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. At the same time, IRU members in the United States are taking strong steps to combat discrimination. Rain Bear Stands Last, Nidhi Trehan, Anatoly Butakov, Tashi Mathyin, Sarah Mathyin, Anya Theodora and others are most responsible for that activism.

Link: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/12/20/romani-americans-struggle-with-inherent-criminality-stereotypes

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