Dr. David Newquist, who used to profess at Northern State University, says the “Gypsy Days” theme of NSU’s homecoming is not the offensive cultural co-optation that some contend. Newquist contends that Gypsies embrace the term and won’t mind much if we do, too:
The word Gypsy is regarded as a pejorative in some quarters, but largely by people who aren’t Gypsies. Some Gypsies object to being referred to as Romi. The NSU administration decided to stay with a school tradition in keeping Gypsy Days, because there has not been any history of disrespect or stereotyping in its use. Sports fans of the Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins mock Indians when they do a silly tomahawk chopping gesture which is a disparagement of the Native American culture. Aside from some ceremonies in which a few people don some colorful Gypsy dress as they crown the homecoming king and queen, there has been no mocking imitation or minstrelsy of Gypsy culture at NSU.
Another factor is that numerous organizations identify themselves with the Gypsy name. A directory of organizations in English-speaking countries lists the following:
- National Federation of Gypsy Liaison Groups
- The Gypsy Union
- Gypsy Lore Society
- Association of Gypsies/Romani International, Inc.
- National Gypsy Council
- Gypsy Council for Education, Culture, Welfare and Civil Rights
- Gypsy Traveller Health Information Service
- National Association of Gypsy Women [apparently defunct 2014]
- National Gypsy Council [oops—Newquist repeats himself here]
- Gypsy Heritage Centre
- Gypsy Association of Women
The question facing the NSU administration is if the tradition of Gypsy Days has been belittling, disrespectful, racist, and if it has been harmful to the Gypsy people. It obviously came up with a compelling lack of such evidence in deciding to continue with the tradition. The point of homecoming is to gather former students together to reunite, continue friendships, and contemplate the bonds they share with the college and fellow alumni. Ethnic groups have social traditions that celebrate a rebonding of people to each other. For example, the Sons of Norway promote such reenactments as a way of keeping alive their heritage [David Newquist, “Is ‘Gypsy’ a Racially Offensive Term? Not to a Lot of People Who Call Themselves That,” Northern Valley Beacon, 2021.05.01].
NSU students will probably not even notice Dr. Newquist’s epistle on this matter. But it is interesting to hear one of the few vocal progressive members of the Northern community push back from a historical and cultural perspective on the effort to remove “Gypsy” from Northern’s fall festivities.
Heaven forfend that the local musical theatre group should decide to put on “Gypsy.”
Cory, this is classic “it’s okay for me” thinking. None of the arguments presented here would stand up to any level of scrutiny if we substituted in any other ethnic group.
1. Some Gypsies prefer the term: yes, and some African-Americans use the N-word with pride. Doesn’t mean that the rest of us should adopt it.
2. There are organizations that use the word: yes. I think we all know what NAACP stands for. Again, not a recommended term for our African-American community.
3. “No mocking imitation or minstrelsy” but there is “some colorful Gypsy dress.” Is that “Gypsy” based on historical research or 1950’s movies? I doubt that it is much different than black face or dyed feather headdresses…cartoonish at best.
4. “Ethnic groups have social traditions that celebrate a rebonding of people to each other”: unless there are any Gypsy/Roma people involved in Northern’s homecoming, this argument is at best a false equivalency and at worst specious.
My grandmother claimed that her family (Polish) were Gypsies. I have no idea whether it was true (Nana was somewhat given to tall tales of many sorts). But because of that connection, I notice perhaps more than others do when people use the word “Gypsy” to describe behaviors that are based on out-dated stereotypes (which were likely never true in the first place). “Gypsy Days” has never bothered me. But “this one’s okay because I mean well.” That doesn’t fly.
well…what do Gypsys have to do with Northern ??? How are Gypsys relevant to the experience of attending or graduating from that college?? What is the origin of this event??? Why isn’t it Swedes Day or Germans from Russia Day? Did Gypsys frequent Aberdeen? Why is such an obscure name of an event so sacred?? Were the originators of Gypsy Day trying to emulate Hobo Day?? Which came first, Hobo Day or Gypsy Day?
I think the point was to explain why NSU did not change its homecoming theme. But Ziguener puzzles me. Having attended a military high school in Germany, I know that name as the term Germans use for Gypsy. But relative to the N-word, that person says ” I think we all know what NAACP stands for.” Yes, we do. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. How does that involve the N-word?
