Journey Folki > History & Culture

by Victor Vishnevsky

I have decided to write, about the new situation, that our Romane people are living today, not as a whole, but most of us! I have been reading many web internet sides about our race, and came to a conclusion, that a real revolution is taking place, because what I read, mostly all of the countries in this world of ours have finely trying their best to help our race to be in the family of the world! I say better late then never, it is about time to understand that our race was a victim for centuries to the white people,{we were dark when reached Europe} we are a minority in this world, and all this time they took advantage of our ignorance, but today, they have finely realized, that they were wrong, for treating our race with such severity! Through out these centuries, I also know that we were doing bad things that the society did not tolerate, but just think with me a little, the way we were treated, how could we possibly could trust the Gaje {gaje means strangers} till today the ignorant Roma, tell there sons and daughters and even their grand children for centuries that we were always harshly treated, by the gaje, so it was only natural to pay back what we are getting from the gaje, by any form except murder, violence, and even sometimes to protect us and our children we had to fight them back under any circumstances, till today there are Gaje that hate our race, but one cannot judge one clan or one person, who has done wrong, for the rest of us to pay, for what ever they have done, that is not fair and they know it, history tells us that not only the Romany people were discriminated, mostly all minority races, especially dark skinned people, also suffered.

Now, about fortune telling, my people practice this profession for centuries, we do not take anybody by the throat, to come to us to tell his or her fortune! They come to us on their on free will, now if the fortune teller tells the truth, or not, it is for the client to decide, on the other hand today we have lawyers constructers engineers doctors business men and even judges, and also police men. Take my family for instance, I have two sons and two daughters, my one daughter is a judge, the other is a director of a firm, my sons, one is an engineer, the other is also a director in a medical firm, and all of them are married to Gaje, and have children and even grand children, now I thank my father that he always wanted me to go to school, and I did likewise with my children, as for me I always worked in show business, now I am retired, and yet I wrote four books, two of them are in the United states, one is called the Memoirs of a Gypsy, the other is called Liza Chernovskaya, I hope that they will be published, any way I live in Brazil and I can thank my lucky star that I brought my children up in this wonderful country, I came all the way from China to Brazil and never regreted it. This story you will find in my memoir.

Now I want to know why the Vikings of the Scandinavians countries the barbarians, from Russia etc, who killed children women and men, to rob, to destroy in short liquidate the whole village, or a town, for that matter, have never been accused of genocide, or at least let the world know what their people have done, what I wrote above, my answer to this question is, the colour of the skin, in those times never in the history of mankind, has there been such cruelty. Only in our times, the holocaust, of the Hitler's era and Stalin who massacred his own people have done more damage to humanity then any one in history. Now what get's me angry is that the Jews do not want us to be included in the holocaust, do you call this justice? How can these people who have seen with their own eyes, how we the Romani people were also massacred, by the Hitler's officers, how can they deny us the right not to be included in the holocaust, even in the United states we are excluded of the Museum of the holocaust, that ex president Carter created! This is what I read on the web side, I don't know if this is true, but knowing the Jews, they are capable of everything, just to let the world not to forget how the Jews suffered, and I think they are right. But why exclude us? This situation is nothing to be proud of, but only to have to mourn the holocaust.

Coming back to our Romani situation, I want to inform my readers, that we also have intellectuals, one of them who lives in United states, and a professor, of the university of Houston Texas, is a man that is only taking care of our Romanes affairs, I consider him the un proclaimed leader of our Romani people, in the Americas, or maybe even beyond, he is from the Rumungro tribe, which exidently my mother is also from this tribe, my father is a Lovari, they married in Russia and were together for fifty years, our Lovara always mixed with this tribe, because, even then they were the most educated Roma in Russia, of course to a certain extent, but not all to an extent that our professor Ian Hancock is. He even talked to president Clinton, and if I am not mistaken, mr Clinton offered him a job, I am not sure what job was that, our people came to Europe, some time in 1350 more or less and as I see it we were taken slaves by almost all the European countries, on the internet that Professor Hancock writes, makes my skin crawl, because we were treated worse then animals, how can a human being get so cruel? And even the Church condemned us! No wonder John Paul the second asked forgiveness, for his Church, for what they have done in the past! And yet the people in general did not do so, until now! But now I have faith in the human rights organization, and I hope that Professor Hancock, will keep on fighting for our rights, and also communicate our people, that time has come to join the people of the world on the same level, and be proud of our race, for surviving all this time, to live, and let live!

In Brazil there is almost no discrimination, it is totally forbidden by the government, and yet every now and then, the Negro's are discriminated, of course mostly by the upper class of the population, till today the Negro's some times complain about the situation, but this is beginning to change, and it is not so much of the colour they have, but the situation, most of them are poor and have no jobs, who works, the wages they get is half what a white man gets, that is why there is a lot of crime committed by them, but on the other hand we have senators, of black descent, governors professors, even intellectuals, but as the saying in Brazil goes, once discriminated always discriminated, like in the United states, no matter how good you treat them you will see that discrimination look on his or her face. I think that the Negro's not as a whole, are trying to act more superior, to any nation, I hope I am wrong but that's how it looks to me. As far as I have seen, and I have seen mostly all the Romani gypsies tribes, because I am pushing 80 years old, and my work took me all over the world, the most backward tribe that I have seen until now is the Roma Gypsies of Brasil, they are called Calon, or Calle, that means black in most of our Romani language, these Roma, have completely lost our language, they may know only a few words, time has done the damage, they still travel from one place to another not even on trailers, but horses or donkeys, it is said they have come here about 400 years ago, banished from Portugal, now their standard of

living is very low, their women don't 'tell fortune, but they beg in big cities, their men is said to be selling copper utensils,. I have met some of them, in their camps, but when I say that I am a Rom, their elders gave me a big respect, you rarely see them in big cities, they are always in the country side, they seem to live only in the north of Brasil, recently they gathered in Brasilia the capital of Brasil, and also my cousin was there and other Roma, asking the government to recognize us as an ethnic, Brazilians, and help us organize, some type of institution, to help the Roma in need, that day, not only the Roma were there but also the Brazilian Indians, protesting that the whites that are occupying their reservations. Brazil is so big, but these white farmers want to occupy already occupied lands, that are near the coast line of the country, they call themselves landless people, but every body knows that these people are politically motivated, they are said to be lefties extremist, I personally don't know what are their aims, but I know that it gives a big head ache to the Local government!

Copywrite © Victor Vishnevsky, 1-12- 2005

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