Roma. Gypsy! Did you read about the-little-blonde-girl some Roma in Greece STOLE from some nice Nordic parents? And how everybody was really UPSET about it: so typical of Gypsies! Little Maria was taken into custody—where she seemed really confused.
Or perhaps you read about the several Irish Rom Traveller families who STOLE several little-blonde-children? And the Garda took those little kids into custody too.
Did you say: Awful! But I’m not surprised. It’s just like those nasty Gypsies. Stealing white people’s kids and stuff.
Oh well then. Maybe you didn't immediately think the Gypsies were guilty. Maybe you read into the stories what was really there--stirring up the old race hatreds. I hope you had a moment of doubt--
“Little Blonde Maria” is really Rom. And given to the family in Greece to care for. And the Irish kids are really Rom and – DNA test!—they're the children of the families they live with. Hey! Rom come in all colors!
Bloody hell. It was all a fuckin bucket of racism, the ravings of bigots with an agenda: Hatred of The Classic Other. Get people paying attention to bogus horrors while the Real Horrors continue unabated.
Even those who aren’t generally prejudiced fell into the trap: Oh poor children! Oh filthy thieving Gypsies.
Oh Dark People longing for blondness beautiful blondness in their life!
Human trafficking and child abductions are vile. Hey, no kidding.
So’s burning out whole villages where Gypsies have lived for generations because a new round of hatred and fear makes them an easy target. So’s forcing Europe’s largest minority to make tentative camps at the edges of toxic dumps. So is ignoring the actual history, the actual cultures of Rom world-wide.
So is blaming the Rom for the problems the latest waves of austerity and fascist resurgence...
What is vile is the power of media and governments across the continent to encourage and enforce a racist pogram against Rom which has never stopped.
Please read one Rom speaking about it-- http://www.theguardian.com/...