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Comment by ruszki | Hacker News Reader

Why doesn't this happen with racism? In European subreddits, speaking about gypsies in a racist way is followed by a ban. Yet, it's still there, and quite clear that that's the norm in Europe. Compared with topics of homeless people, about who Eastern Europeans talk the exact same way as about gypsies, and with the same logic - it's just not "protected", so it's not banned - I encounter both regularly.

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> speaking about gypsies in a racist way is followed by a ban

I'm suspecting that is only because of behaviors learned from US on the internet. If not for that they wouldn't have thought of banning for it. It's not a topic that comes up often, but IRL negative views on gypsies are the norm in Europe.

I think it's important to understand that it's viewed as culture issue, not color-of-skin issue (that is something that can be changed, people of gypsy heritage that go to school and work are not considered gypsies for this) and so not getting filled in the category of "racism".

Maybe I don't understand exactly what you are saying, but if I do: there is a fundamental difference between Gypsies and homeless people, you are born a gypsy by no fault of your own, but most people are not born homeless. As such racism towards Gypsies is far more heinous because you could have any education, profession, income, housing situation you'll always stay a Gypsy and face the same prejudice, whereas you can (somewhat) more easily stop being homeless.

Now we could have a discussion on whether being poor is a choice or a consequence of societal inequality, but I think more people agree on racism here...

It is not at all about race. It is about the lifestyle. And you definitely choose that yourself.

Looking at Eastern Europe, how some behavior which is net negative to everybody in the current environment still alive 200 years after the zero sum game is dead, I would say, that's not that simple.

Gypsies aren't a race, what they do is a lifestyle. Kinda like classical pirates and brigand bands. But while the latter examples have disappeared for the most part in Europe, gypsies are still a plague upon law and order.

> Gypsies aren't a race, what they do is a lifestyle

I said the exact same thing for like 20 years. Until I realized that this thought is utterly racist. Luckily, I was disgusted about myself and my environment where this is a normal thought, and improved, instead of doubling down.

You've just called a behavior based on a name of an ethnic group. You cannot be more racist than that.

I think some people simply aren't aware that "G**y" references the Roma (and is also considered a slur by most), because they associate it with the negative stereotypes which have been ascribed to them.

Gypsy seems to reference at least a dozen or so different groups of people in different languages (some languages use Tsinganoi-related version). Some groups use the word themself, others don't.

Most often it is the mainstream society living in stationary houses describing people living in temporary encampments with a different culture.

The one people hating the gypsies the most are the Roma. They're not the same thing.

They have a vested interest to think this way, or say this. Their words' trustworthiness is zero.

Gypsies are not Roma. Gypsy is the word for a lifestyle. Like vagabond or Amish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gypsy

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