Anti-Romani sentiment
Anti-Romani sentiment is a form of anti-Indian sentiment which consists of hostility, prejudice, discrimination, nativism, racism, and xenophobia which is specifically directed at Romani people.
Romani people are considered the second most discriminated-against minorities and ethnic groups in Europe only second to Jews. Romani people are stereotyped as cheerful and musical migratory fortune-tellers, beggars and petty thieves who practice theft, black magic, fraud and prostitution. In Europe, Romani people were persecuted, enslaved, hanged and burned for centuries because of their darker appearance and different facial features compared to Native European. As a result, the Romani people's history of segregation, stigmatization, enslavement, deportation, and extermination has shaped its relationship with non-Romani individuals and communities into a relationship which is frequently marked by mistrust and fear. Romani people avoid non-Roma because they consider them marime. Romani people often hide their ethnicity due to harmful stereotypes such as the belief that they are untrustworthy because they are scammers, pickpockets, vagrants, beggars and thieves.
The term “Gypsy” is considered a slur when it is used by non-Roma because their use of it perpetuates misconceptions and stereotypes in which Romani people are portrayed as nomads who roam around and engage in questionable, criminal or illegal activities, which is exemplified by the term "to gyp". During the COVID-19 pandemic, hate speech against Roma people in Europe increased according to Commissioner for Human Rights. A 2024 United States Department of State report raised concerns about anti-Romani sentiment across Europe. The Romani community in Europe encounters challenges including restricted access to quality education and obstacles in integrating into the labor market, which contribute to increased poverty and social exclusion, as well as inadequate healthcare and substandard living conditions. Romani children are assigned to segregated "special" schools, where restricted curricula hinder their opportunities. Roma children and women are also particularly vulnerable to human trafficking.
The key factors which contribute to the persistence of discrimination against the Roma is the lack of institutional recognition and the public's lack of knowledge about their historical experiences, including centuries of enslavement in the Danubian Principalities, forced assimilation, and genocide during the Holocaust. Historical and contemporary evidence indicates that other societies in Europe have systematically excluded Roma, contributing to the persistence of socioeconomic inequality and the persistence of other forms of discrimination.
Etymology
There are many names of the Romani people, with gypsy perhaps the most common in English, though often viewed today as pejorative. The English terms antiziganism and ziganophobia come from zigan, a root used in perhaps a majority of European languages' versions of gypsy, including Hungarian, German, and French. Ultimately the root zigan likely derives from Medieval Greek ἀθίγγανος meaning "no touch" or roughly "untouchable".History
While the period in which the first wave of migration of Roma from South Asia is a matter of debate, a wave is believed to have taken place in an attempt to escape the implications of the invasions of Mahmud of Ghazni. The historical persecution and discrimination of Romani people is also thought to have been rooted in the lowest strata of the Hindu caste system. The ill-treatment of the Doma caste may have compelled them to flee India. Genetic research and historical evidence suggest that the Roma originated from the Dalit, or "untouchable," groups in India. They were commonly linked to occupations such as musicians, dancers, and entertainers, and may have departed because of the severe and inflexible caste system that subjected them to social exclusion.The Dom caste is believed to have been cursed by Lord Shiva after a member of their community, Kallu Dom, attempted to steal an earring from Goddess Parvati in Hindu mythology, resulting in their discrimination and marginalization. The Roma people also refer to themselves as Roma chave, meaning "sons of Rama," which suggests their historical connection to Hinduism. Many Romani legends, which are well-preserved, point to India as their homeland, calling it Baro Than, or "the Great Land." Studies of their language, traditions, rituals, and physical characteristics support the conclusion that the majority of Romani people in Europe are descended from Hindus originating in India.
The Romani people trace their origins to the northwestern region of what is now India. Approximately a thousand years ago, this area may have encompassed parts of Balochistan, Sindh and Multan, which are located in present-day Pakistan.
