Linguistic Respect for the People Once Derided as Gypsies ↘
In Romania, the official term for the country’s Gypsy minority has been amended, after nearly a century of lobbying.
The official Romanian dictionary now uses the term Roma, and now recognizes that the word Gypsy, or Tigan, has a pejorative connotation. Groups that promote Roma rights are celebrating, but many Romanians are against the change — as are some Roma themselves.
In an alley behind a busy farmer’s market in the capital, Bucharest, a Roma man named Aurika said his people call each other Tigan, not Roma.
“For me it’s not a negative word,” he said. “But, if you and I have an argument, and you call me a Tigan, we’re going to have a problem.”
Aurika’s son, Antoni, 11, chimed in.
“I want to be called Roma,” he said, shyly.
His father got angry.
“Why?” he asked. “Because they tell you in school that the Tigan are bad?”
The boy said yes.
“That’s wrong,” Aurika said. “You are both Tigan and a Romanian citizen.”
(via purplehaze89)
