All, I have received the following response from a representative from the Voice of Roma. This seems to be a pretty definitive response to whether the term is insulting or not to the Roma people. Martha
Begin forwarded message: > From: Carol Silverman <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: Use of the word "gypsy" in various folk dances > Date: November 3, 2015 7:28:00 PM PST > To: Martha Wild <[email protected]>, Voice of Roma <[email protected]> > Cc: Petra Gelbart <[email protected]> > > Dear Martha, > Sani Rifati, President of Voice of Roma forwarded you message to me. Although > I am not Romani, I am on the Board of VOR and we do care deeply about the > terms used for the people we represent. > A large number of Roma (but not all) are offended by the term Gypsy, > especially with a small g. To “gyp" someone means to steal and swindle; plus > the word connotes a false history— it a short for Egyptian whereas Roma are > from India. Roma have faced centuries of discrimination, and today are > subject to deportations and racial profiling; this would be an opportunity > to teach your community a little about their history. > > So whatever the history of the dance step, I know that names can be changed > by sensitive callers like you. I would urge you to change the names and seize > and educational moment! > Sincerely, Carol Silverman > PS Check the VOR webs page fro my information: > http://www.voiceofroma.com/culture/gyp_vs_rom.html > > > >> >> > > >> From: Martha Wild <[email protected]> >> Date: Tue, Oct 27, 2015 at 1:56 AM >> Subject: Use of the word "gypsy" in various folk dances >> To: [email protected] >> >> >> Hi, >> I am a folk dancer - I do a lot of contra dancing and English Country dance >> and I call the dances as well. >> >> Recently a newcomer who came to a dance at another venue brought to our (a >> group of caller's that talk about such subjects on a list) attention that we >> have been using the word gypsy for one of the dance moves in both types of >> dance. This dancer (not a Roma) came to one of our dances and was upset that >> we used the term "gypsy" for this dance move, as they felt that the word was >> insulting to the Roma people. >> >> I would like to know if this is the case, as we have never intended to be >> derogatory to anyone, but lots of dances have this move, and dance names >> even contain the name, like "The Gypsy Star" and others. >> >> The move in question is a move where two people walk around each other and >> back to place, while facing each other. There is some confusion about origin >> of the term, but the best guess is that there was an English Country dance >> called "The Spanish Gypsy" that was written over a hundred years ago, and it >> was the first to include this move of people walking around each other while >> facing (prior to that people generally did a "back to back, or what is also >> called "do-si-do". The move was not called a "gypsy", but because this dance >> used it and other dances copied it, people called it a "gypsy" because it >> was the same move that was in that dance. >> >> I've been calling these dances for over 25 years and have used this term to >> indicate this move, never intending anything by it other than as an >> established name for a dance figure. I am hoping that some of the folks at >> Voice of Roma could give me an opinion as to whether you find it offensive >> or not for us to continue to use it. We've been discussing on the web >> whether we should try to find a different name, but if you feel that this >> use of the word gypsy is not an issue then we can stop arguing over words >> like "eddy" or "swirl" and continue to use it. If you do find it offensive, >> however, I will gladly alter my dance cards to something else so as not to >> continue to be offensive. >> >> Thanks for your input, >> Martha Wild >> >> >> >> -- >> Sani Rifati >> 707/823-7941 >> http://www.voiceofroma.com > > Carol Silverman > Professor > Department of Anthropology and > Folklore Program > University of Oregon > Eugene OR 97403-1218 > Office 541-346-5114 > Fax 541-346-0668 > [email protected] >
