What Do You Know About Gypsies?

I have received some questions about the origin of both my blog title and also my burlesque identity as 'The Desert Gypsy'. Well I am here to address the question. I am of Roma 'Gypsy' decent. My family came to this country to escape persecution during WW2. We all know that many innocent Jewish people were brutally murdered and tortured by the Nazis during WW2 and that concentration camps were a literal hell on earth for so many.  A lesser know fact is that over a million Roma people were also murdered during the Holocaust. My very own family suffered this and some never made it out of the camps, the rest fled to the USA.

I won't get into the whole history of the Roma people and my families personal history but I will say that there is a large amount of racism and discrimination that has been endured for hundreds of years and is still presently affecting many Roma in Europe, North Africa and Asia.

I was not raised as a Roma 'Gypsy'. My family wanted a different life and experience for me and my brother. I wouldn't suffer poverty or racism like the generations before me did. My Mother vowed that I would never suffer like she did and I would not have the life of my family before me. Not only were they Gypsies but also fortune tellers and witches. This doesn't make for welcoming neighbors.

Though I was not raised in that life; I am still very proud of the colourful history of my family and ancestors.

GYPSY! In some parts of the world the term Gypsy is considered a racial/prejudice slur. Until I started to really research the history and current conditions of the Roma people, I did not realize that some consider gypsy to be a derogatory word. I have found that this tends to be considered negative in Eastern and Southern Europe more than any other region. I personally am proud of the term Gypsy and so are many other gypsies that I have met in North America and Western Europe. My family came to the USA from Romania and North Africa. I have traveled to see these lands for myself to help understand the history of my family.

I write this due to the recent backlash at the Roma community due to the Blonde Angel child found in Greece. There is a new interest in this culture that I have never experienced before. I feel that my recent influx of emails about my chosen title is due to this recent increase in press on the community.  I am proud of my heritage. I am also proud to be part Lakota Sioux, Mexican and European. All of this has made me the unique person that I am today.

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Korin M.