In 1939, amid the Great Depression, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt met with Roma leader Steve Kaslov in New York City to discuss how the crisis had affected Romani Americans. In her diary, she wrote: “They are a sad people and a minority group I feel we should try to help.” That was a historic and very rare expression of White House concern for the struggles of Romani Americans. Today, as a new Democratic administration is about to take over amid another crisis, Romani American activists hope that the issue of discriminations the community has been facing for decades will finally be addressed. With a population of about one million, Romani Americans have been part of the diverse American ethnic mosaic for centuries. Historically, Roma people arrived mainly from Europe, escaping oppression and hoping for a better life. But anti-Roma sentiments followed them across the Atlantic. Here, in the United States, there are also enduring stereotypes about a “culture of criminality” within the Romani community. Such prejudice not only leads to discrimination against Romani Americans in their everyday life, but has also informed discriminatory law enforcement practices. A November 2020 study conducted by the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and Voice of Roma, a nonprofit based in California, has demonstrated the prevalence of institutional discrimination the Roma are facing in the US. Two-thirds of the 363 Romani Americans interviewed perceived the portrayal of Romani people in media, including film and television, as profoundly derogatory and dehumanising. Typically, Roma people are depicted as criminals, wanderers, or witches. Such stereotyping serves to justify anti-Romani discrimination and harassment and is rarely challenged by media commentators. There is yet to be a comprehensive study of anti-Roma discrimination in the US, but it appears that racial profiling by police is very common. Four out of 10 Romani people we interviewed said they had experienced such mistreatment. According to study participants, police officers target Roma Americans and look for Romani-specific attributes, such as certain types of trucks, trailers, mobile homes, or Romani names.
via al jazeera: Romani Americans still struggle with #discrimination