Week One: What is a Gypsy?
Begin with asking the class what they think about when they hear the word Gypsy. This is to get a quick idea of how much the students may or may not already know as well as what stereotypes they may subscribe to. The emphasis here is not to make anyone feel ignorant but to facilitate a discussion. The Romani are an incredibly reclusive people and accurate information on them is hard to come by unless specifically sought out or the person comes from an area with a high concentration of Romanies. Following this I will give a quick reveal of who the Romani are.
At this point I’ll properly introduce myself and briefly explain my background: Irish father and Romani mother- she comes from two different families who followed the two most common migration paths. My grandmother’s family supposedly moved through Romania, and was perhaps even enslaved there before traveling to Italy where my great-grandmother and great-grandfather immigrated to America. My grandfather’s family moved through Russia and Georgia, at one time intermingling with cossacks and even participating in the Georgian Civil War. They eventually moved to Slovakia which is where my great-grandparents immigrated to America from.
From here I will explain the history behind the word Gypsy and why it should be avoided. Gypsy evolved from the word “Egyptian” due to misidentification during initial contact with Europeans. Over time the word has developed into a sort of umbrella term that is freely used to describe any people with migratory tendencies. The term has also evolved a negative connotation bringing with it the image of a criminal. Many other words used for the Romani have even worse connotations such as the Romanian word tsigan, literally meaning “slave”. This class is about a very specific race known as Romani and the opinion of the word Gypsy is largely divided amongst them. Some are indifferent while others see it as a slur- the latter seemingly becoming a more popular sentiment by the year. The safest thing to do is to simply call them Romani.
(Addressed in the Introduction of We are the Romani People)
The following stereotypes will then be discussed:
The Romani are wanderers
You can think of the Romani like refugees who were never granted amnesty and thus had to continue moving constantly, settling in small numbers. In the modern day domesticated Romanies are far more common than the wandering type. It should be noted that their travels were never aimless.
The Romani are mysterious / No one knows anything about them
The Romani are a reclusive people who have grown weary of sharing information about themselves due to centuries of oppression. Their reluctance to open up is not due to any sort of coy mystique but to an extreme distrust towards gadze. Even then more and more scholars are sharing information and thus it is becoming readily available to anyone who actively searches for it.
Romani is not a real race
Science has officially determined that it is thanks to genetic testing.
The Romani were Untouchables
Evidence now points to the Romani ancestors having been members of the Kshatriya or warrior caste.
Romanies are thieves
Romanies took what ever jobs they could to survive and unfortunately robbery was often the only choice. Such behavior is very uncommon in these days.
The Romani has a royal family, ie. there is a king
There is not.
Is my Big Fat Gypsy Wedding accurate
No.
Homework: Submit any questions you may have about Romani stereotypes to the anonymous google form.
Week 2: Customs
First the questions from week 1 will be answered and the first part of the class will be dedicated to discussing the questions/comments. This will be done in an open style and students will be encouraged to bounce off one another and share thoughts. The rest of the lesson will be dedicated to Romani customs in the case that all questions are exhausted and the following points may be changed around based on the content of the questions. In the case that only some or even none of the customs are covered the students will be given a brief reading on them instead.
●Vardos
○Wagons (Caravans) in which many Romanies still live
○ Often elaborate with carvings, paintings, and gold leaf.
○When buying, Romanies will go at night and take a candle inside- if any light shines through the deal is off. (GWOTW)
●Marriage (A History of the Romani People)
○Marriages are arranged by families and are usually conducted within the community and at a young age. Despite popular stereotypes child marriages are incredibly rare and very, very frowned upon.
○The groom’s family typically pay a dowry as compensation for the family’s loss of a money earner.
○Weddings are three day events- on the first the bride’s female friends bathe and braid her hair, on the second the groom’s family visits the family of the bride bringing gifts and dine together as a symbol of confirmation, finally the third is a public celebration.
○Typically, a hollowed out loaf of bread is passed around to collect gifts of money.
●Children (A History of the Romani People)
○Children are sometimes given two names- one for use by Romanies and one for use by outsiders.
○Children are considered by many Romani to be the responsibility of the entire community.
○Children commonly go to school but they often suffer through discrimination if they do. (mostly in Europe)
●Misc.
