1999-2010

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Gypsies are now referred to as "Roma"


We were intrigued by a headline that appeared on the New York Times website this afternoon that read :

Expulsion of Roma Raises Questions in France

Roma? Did they mean residents of Rome? Romanians? The lead didn't provide any answers:

LA COURNEUVE, France — About 100 French riot police swooped down on an encampment of Roma here at 7 a.m. Thursday, taking names and filling out expulsion orders.

We had to read four graphs down to learn that "...the Roma — who are sometimes referred to as Gypsies, though they dislike the name — have been caught up in a major push by the government of President Nicolas Sarkozy to crack down on crime and illegal immigration."

Now we know. Is that a common term?

UPDATE (FROM SAM PETERS): Don't feel roma'd! Remember, it's roma moths, roma cabs, Fleetwood Mac's Roma Woman, Roma Rose Lee and, as Paul McCartney sang, "Live a little, be a Roma get around (get around)..."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yes, Roma or Romani people - the way they call themselves..)