The major question facing Roma today is whether they should preserve their identity or integrate into society
Here is a story from a teacher of many years. He used to have a Gypsy student with a head for the sciences, albeit not too industrious. When he ignored his homework for the umpteenth time, the teacher decided to demand an explanation. To this the Roma answered rhetorically with all the expressiveness of his folk: “How do you expect me to do my lessons, when the whole tribe of my relatives have come to visit us?”
Similar revelations of this odd — as seen by his classmates — boy were reason enough for the whole class to shun him as if to get out of harm’s way. Yet he was not the only one who faced such prejudices. For example, Ihor Krykunov, director of the Romance Gypsy Theater, remembers to this day how teachers would say to the class pointing at him: “What’s the use of asking this degenerate? He doesn’t know anything anyway.” Meanwhile, in reality there were no more or even fewer mistakes in his notebooks than in those of his “normal” classmates.
According to the Roma whose children go to schools and universities, today the situation has improved — “either the Ukrainians have become more tolerant, or we have managed to prove that we are no different from the other 130 ethnic minorities that inhabit Ukraine.” However, public opinion polls reveal the actual situation. According to a survey conducted by the Sociology Institute of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, a mere 2% of Ukrainians would agree to have a Roma among their close friends, as much would be able to live next door to them, and only 1.6% would be willing to have them as colleagues at work. Tellingly, last year 42% of Ukrainians told sociologists that the Roma should not be allowed to enter Ukraine at all.
Meanwhile, official statistics suggest that there are 50,000 of them in Ukraine. In reality, there are nearly 150,000. Ukrainian Gypsies contemplate creating their own state. They realize that tents and caravans will not earn them recognition in society and think how they can preserve their identity and debunk the stereotypes that surround them, which is a major problem for the Roma living in Ukraine. According to Mykhailo Kozymyrenko, the only Gypsy writer on Ukrainian turf and laureate of the International Ivan Franko Prize, “In the 1930s there was a state policy for ethnic issues. Burevisnyk [Stormy petrel], Carmen, and even Internationale had been translated into the Romani language. The Stalinist regime put an end to all this.” According to Kozymyrenko, today newspapers and books are published in the Romani language and Romani schools are opened in the countries inhabited by the Roma such as Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania. Ukraine also has Romani schools, but they look more like reservations where the children are taught the fundamentals of the fundamentals. According to Kozymyrenko, teachers do not normally speak the Romani language there, while the knowledge of graduates of such so-called magnet schools can be perhaps compared to that of a high school six-grader. Why? Simply because nobody needs the Roma. As for the language, how can one possibly learn it if there is not a single Romani textbook in Ukraine?
On the other hand, there is no one in Ukraine who could compile a Romani textbook. Although there is a doctor in pedagogic sciences among the Ukrainian Roma, he does not dare apply his theoretical knowledge to the Romani language. And the reasons are quite understandable: to teach somebody a language one must have a perfect command of this language himself. “Perhaps we are largely to blame. How can a state help the Gypsies learn their native tongue and encourage them to see themselves not in caravans but in high posts?” Krykunov said.
Consider a telling example from life. One Romani family raises two daughters who are both the pride of the nation: they are graduates of the law faculty and speak five foreign languages. The problem is that neither will fall in love with a Roma whose education ended in the sixth grade, nor would they like their husbands to be salesmen at a local bazaar. Thus the pride and joy of all Ukrainian Gypsies will only reminisce about their roots. “Ignorance is very common among our folk, and one can count on the fingers of one hand all those who want to change our centuries-old tradition,” says Krykunov. For example, only five or six Roma are pursuing a higher education in Kyiv. Only one Roma in Ukraine thought how good the works by Shevchenko, Franko, and Lesia Ukrayinka would sound in the Romani language. Ukraine’s only Romani newspaper in Zakarpattia soon turned into an inconspicuous local newspaper (financed, incidentally, by George Soros, who has taken a personal interest in Roma affairs — Ed.). Partly because the Roma themselves received the news of this newspaper without much enthusiasm. Meanwhile, after performances of Ukraine’s only Gypsy theater, Romance, they often furtively put photos of the performances into their breast pockets.
