# Did strong anti-Gypsy/Roma racism exist in the USA?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-strong-anti-gypsy-roma-racism-exist-in-the-usa/650782>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 19, 2013, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-strong-anti-gypsy-roma-racism-exist-in-the-usa/650782 "2013-02-19T08:38:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 2

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**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\
**Post date:** [February 19, 2013, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-strong-anti-gypsy-roma-racism-exist-in-the-usa/650782/2 "2013-02-19T08:55:31Z")

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**ZPG Zealot** brought up anti-Roma racism [in the “What Should this Hospital have done about this Racist Demand?” Thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=682476)

> [@What should have this Hospital done about a Racist demand in the NICU?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-have-this-hospital-done-about-a-racist-demand-in-the-nicu/650429/50):
>
> I am Roma.  
> \*\<snip\>\*I am a reference librarian at a university. I’ve had faculty and students not want to work with me because they believe I can’t possibly be competent at what I do because their preconceived notation based on my ethnicity is that I am uneducated, probably borderline illiterate and a criminal.

I’m not going to tell him he’s wrong about his own experiences, but the claim is pretty surprising to me.

[An abbreviated Copy&Paste from what I said in the other Thread:](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16016145&postcount=57)  
I would guess that 9 in 10 Americans don’t even know the word Roma outside the context of spaghetti and old Dean Martin songs. Of the 1 in 10 who do know who Roma are, I’d assume we’re dealing with a more educated and less ignorant segment of society.

Sure, Americans have some notion of “Gypsies” but I’d say that the typical American notion of Gypsies is about as connected to the Roma people as the typical American notion of Witches is connected to religious adherents of Wicca. For most Americans, “Gypsy” is nothing more than a Halloween costume.

Any actual familiarity with “Gypsies” would be tied to notions of that traveling lifestyle in rickety wagons, telling fortunes and dancing performances at town fairs. Once you’re living a lifestyle of working a steady job at a university with a stable permanent resident, I can’t imagine many Americans even recognizing you as a “Gypsy”- and since they have no idea what “Roma” is, I can’t imagine even the bigots knowing _which properly labeled bigot box to put you in_.

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