Following their exit from India, the Romani people gradually made their way into Afghanistan, Persia, and Byzantium before ultimately reaching Europe. During their westward migration, it is thought that two main migration routes emerged: the Roma and Sinti traveled overland through Byzantium and eventually crossed Thrace, whereas the Dom people moved along the Middle Eastern coast and entered Egypt. According to Ian Hancock, the name Roma originates from the Hindi word डोम. Linguists have traced the migration routes of the Romani people into Europe by analyzing words borrowed from other languages. These linguistic influences suggest that as they moved westward, they passed through regions such as Afghanistan, Iran, Armenia, Asia Minor, and Greece. The Romani language shows significant influence from Armenian and Byzantine Greek vocabulary. Based on the Indian theory, the group that eventually became known as the Roma departed from the Hindu Kush mountain range, located on the border of modern-day area of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and traveled along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. From there, in the fifth century, they moved into the Persian Gulf area and the Arab empires of the southern Caucasus.
Other evidence indicates that the Romani people traditionally belonged to service-oriented castes, such as entertainers, blacksmiths, and animal caretakers. They might have departed from India in search of new jobs and opportunities in the West, traveling through Persia and eventually reaching Europe. The persecution of the Roma and Sinti is largely due to the distinctiveness of Romani culture within Europe. Their close-knit communities maintained much of their Indian cultural and genetic heritage, making them appear foreign and unaccepted by white Europeans and European society. Around the year 950, Hamza al-Isfahani recounted that the Persian ruler, Shah Bahram Gur, travelled to Hindustan to meet King Shangul. Bahram, a name common among many Persian kings, requested that Shangul select musicians, both men and women. In response, Shangul chose approximately 12,000 individuals from the Luri tribe who were skilled in playing the oud. This story was later retold by Firdouzi. According to historical sources, this tribe was also known as the Zott and referred to themselves as "Romas," a term derived from the Sanskrit word meaning "man of the low caste of musician."
As nomads, their occupations had to be portable or easily abandoned. Consequently, many were livestock traders, animal trainers and performers, tinkers, and musicians; the women practiced fortune-telling, sold potions, begged, and worked as entertainers. Because of their involvement in selling love potions and fortune-telling, the Roma often faced persecution. Singing and dancing have consistently been the primary means of income for the Romani people. Romani people were often harassed by witch hunters.
Romani people first appeared in the Balkans in the 9th century, followed by western Europe in the early 15th century, and northern Europe in the early 16th century. Their arrival in Europe coincided with the persecution Romani people as witches. Romani people were repeatedly arrested and accused of sorcery and witchcraft because they often dabbled in magical cures and fortune-telling.
Romani people didn’t self-identify as an ancient Indian national culture when they first arrived in Europe.
Romani people with dark skin were shamed by Europeans for their skin colour. Europeans often associated dark skin with ugliness, primitivism and Black People.
Laws targeting Romani people have been enacted almost since their arrival in Europe. Initially, there was a rumor that they were Christian Egyptians escaping persecution, which led to the term "Gypsies," derived from "Egyptians." However, because they had darker skin and did not live the settled lifestyle of local European peasants, they were immediately viewed with suspicion by Europeans. In 1721, Austro-Hungarian Emperor Karl VI initiated the "first governmental plan to exterminate Romanies," which applied to the region that would later become Germany. Other countries, including Romania, France, and Spain, subsequently passed laws aimed at relocating and killing Romani people. By the 19th century, scholars in Germany and elsewhere in Europe described Romanies and Jews as inferior and even referred to them as "the excrement of humanity." Charles Darwin, in 1871, singled out these two ethnic groups as not being "culturally advanced" like other territorially settled peoples. This reflects how both groups, lacking an official homeland and country, were seen as somehow less evolved. Across Europe, people had settled into towns, mingling with neighbors and establishing social orders based on a fixed lifestyle. The Romani people, as a nomadic people, did not fit into this system. Their distinct religious and cultural practices fueled rumors that Romani people were magicians or vampires, which led to their social exclusion.
The Romani people’s distinctiveness and otherness appeared as exotic, especially as they generally had dark hair, dark eyes and swarthy complexions, yet their nomadic way of life also contributed to their reputation for dishonesty, minor theft and homelessness. They were frequently met with hostility. Being stateless and foreign travelers, Romani people across regions from Western Europe to the Balkans faced harsh laws and legal punishments, which sometimes escalated to vigilante attacks including arson and murder. The portrayal of Romani people as thieves and dishonest individuals frequently appears in medieval records. Jealous craft guilds, aiming to protect their local monopolies, tried to restrict traditional Romani trades like metalworking and basket making. Due to these limitations, Romani people increasingly turned to begging and theft, which reinforced the negative stereotype that had followed them since their arrival in Europe. With the rise of the Reformation, pilgrims lost their previously respected status, and begging also faced strong criticism. Although local parishes were willing to aid their own poor, foreign beggars were often turned away.
