heroic loss) that I was a fully fledged Black Caps supporter. There was no doubt in mind, second thoughts or even guilt. Was I traitor? Is this treason? Did I care? The answers in short are no, no and no. By the time this years rugby world cup rolled around, England seemed less like my home country and more like the enemy. What happened? What kind of animal had I become?

It is well documented through many studies performed after the Second World War and more recently in Afghanistan and Iraq that one of the main reasons soldiers keep going despite the stress and danger is for their buddies. It is certainly not for king and country as often suggested in black and white war movies. From an evolutionary standpoint it makes intuitive sense, sticking together can help save lives, in particular your own. However, moving beyond major events we can be very easily divided in the most arbitrary of ways, quickly developing in-groups and out-groups.

In 1968 on the day of Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination Jane Elliot, a teacher from Iowa conducted a little experiment and split her class based on eye colour. She showed that the “better” blue eyed children ridiculed brown eyed kids almost within minutes. While she observed the same treatment meted out when brown eyed kids were the “chosen ones”. This study has been subsequently repeated by psychologists thousands of times in a myriad of different ways. Further to this, a study by the University of Missouri highlighted that, in-group identification became even more intense if members were made to feel threatened. It is thought that during these times we rely on our group members even more, especially if we feel at risk of physical harm.

Although being a part of a group may keep us safer by gravitating towards people who might seem most like us, we inadvertently build metaphorical walls which prevent us from bonding with our fellow human beings. One result of this is groupthink, this can ultimately lead to the group being irrational and dysfunctional. In this state, critical thinking can be diminished as raising an opposing view, arguing or discussing controversial topics can be perceived as dangerous. With no opposing ideas, members are more likely to feel uniformed in their beliefs, leading to black and white thinking, and the stereotyping of others. This behaviour can occur as much with the KKK as it can within ANTIFA, with Remainers as often as Brexiteers, this even occurs pretty equally between Manchester Utd and City fans (believe it or not).

Amy Chua in her book “Political Tribes” offers that allegiance to a nation is not as strong as for example, ethnic or religious factors. But at its core, belonging to a group or tribe is still linked around the concept of identification. Groups members congregate with one another, directing their love towards the same object, a shared leader or a cherished cause. This creates a unified feeling of identification, reciprocated by other members of the group. Collective identity is thought to work in two ways; firstly all members relate to and are loyal towards their focus (goal, leader, ideology etc.), secondly there’s a recognition of this devotion among other members.

Social psychologist Erich Fromm described these as primary ties, giving people security and a sense of belonging. Development of this solidarity prevents the individual from being morally alone, providing more confidence and increasing the certainty of their convictions in the larger social arena. With all this in mind and returning to the original question, am I a traitor for abandoning my nation of birth, in exchange for the country I’ve lived in for almost 9 years? I would suggest not, but I guess it should be down to someone else to decide this.

If as suggested, I was seeking an identity in a new country, choosing the All Blacks or New Zealand sport in general to support would make sense. Sport in New Zealand generally speaking is a uniting force. Citizens regularly follow the escapades of this small nation, the plucky underdog that always manages to punch well above its weight. It is also a relatively benign group to attach oneself to. Most of the time that is. Although, as a member of this group I can quite easily feel all the trappings of us versus them. Demonising the opposition, taking a bias view on refereeing decisions or even the irritation of watching joyous England fans celebrate victory.

This was palpable, especially when Owen Farrell crumpled to the ground clutching his face after being mildly pushed by Sam Whitelock (although for mere mortals that’s probably an oxymoron). My overriding response was to yell at him in my suddenly rejuvenated northern accent, “get up yer girl” or “I bet yer dad’s proud of yer, writhing around like a bloody football player” (his dad incidentally is Wigan rugby league legend Andy Farrell, who I’ve seen in action on numerous occasions). Oh, how quickly we bond with the people we live and work with day to day for a common cause. On that day, however, we commiserated with one another as any slightly battered tribe would.