Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...

Chapter 5 • Giuseppe De Sario, Laura Corradi, Patricia Ruiz, Enrica Capussotti
In order to survive, the Romany had to learn how to interact successfully
with non-Roma people. In her observations of the Gypsy experience in the
United States, Silverman wrote:
It is often necessary for Gypsies to submerge their Gypsy ethnicity
entirely, because it is a social stigma. Gypsies pass as Puerto Ricans,
Mexicans, Greeks, or other ethnic groups to avoid harassment by Gazhe
authorities such as landlords, tax officials… and to obtain housing, jobs,
and welfare. Passing involves adopting the personal front of a non-
Gypsy, including appearance, demeanour, language, names…
(Silverman, 1988: 265)
I do not completely agree with Silverman’s concept of “ethnic” culture, as
an element separate from the Gypsies’ daily interaction with other cultures.
For what, in fact, is “ethnic” culture, if not a continuous re-negotiation
between the past and the present, the “inside” and the “outside”? In
spite of this distinction, Silverman’s analysis of the United States as the
Gypsies’ environment might help us contextualize some of the stories told
by the Kosovar Roma interviewees.
Throughout the accounts, Roma identity is presented as quite strong and
stable. No one admitted to having any kind of problem with the larger
community. Though the interviewees did disagree about the side they
should take when the people of Kosovo split into two camps, this has not
pushed individuals to question the culture and identity of the entire Roma
people. Each of the Romany interviewed was married to a Rom or
Romany, all are Muslim, all have a strong sense of family and community.
In his account, for instance, Tahir, who decided to leave Kosovo because
of his disagreement with the Serbian occupation of Kosovo in early 1990,
did admit to occasional conflicts with the Romany who supported Serbs,
and yet maintained a strong sense of himself as a Rom:
[to the invitation to go back to Kosovo] I said: no… I cannot stay here
alone, you pushed all my people away… and also what you have done
till now… I come back but only with my people, if my people don’t come
back I don’t stay in Kosovo alone… also because I am afraid of what can
happen… Roma have always been victims of this war, Roma didn’t want
to be involved in any war… [Tahir]
Other interviewees spoke of the Roma skill of “passing” through cultures
and emphasized this aspect of their identity, in order to underline the
meaningless of the violence they bore at the hands of the Albanians.
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Before it was nice, everything was all right. It is crazy what has happened…
I feel bad, I feel nostalgia for my country but I cannot live there,