Ms. Anne, it is good to see at least someone can read competently. As for Zigeuner, I think he/she was trying to illustrate what the word specious means.
Thank you, but I did mistype Zigeuner.
I don’t get Zigeuner’s connection between that n-word and the NAACP.
Colored people ( people of color) includes just about anyone who isn’t pastey white.
How about we rename the event after a prominent ethnic group in South Dakota. As I recall, Aberdeen was settled by a lot of Germans, though many, I think came by way of Russia. The town itself is named after the home town of a railroad executive. “Scots Days” sounds good, and there could be some cross dressing (otherwise known as kilt-wearing) to cool off the nether regions. On the other hand, a number of the original Aberdonians (is that what you call yourselves), came from Wisconsin. You could use the term “Sconnie Days,” which derives from a pejorative that we’ve adopted and are proud to call ourselves, when we don’t use the term “Cheesehead.”
Zigeuner makes an extremely valid point in warning about engaging in “it’s okay for me” thinking. When evaluating the approriateness of slang or archaic terms used to label a group of people, two factors really deserve very little weight, if any at all: (1) the user’s articulated exculpatory intent, whether honest or disingenuous, for using the term, and (2) whether a portion of the members of the labeled group assert that they are not offended by the label and even use the label themselves.
Two much more important factors deserving nearly controlling weight are, instead, (1) whether that label can be used, and is used at times by individuals or groups, to demean, dehumanize or harm members of the labeled group; and even more importantly (2) whether use of the label in fact harms members of the labeled group by isolating and dehumanizing them as an “other” or because labeled group members react in pain or distress or anger when they, hear themselves, their family or friends are so labeled.
Thus, once we become aware that members of the labeled group report harm or react in pyschological distress, or that some folks openly use the label to demean or dehumanize the labeled group, it seems cruel to ignore that reality simply because we can conceive of arguments that we did not mean to hurt them, or that the term is not derogatory enough to justify such a negative reaction ( i.e, sort of a variation on “mansplaining”). Continuing to unnecessarily use such claimed harmful labels after becoming aware of the reality of the above certainly undermines any claim of an innocuous intent.
Zigeuner’s intended petard has quite a blow back. Having served two deployments in Germany, I am familiar with how the German term for gypsy, Zigeuner, attained a pejorative status among some people and by association has been applied to the term gypsy among English speakers. A civil rights organization discourages its use. “The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma rejects the use of “Zigeuner” as a designation for the Roma, regarding it as racist and as having been discredited by the Nazis’ use of it. Nonetheless, some Romani individuals continue to rely on the term.”
Many people, especially around the universities, thought that prohibition was letting the Nazis dictate what was proper and improper. A favorite dish in Germany is schnitzel baked in a barbecue sauce called Zigeuner sauce, and fans of that dish thought letting Nazi history impute something they valued so much was submitting to a wrong.
I did not find that Dr. Newquist was arguing that Gypsy Days was permissible because it was okay with him. That is a misreading of what he wrote. He was offering reasons as to why the NSU administration reversed its decision to end the use of the Gypsy theme. He pointed out that the etymology (my field) of the word came out of a history of a people who were persecuted and oppressed and created a celebration of survival of their culture for which they can be admired.
I realize some may regard it as a matter of cultural appropriation, but others see it as a matter of cultural exchange, which is the basis for America at its best.
well…still curious about what came first, Gypsy Day or Hobo Day….seems like one morphs the other. I remember Gypsies coming to my hometown in the 50’s. They were highly suspect by the locals for stealing babies and other crimes. Believe it or not, as I recall, they were in wagons drawn by horses.This was probably 1953.
Gypsy, Gyppo, gippo, gypo, gyppie, gyppy, gipp are exonyms—a word or phrase given to an ethnic group by outsiders.
It should not be used by cultured people as explained in this piece.
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/why-must-stop-using-word-050049912.html
It’s also wrong to divide us into groups that do or don’t use ethnic slurs.
That division gives a free pass to anyone who uses pejoratives freely and doesn’t care how he himself is labeled.
There’s a word used to describe South Dakotans, too.
It starts with an H, ends with a K and rhymes with stick.
