Marissa Holland

June 11, 2014

Gypsies: Minority or Immigrant? 

            With My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding as one of my guilty pleasures, I was always curious about the “gypsy” culture the actors are continuously referring to. In some instances, they speak more of their heritage as if it is merely a culture, but if one truly looks at the gypsy legacy, they have indeed always been immigrants. Why then has society never treated this group of people as immigrants? Why do gypsies themselves not see themselves as immigrants? Historically, the gypsy groups have been known as travelers beginning in Egypt and working their way through Europe and then to the Americas. They claim to be a “people” of the world. This seems to be the reasoning why not only the US but other countries as well have not known exactly how to categorize this group. If one does not have a home state, can they really then be seen as an immigrant? Do we treat them as a minority group or as an immigrant? The question seems to have been avoided and never answered.

            The two main groups of gypsies currently within the United States are known as the Rom and Romnichals. According to everyculture.com, “it is uncertain how many gypsies are in the United States because many gypsies’ entries were undocumented, and others were recorded by their country of origin and not as gypsies.” Many gypsies in order to avoid economic and social persecution do not claim their true ethnicity of gypsy and instead claim ownership of the country from which they are currently immigrating. This presents new struggles with documenting this ethnic group because of their traveling tendencies. The country which they are currently leaving may or may not be their country of origin. Like the Jewish population, the gypsies can be seen as “the people without a land.” However, the Jewish population was very much treated as immigrants and went through many of the hardships that immigrants face. Because the gypsies have not claimed a country of origin in the same sense as the Jewish population, it becomes difficult to impress upon them a stereotype. This seems to be one way the Gypsy ethnicity has bypassed the immigrant stereotypes and moved straight into the minority group. What my question is: why would the gypsy ethnicity try so hard to not be seen as immigrants? When compared to other immigrant groups who are excited to leave behind their own cultures in some sense and begin a new life in the US, gypsies seem content to change nothing about their way of life except their geography. They also seem to have been successful in this process.

            In her article “Everyday Drama: Impression Management of Urban Gypsies,” author Carol Silverman states, “adaptation is evolved in two complementary processes: (1) preserving the Gypsy/ Non gypsy boundary by maintaining a distinct in-group culture, including language, values, and beliefs, and (2) crossing the Gypsy/Non Gypsy boundary to negotiate a viable niche within the non-Gypsy population” (377). The issue that Silverman explores is how and why the Gypsies have been successful as an immigrant group in preserving their isolation and their culture but at the same time interacting with the dominant culture. What she notes as being a major factor in this cooperation is the Gypsy/ Non-Gypsy boundary that she notes. It is part of their culture to remain isolated to themselves despite whatever dominant culture they may be living with. It is not the American Dream they were chasing. They do not wish to assimilate to any other culture, let alone the US culture. It is because of this that they have avoided the immigrant status. They are not motivated by the desire to assimilate to a new culture and a new way of life. Their motives and interactions are completely dominated by the economy. The gypsies are not a group of producers where they could be a sustainable group on their own. They provided services and thus depend on the interactions of non-gypsies in order to economically produce an income for their group. This is the only interaction the gypsies wish to have. They do not possess the same ideals of the American Dream and not wish to assimilate in any sort of fashion. Because of this, the US population has historically treated Gypsies as a minority and not by their immigrant status. In his article “Ethnic Mobilization without Prerequisites,” author Zoltan Barany states, “the great advantage of ethnicity over other emblems of personal identity is its capacity to arouse and to engage the most intense, deep, and private emotional sentiments.” Because their most important identifies are not their ethnicity, the US has not determined a way other than the minority to treat the gypsy immigrant population.

            While this culture seems to be very proud of their own identity and proud to preserve their individuality, there is very little literature published from their culture. In her research post entitled “Resurrecting the Roma: Have Gypsies Become the Forgotten Immigrant Culture?” Amy Sasser cites Dowd as stating, “There has never been a shortage of literature about, rather than by, Gypsies’ and this history portrays the familiar image of gypsies as cunning rogues.” My only thought on the matter is that the gypsies are not interested in the non-gypsy population knowing information into their culture, thus hindering their drive to publish. Within existing literature, however, the gypsy character is very prevalent and used as many different symbols, most commonly as a cunning sidekick.

            Although the gypsy population has in fact immigrated to the US, they have successfully retained their own identity and have avoided the immigrant status and stereotypes. Because they do not claim a state of origin, this seems to cause of confusion for the US population in not knowing how to treat this group. The gypsies themselves also do not wish to assimilate into the US despite their immigrant status leaving them as a minority in the eyes of the dominant culture.

Works Cited

Barany, Zoltan. “Ethnic Mobilization without Prerequisites: The Eastern European Gypsies.” World Politics 54.3 (2002). 277-307. Muse. Web.

Heimlich, Evan. “Gypsy Americans.” Everyculture.com. N.P. Web. June 12, 2014.

Sasser, Amy. “Resurrecting the Roma: Have Gypsies Become the Forgotten Immigrant Culture?” Research Post. Web. June 11, 2014.

Silverman, Carol. “Everyday Drama: Impression Management of Urban Gypsies.” Urban Anthology, Vol. 11, No ¾. p. 377-398.