○Traditional Romani women do not show their legs above the calf (WATRP)
○White is a mourning color (GWOTW)
○It’s bad luck to speak the name of a dead person (GWOTW)
○Take up language and religion of the country they’re in (GWOTW)
○Galbi- coins worn as jewelry
HW: Short combined readings from GWOTW and AHotRP
Week 3: History
The class will be divided in teams. We will be reviewing the history of the Romani via an interactive powerpoint. The students will be asked to guess the origins and paths of the Romani people. They will be given multiple choice questions to answer that will lead them along the map. Each team will have a print out map to draw the path on to. We will then go over the answers and information will be given along each stop on the map.
Notes:
Unfortunately historical records were not kept (at least to public knowledge) and even oral histories have been long lost. Most of what is known for fact has come from recent analysis of genetics, language, and culture. Genetic testing has confirmed for a fact that the Romanies are descended from peoples of Northern India- most likely Rajasthan. The major questions are really which peoples, when did they leave India, and why. Looking at the language, Romani language only has two genders (masculine and feminine). Around 1000 AD Indian languages were losing their neuter cases so it’s theorized that the Romanies most likely left sometime between 1000 AD and 1068 AD when they supposedly first appeared in the Byzantine Empire or 1071 AD after the Seljuks defeated the Armenians at Manzikert. The Indic base of the Romani language contains a large amount of military based lingo and many words now commonly used have evolved in meaning from military speech (such as words for outsiders like gadje, gorro, and gomi which originally meant things like civilian or prisoner of war). Because of this scholars are now theorizing that the Romani people may have originated from a military troop. Between 1000 and 1027 AD Northern India was suffering through a series of invasions from the Ghaznavids. A majority of Northern militias consisted of Rajputs and their camps also consisted of female followers who maintained the camps. It’s theorized that the ancestors of the Romani may have left India as prisoners of war or were forced to flee. This is further corroborated by the Banjara people (descendents of the Rajputs still residing in India) whose historians insist that a large group of their ancestors left during the invasions. Many of the Banjara consider the Romani to be something like distant cousins and often attend Romani festivals. At the time Persian was the common language used by militaries and it’s heavy presence (some 100 words depending on the dialect) again suggests interaction with militaries. An analysis of grammar, vocabulary (including about 250 Greek words), and customs suggests a long period of time was spent in the Byzantine empire. It appears Romanies were conscripted into the Turkish army and began to enter Europe in that way. Romani military settlements were found in Southern Greece and documents show a record of European encounters with the Romani beginning in the late 1200s. The Romani were largely met with suspicion as the crusades and the general fear of Islam led many to be fearful of the strange brown skinned people who were speaking an unknown language. It was around this time as well that the Romani were first misidentified as Egyptians leading to the eventual creation of the word Gypsy. Many Romanies entered Wallachia where they were then enslaved for approximately 500 years until 1864. Throughout the years Romanies were also kept as slaves in England, Spain, and Russia and were freely traded to colonies most notably in Louisiana, the Caribbean, and Brazil. Not all Romanies were enslaved however, and many made their way around Wallachia and into the rest of Europe. At the dawn of World War 2 the Romani were targeted by the Nazis for ethnic cleansing leading to the destruction of approximately half of the European-Romani population.
Homework: Complete short readings from Ian Hancock’s Ame sam Rromane Dzene on how Europe views the Romani
Week4: Antigypsyism/Antiziganism
Start with a disclaimer that the subject of this lesson may be uncomfortable for some.
Some points from the previous week will be briefly discussed again- initial European contact, slavery, and the Porajmos (Holocaust). I will also briefly go over some old anti-Romani laws from 13th century Europe.
We will have a brief discussion of the “Gypsy image” and how that affects Romanies.
The students will be asked to define it and then expand on what it means for modern Romanies. What are the negative effects? Are there any positive ones?
"today's rhetoric against the Roma is very similar to the one used by Nazis and fascists before the mass killings started in the thirties and forties. Once more, it is argued that the Roma are a threat to safety and public health. No distinction is made between a few criminals and the overwhelming majority of the Roma population. This is shameful and dangerous". -Thomas Hammarberg, The Council of Europe, Commissioner for Human Rights
We will then transition into more recent issues:
●The Romani as “Europe’s most serious human rights problem” according to the UN (BBC, 2001)
●Racism as a response to Romani appearance and lifestyle
●Sterilization of women in the Czech Republic
●Segregation in schools
●Political rhetoric:
○Mayor of Sofia
●Illegal deportations
●Mob violence
●Prevalent Conscious and unconscious racism
●Kosovo purges itself of over 100,000 Romanies
Close with a discussion.
Possible points of discussion:
Were you aware of any of this? If yes, where did you hear it? If no, why do you think not? Should America cover more European news?
