11 Jan
Culture

Roma Leaders to Watch

The July/August 2011 issue of  Moment featured a story called “Invisible Roma” and two other pieces (“Roma in the Holcaust” and “Roma Life Today”) on the Roma people, better known as gypsies. We are proud of these stories, written by Ben Judah and Symi Rom-Rymer, that address the ongoing discrimination against the Roma. One reader, however, wrote a letter to the editor pointing out that Judah’s story disseminated old stereotypes of the Roma people and failed to tell the story of Roma activists who have transcended these stereotypes and are fighting to change the lives of their people. He was concerned that our story unnecessarily fed the negative perceptions that exist about the Roma. While we believe our coverage has helped raise awareness of the plight of the Roma, the reader had a good point....

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18 Oct
Uncategorized

A Familiar Injustice

by Ben Goldberg Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”  If that’s the case, Italy and France’s recent treatment of Roma (aka gypsies) should give us pause. Originally from South Asia, the Roma are a nomadic people who have settled all across Europe.  Often linked to crime, the Roma have a long history of being persecuted.  In the Holocaust, they suffered proportional losses greater than any ethnic group besides the Jews. 65 years later, they are being persecuted once again. France has deported more than 1,000 Roma to Bulgaria and Romania, linking the ethnic group to high incidents of crime. Despite condemnation from Human Rights watchdog groups, the Italian city of Milan quickly followed suit, demolishing and bulldozing several Roma camps.  Meanwhile, the Serbian government has forcefully evicted Roma gypsies from their...

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