Stateless Nation 
Magnolia Cook
Professor Dawson
World Regional Geography 105004
10 November 2014
“A person does not grow from the ground like a vine or a tree, one is not part of a plot of land.
Mankind has legs so it can wander.” -
Roman Payne, “The Wanderess.”
The History and Geography of Gypsies
Generations of homeless wanderers known as Roma/Romani, or gypsies, currently traverse the vast and varied landscapes of Europe, making up one of the largest minority groups in that realm. This research paper uses the disciplines of physical, historical and cultural geography to explore the migration of Romani, as well as to explain the cohesion of gypsy society. Unfortunately, as history will show, the story of the gypsies is one of exploitation and persecution, a tradition that endures even to the present day.
“Why did God even create us, if gypsies are to live like this?” asked one male gypsy,
Babica, in response to the news that he and his family were having their property destroyed. This story comes out of France, and it demonstrates the major conflict between Roma and the rest of the European community: citizenship. Government constructs and bureaucratic procedures which evolved to provide security to Europeans have caught one ethnic group in a perpetual limbo, keeping them ever on the move after several hundred years. Without a state to call their own, the
Roma erect encampments wherever opportunity exists. In the case of Babica and his friends, opportunity existed in Gennevilliers, France.
French leaders have taken a staunch opposition to the insurgence of gypsy encampments, both for their appalling sanitary conditions and for the rising rates of crime which accompany them. Thus, you encounter men like Babica, whose camp now lies in upheaval after the bulldozers cleared out the shopping carts and tents that had sustained his community. Turning the page on the camp in Gennevilliers, these gypsies now have three options: they can stay in
France
Professor Dawson
World Regional Geography 105004
10 November 2014
“A person does not grow from the ground like a vine or a tree, one is not part of a plot of land.
Mankind has legs so it can wander.” -
Roman Payne, “The Wanderess.”
The History and Geography of Gypsies
Generations of homeless wanderers known as Roma/Romani, or gypsies, currently traverse the vast and varied landscapes of Europe, making up one of the largest minority groups in that realm. This research paper uses the disciplines of physical, historical and cultural geography to explore the migration of Romani, as well as to explain the cohesion of gypsy society. Unfortunately, as history will show, the story of the gypsies is one of exploitation and persecution, a tradition that endures even to the present day.
“Why did God even create us, if gypsies are to live like this?” asked one male gypsy,
Babica, in response to the news that he and his family were having their property destroyed. This story comes out of France, and it demonstrates the major conflict between Roma and the rest of the European community: citizenship. Government constructs and bureaucratic procedures which evolved to provide security to Europeans have caught one ethnic group in a perpetual limbo, keeping them ever on the move after several hundred years. Without a state to call their own, the
Roma erect encampments wherever opportunity exists. In the case of Babica and his friends, opportunity existed in Gennevilliers, France.
French leaders have taken a staunch opposition to the insurgence of gypsy encampments, both for their appalling sanitary conditions and for the rising rates of crime which accompany them. Thus, you encounter men like Babica, whose camp now lies in upheaval after the bulldozers cleared out the shopping carts and tents that had sustained his community. Turning the page on the camp in Gennevilliers, these gypsies now have three options: they can stay in
France
Bibliography: Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Cultural Center, 1985. Romanian Americans. Every Culture, 2014. Web. October 2014. pursued out of every place that they decided to call home. 4. Romer, Periodika. Romani Studies. The Gypsy Lore Society, 2000. Web. October : Greece. May, 2009. Motoruma, Amy. Gypsy Legislation in Spain, 14991783: The concord Review, INC. Boulder, CO. 2003. Romania or Bulgaria because they can’t integrate: The Daily Mail. Paris, France. 2013.