EU Antidiscrimination Year 2007 - Thought for the Day:
In Memory of the Roma Holocaust

Broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Sunday, 5th August 2007 7pm

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How long is the journey from "You know..." to social exclusion, disenfranchisement and, ultimately, devouring?
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First of all, let us get the name right.

As is often the case, Gypsy is a label that got stuck by outsiders' reference to a particular group. For example, the Magyars are referred to as Hungarians simply because ages ago they were mistakenly identified with the Huns, which was an already familiar, therefore handy, category at the time. Similarly, when the nomadic groups from northern India - mostly from Rajasthan, where many still live - first made their appearance in Europe, they were thought to be Egyptians. Hence the name Gypsy and its countless versions in various languages such as Cigány, Cyganski, Gitan, Zigeuner, and the list goes on.

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