Here is the main contradiction. Romani intelligentsia claims that they are representatives of a freedom-loving and proud people that considers it debasing to beg for alms. “We’d rather chip in five kopecks each than let anybody go panhandling.” Krykunov claims that their national philosophy does not tolerate begging, while those soliciting charity in the streets might be of the Gypsy type, they are not the Roma. Speaking of the homeless children and thievery, is it not a rare thing among Ukrainians either, the Gypsies retort. The problem boils down to the fact that nobody really knows what the Roma really are.
It is indeed quite difficult to find out. Perhaps it will not be a revelation to say that Gypsies have one peculiarity, that is, they can live next door to you and be isolated at the same time. Because of their aloofness they tend to surround themselves with an aura of mystery, a breeding ground for myth. An observer of Gypsy life would find many things impossible to understand. How can one ignore the conventionalities and live according to the principle “If I don’t like this, I will get into my caravan and wheel away”? What kind of woman and mother of a family would agree to being expelled from the tribe for the slightest of misdemeanors? How can they organize their own informal Gypsy trials as it if it were the Middle Ages? However, such things do happen, even though some of today’s Gypsies do not match the ethnographers’ description. Today many of them have settled in stone cottages behind ten-foot fences; sultry brunettes have the state of the art in technology at their fingertips, while their traditional colorful clothes have given way to designer wear.
“Perhaps there is no other people that has such strong blood ties,” the Roma like to say. They always come to the rescue of a kinsman in trouble. They will necessarily invite him to their home and will discuss the whims of fate over a cup of tea (a Gypsy tradition). The Roma rarely think twice before providing shelter to somebody else’s child who needs help. It would be no overstatement to say that children are the Roma’s meaning in life. Should anything happen to her husband, a Roma woman will never consider remarrying, since her life is wholly dedicated to her children. Although this might seem somewhat old-fashioned today, divorce for the Roma is nothing short of impossible, nor do they recognize common-law marriages. For the Roma, marriage is the most important event in one’s entire life. Families sometimes go bankrupt to throw a wedding party as befits a real Roma. Simultaneously, the punishment for alcohol abuse under Gypsy law is exclusion from the community.
Incidentally, the Roma have preserved their informal Romani courts that decide matters of common law and custom. The more experienced Roma gather to listen to the plaintiff and defendant and hand down a verdict. The defendant may be ordered to pay a fine or repent sincerely. The Roma believe that inevitable punishment awaits anyone who commits any misdemeanor. They also believe in keeping an oath.
“We find it easy to speak about our national features. Above all we are faithful, true to nature, and wise. Otherwise we wouldn’t have been able not only to survive but also preserve our traditions under conditions when the Gypsies were persecuted,” says Kozymyrenko.
However, Ukraine’s Roma community does not know whether it should preserve its traditions. On the one hand, getting to know one’s history and passing sacred knowledge and traditional trades from generation to generation is wonderful. On the other hand, if we fence ourselves off, it will be harder to prove anything to the society at large. “Who are we raising our young generation for? The caravans?” asks Krykunov. “Of course, a Roma can’t be called one, if he doesn’t know who he is and where he’s from. However, since we are Ukrainian citizens as stated in our passports, we must have adequate upbringing and education.”
The question of how the two things can be combined is a rhetorical one. Most likely, they will have to choose between integrating into society or preserving their identity. However, Ukraine has stretched out its helping hand to the Roma. It has recently announced the commencement of Europe’s first program for the revival of the Roma. They will be provided assistance in education, culture, and science, and their underprivileged families will receive financial aid. An annual UAH 100,000 will be allocated for the program to support the Roma, Karaites, and Krymchaks.
