When hearing about Roma, when reading about them, a wealth of clichés, generally accepted “truths” and statements are always present. This summary presents the most common amongst them.

The meaning of Roma

Roma is sometimes translated as “Human being”. This is incorrect, as the corresponding term in Romanes (and in Sanskrit) is manuš. Rom, with the plural of “Roma” means “man” and also “husband”. The feminine form is Romni, with the plural of “Romnja”, meaning “women” and “wife”. The very consequent French use of “Roms” for the plural is thus incorrect as is the sometimes German usage of “Romas” instead of simply “Roma”.

Sinti and Roma

Especially in German speaking countries, the name of “Sinti and Roma” has taken hold. This is akin to saying “Parisian and French” or “Londoner and English”, for Sinti are Roma. Ask a Sinto which language he speaks, he will say “Romanes” in most case, ask him how he calls his wife and he will say “Romni”. In addition, Sinti from Poland call themselves German Roma (Sasytke Roma). The name Sinti itself is a recent one as in the 19th century, Sinti called themselves Kale (black). This appellation came to be after World War two with the influx of Roma from Eastern Europe in Germany. The Sinti, the local ones started differentiating them from the others, the “Roma” in general.

Are all Roma from Romania?

Especially in the French speaking regions, there is often a confusion thinking that all Roma are from Romania. This is of course not the case. But Sinti in German lands and the Manouches in French speaking regions use “Roma” to denote Vlach Roma, i.e. Roma originally from Romania.

Why sometimes Rroma with two Rs? 

Roma can actually be written with one or two Rs. In some dialects, this is pronounced differently. And originally, this “Rr” was the Sanskrit retroflex D, which phonetically changed into an R. So, with one or two Rs, both are valid options.

How many Roma are there? 

There are between 10 and 12 million Roma overall. As there are no reliable statistics in many countries, and as many Roma do not want to declare themselves as such, it is difficult to say with more precision how many there are.

Are Roma travellers? 

No. Only a negligible part of the overall Roma population was ever traveling. In fact, in the Balkan, they settled as soon as they arrived. Only in Western and Northern Europe were Roma de facto forced to travel, as they were not allowed to settle.

Are Roma “nomadic”? 

No, even the few Roma who travel always have a home base. They traveled because of their jobs (as horse-dealers, as coppersmiths) from villages to villages, but always had a house.

Are all travellers Roma? 

No, there are many travellers in Europe who are not Roma. For example the Irish tinkers, the Germanic Jenische, etc. One always forgets that in Europe, many people traveled from place to place in search of work. These people were the ancestors of some of Europe’s travellers.

All Roma steal and beg 

The classic view in Western Europe! If all Roma in Europe were only doing that, this would be pretty much visible. Ten to twelve million thieves and beggars… One cannot deny that some steal, some beg. These are the ones one sees most and the ones the press always displays. All Roma are simply thrown into the same pot, regardless of the truth. This is akin to say “all Germans are Nazis”, “all English are rowdies and drunkards”, “all Italians are Mafiosi” etc… Who would dare to do these analogies?

Roma are dirty

The usual pictures of ghettoes, of “favellas”, of children running in the dirt etc. have contributed to the general assumption that Roma are inherently dirty. In fact, the opposite is rather the norm. Cleanliness is one of the foremost rule among Roma, and even in some of the worst favellas, one can almost eat on the floor in most Roma houses.

Roma steal children

This accusation was also levied against Jews in the middle ages. But like Jews, Roma prefer to do their children themselves. In spite of the obvious, this accusation is still very much present in people’s minds. It may have had its root in that the Roma population is diverse, and that may a Roma family have children which are not necessarily dark skinned, with black hair etc.

Roma have many children – Their population grows rapidly

The typical Roma family doesn’t have much more children than the general surrounding population. True, there are still large families, with 5 or 6 children, but they are far from being the norm. In fact, in places such as Bulgaria, Kosovo, Macedonia, where one has statistics since the 16th century, the overall proportion of Roma has not changed at all. They always represented between 10 and 15% of the overall population in these regions. In some places, such as Slovakia, Hungary or Romania, they are a bit behind the curve, i.e. they still have e tendency of having more children than the general population. This has more to do with the social situation than with an actual Roma trait.

Roma never integrated or wanted to integrate

False in both cases. All over the Balkan, Roma were well integrated. So well, in fact, that in some place they were the bourgeoisie and craftsmen. They have had jobs ranging from farmers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, bakers, policeman, judge, and so on ever since records exist in those regions. So wherever they were given the chance, they integrated well, all the while keeping their own culture. Only in places where they were forcefully segregated, like in Western Europe, in Romania (with the slavery), in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, did this integration fail. Not because of Roma themselves but rather because of the policies that were inflicted on Roma.

If one is integrated, how can one be a Rom? 

Integrated doesn’t necessarily mean one has to loose one’s identity. In Europe, since the 19th century, there has been a tendency to think that a country is equal to a unique culture, language, and even ethnic appurtenance. Europe was never like this before, and there are minorities. One can integrate, live a regular life, all the while keeping a different language at home. Would anybody ask the same question about Jews?

Roma are uneducated – They cannot read and write 

Roma are so often confronted with the question “can you read and write?” that it is almost embarrassing. Fact is, 10% or so of the Roma population went to university. This is not sufficient, but already is better than many European countries as such. True, education is one of the most pressing problem that Roma are faced with. In many countries (mostly in former communist countries), Roma were and still are sent to special schools, schools for mentally retarded, and as such are being willfully denied a proper education.

Roma are not European, they are foreign 

False! Roma are of Indian origins, i.e. of non-European roots. But the Slavs came from the Altai in the 5th century, the Magyar from central Asia in the 9th, the Germans from the Nordic countries in the 3rd, and so on. Most Europeans have non-European roots. Fact is, Roma are a trans-national European minority. Roma are European, and always were. Their identity and culture was created in Europe, and for many centuries, there were no Roma outside of Europe. After 1200 years in Europe, who can say they are not?

Roma are a social issue 

This is by now the common approach of many countries. Rather than acknowledging a minority and discrimination issue, many governments and alas, also NGOs qualify the Roma issue as a social one. The justifications are simple: low education, low employment rate, poverty, criminality, etc. Why this is the case, namely rampant discrimination, prejudices etc. is actually being denied by making the issue of Roma integration a purely social one.