Why do you think there are relatively fewer instances of contemporary racism in America?
What are the possible pros and cons of being a looked over race?
What do you think can be done to remedy the current conditions the Romani face?
Homework: Watch the Hunchback of Notre Dame; if you don’t have time to watch the full movie please watch at least one of the following clips (all of which can be found on youtube):
‘The Bells of Notre Dame’
‘Hellfire’
‘God Help the Outcasts’
Esmeralda’s performance
‘Topsy Turvey’ (paying attention to Clopin and the celebration)
Week 5: Romani in modern culture
This week we will use what we have learned so far to analyze portrayals of Romanies in American media. The students will have hopefully already watched the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The first thirty minutes of the class will dedicated to discussing the movie. Afterwards we will look at Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and it’s own portrayal of Romanies. If time permits I will briefly mention Romani portrayal in fictional crime tv programs.
We will start with a discussion on the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The students will be divided into groups and each will be assigned a point of discussion:
Esmeralda
Clopin and the Thieves Guild
“God Help the Outcasts”
The Bells of Notre Dame
Frollo and “Hellfire”
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - Simza Heron
This movie has a Romani secondary main character. Do you think she is portrayed accurately? Why or why not? Brief clips will be provided for the students to analyze.
Crime show notes:
Criminal Minds
Season 4 Episode 13, Bloodline featured a Romani family kidnapping young girls for brides and killing their families. What’s wrong with this? There are no known itinerate Romani families in America. In the modern day most Romanies around the world have settled, especially in America. We also know that Romanies highly value children and severely look down on child brides.
Law & Order SVU
Season 13 episode 9, Lost Traveller focuses on the death of a young Romani boy and ultimately finds that the killers were his gadje classmates. SVU is known to be a very progressive show and in this case while still a bit flawed, portrays the Romani as regular humans. They live in settled houses within their own community. Instead of being made into the enemy they are shown as being preyed upon by outsiders.
Homework: complete short vocab handouts. Review grammar and pronunciation guide
Week 6: Romani Language
Start with a quick disclaimer that the students will not be tested on any of the language material. This lesson is intended to be a fun learning experience to share a very important part of Romani culture. We will be learning a dialect called Kalderash (the North American version).
Background:
The Romani language has been vital to uncovering the history of the Romani people. An analysis of the language shows the Romani people’s origins in India as well as their journey into Europe. Researchers believe that the Romani language as we know it formed in a similar way to Urdu (which formed on battlefields). Many of the original Indic words evolved from military lingo and Persian was used as the sort of lingua franca of militaries including the Seljuks. The roughly 250 Greek words were likely picked up during their stay in the Byzantine Empire.
●Dialects
○Four main dialects: Southern (Balkan), Vlax (Danubian), Central, and Northern.
○Overall there are around 60 known dialects and quite possibly many more.
○Between dialects the core words are largely the same often with minor pronunciation differences. Rather, the major differences lie in the loanwords from the surrounding languages.
We will start with some quick pointers on pronunciation (from Lee’s Learn Romani)
There will be more focus on vowels (they have more major differences). Significant consonant differences will be reviewed (such as the lack of use of ‘c’ or ‘j’).
Briefly go over important grammar rules such as gender and cases.
Discuss the debate over the writing system: some say the Romani always had a writing system, others say it didn’t develop until much more recently.
Example of words to learn:
Sastipe- Hello
Nais tuke- Thank you
Rromanes- In a Romani way ie Vrakeres Rromanes? Do you speak in a Romani way?
Gazhi/Gazho- Non-Romani woman/Non-Romani man
Rakli/Raklo- Non-Romani girl/Non-Romani boy
Yes/no and gender examples:
Manges manrro? Ya (Na), (me) mangav manrro.
Do you want bread? Yes (No), I want bread.
Aves? Ya, avav./ Na, chi avav.
Are you coming? Yes, I’m coming./ No I’m not coming.
O turbato raklo/ E turbato rakli.
The mad boy/girl.
O drago grast/E drazhi grasni.
The beloved horse/mare.
The rest of the class will be devoted to learning phrases and common Romani sayings.
Homework: Reading TBD, short thought response (a paragraph) on what they think of fortune telling
Week 7: Spirituality
This week we will be addressing one of the most famous aspects of Romani culture: spirituality. I will start with a quick disclaimer that we will be talking about certain subjects that some religions denounce. If anyone is religiously opposed to the topic and truly do not want to listen then they may be excused.