Europeans believed that the Romani people were cursed because of Cain. Another legend, likely brought from India since it mentions Mekran as the location of the event, tells that due to the deceit of a sorcerer, the gypsy leader named Chen was forced to marry his sister Guin, or KaN, which resulted in the curse of wandering upon their people. This is why the Romani are called Chen-Guin. When the Gypsies, expelled from their homeland, arrived at Mekran, a remarkable machine was created whose wheel would not turn until an evil spirit disguised as a sage told the Gypsy chief, Chen, that it would only move if he married his sister Guin. He followed this advice, and the wheel began to turn, but from this incestuous marriage, the people not only received the name Chenguin but also the curse placed upon them by Muslim saints, condemning them to be wanderers, excluded from the rest of humanity.
After leaving South Asia, the Romani people arrived in Persia, and lived under the rule of early caliphates. They faced persecution and were later expelled from Persia. The circumstances of their arrival are debated and are known through a blend of folklore and historical accounts. One story suggests they first came as low-caste mercenary soldiers hired to defend Persia against the Arab threat from the west. Another viewed their migration from the Indian subcontinent as an escape from the Mongol invasions coming from the east. According to Firdusi in his poem Shahnameh, around the year 420, the Persian king Bahram V requested the Indian ruler to send twelve thousand Dom musicians to entertain his people and distract them from their daily hardships. These Doms—one of the many names used for the group—were rewarded with grain and land to help them thrive. However, in this tale, the Dom were seen as lazy; they consumed the grain but avoided farming the land. Eventually, the king had to banish them to a life of constant wandering, surviving through smuggling and begging. After the death of Caliph al-Ma'mun in 833, the Romani people’s situation worsened. Al-Ma’mūn had strongly supported resolving conflicts through law, but after his death, real power shifted to Baghdad’s provincial governors in Persia, who were neither tolerant nor inclined to use legal means to address social issues. The following year, Romani communities were expelled from Persia. In the centuries that followed, expulsion and persecution became a recurring reality for Romani people.
From Persia, Romani people settled in Armenia for some time. The Lom people remained in Armenia, largely integrating into Armenian society. The Romani people then migrated through Anatolia before settling in the Balkans during the Byzantine period. Unfortunately, their arrival coincided with a time of increasing intolerance toward non-Christians following the end of the Crusades. The Roma were viewed as non-Christians and sometimes even as despised Muslims.
The British banished Romani people to Barbados and Jamaica.
Spanish Roma women were often portrayed as attractive yet lewd and dangerous. English Gypsylorist George Borrow has stated that 'no females in the world can be more licentious in word and gesture, in dance and in song, than the Gitanas.’
Romani women are stereotyped to be free-spirited, strong, deviant, sexually arousing, alluring, dismissive and sexually available. Romani women are exoticized and sexualized in European literature and this hypersexualization of Romani women has dehumanized them.
The term 'Gypsy' evokes a multitude of images in the minds of those who are not part of the Roma community. While some romanticize their sense of freedom, others condemn them for perceived antisocial or criminal behavior. Consequently, Romani people have been portrayed as both subjects of exotic myths and targets of intense prejudice. They are often seen as either romantic figures or criminal outsiders, ranging from thieves to musically talented and artistic. The Roma are viewed as being 'free' from societal constraints, embodying a natural existence that does not conform to European societal norms. Romani people are frequently stereotyped as skilled musicians and talented dancers, often imagined living in traditional horse-drawn Vardo wagons.
Romani people’s nomadic culture and Asian origins may also have incited hatred among some racist Europeans and white supremacists. Romani culture is nomadic and doesn’t conform to European culture and the European way of life. Many Roma avoid getting a job and this caused Europeans to resent them.
Romani people are also believed to descended from the Criminal and Wandering Tribes of India and deported prisoners of war due to their supposed parasitic, thievish nature. Romani people were characterised as robbers, murderers, hangmen and entertainers like those tribes in India due to the Hindu caste system.