Here’s a list of words that only the ignorant frequent. Gypsy is among them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs
I confess my ignorance. i did not realize “Zigeuner” was apparently a German word translated as Gypsy. I appreciate John Silas pointing that out and offering a bit of history of the use of both terms. Here is another perspective elaborating on John’s historical information:
https://www.eurozine.com/we-are-against-the-word-zigeuner/#
Although they appear to be similar I also note a significant difference bewteen “Gypsy days” and “Hobo days.” “Gypsy” refers to the Roma or Romani, an actual ethnic group. “Hobo” refers to a particular characteristic of an individual, regardless of ethnicity. Personally, have never heard either label used as a compliment when used to describe someone. If accurate, the above history from the Greek language as well as the Nazi use explains why the label “Gypsy” has not been considered an etymological compliment.
The yahoo article linked by Porter is concise, easy to read and clearly lays out the nature of the problem with using “gypsy” to describe someone. The closing comment seems significant:
Thanks Porter, that really nails it.
To see and absorb Flamenco is the understanding of this marvelous group of forced nomads. My niece was an instructor of the Flamenco in France. She travelled the world in her teachings, most interesting was her trips to Japan, a country who has a long deep appreciation of dance and expression. Now she instructs the castanets, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxTmv7EAtgU
“Although, by now, flamenco has adopted a global status, the dance originated in the 15th century, with the arrival of the Gitanos (gypsies) to the Iberian Peninsula. This settlement occurred after a certain diaspora, in which the gypsies traveled for centuries across different lands of the globe, most likely India, Iran and Egypt. Through this, the gypsies started to adopt the various folk dances they encountered on their journey, which they then amalgamated in order to create their own culture, identity, and art of expression.” https://theculturetrip.com/europe/spain/articles/the-history-of-flamenco-dance/
Who among you wants to inform the Gypsy Union how wrong they are? From their website:
“The Gypsy Union – GU – is an international grassroots membership organization for all those that are of true Gypsy descent and who are proud to regard themselves as Gypsies, Zigeuner, Gitanos, Manush, Tsigane, Gitanes, etc.”
First, to clarify, until I read Cory’s story about Dr. Newquist’s post and these comments, I too was oblivious about the history of the label “Gypsy.” This has been quite educational for me personally. I now understand that “Gypsy” has a history of being a prejorative label for the “Roma or Romani” people and can cause distress and harm to those so labeled. Thus I plan to substitute either term for “Gypsy” in conversations. For example, Django Reinhardt is one of my heros and I have always referred to him as a “Gypsy” guitarist. No longer. Henceforth I will refer to him as a “Romani Guitartist” when discussing his fascinating life and his incredible talent.
Next, personally I wouldn’t be so arrogant as to tell a group that proudly referred to its members as “Gypsy” that they are “wrong” (interestingly when I plugged “Gypsy Union” into my Google search engine the top hits came up as “International Romani Union” instead). But if any such group is not yet aware of the history and origins of “Gypsy,” and the negative effect it may have on a significant number of Romani people, I would hope someone more qualified and knowledgable than myself would find it appropriate to share accurate and complete information with them. Then this group certainly can make their own informed decision whether to continue to so label the members of their particular group.
Finally, would it really be that terrible and that disruptive to change the name of the NSU Homecoming celebration to “Romani Days” or “Roma days” and take steps to avoid the negative and false stereotypes of the Romani people?
“I realize some may regard it as a matter of cultural appropriation, but others see it as a matter of cultural exchange, which is the basis for America at its best.”
Mr. Silas may have much more information than I do (it would be hard to have less) about the nature of Northern’s “Gypsy Days.” I would be interested to hear what it is about real culture that gets shared. I admit that my suspicion is that there isn’t any, but I welcome being educated.
And I chose “Ziguener” here because that is the term that my mother used to describe that portion of her heritage (likely because she also spent time in Germany). My grandmother stuck with “Gypsy.”
I admit that I have forgotten where, but I once heard that Northern’s original intent was to signal that those who have left the school and dispersed would return home. Perhaps, we could refer to “Wanderlust” which is a state of being, not a group of people (though, of course, it does have an ethnic origin).
https://www.rawstory.com/richard-holtorf-buckwheat-video/
Colorado magat refers to colleague as ‘Buckwheat’ realizes his mistake and then claims ‘Buckwheat’ is an endearing term.
All I know of Northern comes from a late colleague I worked with at a University 1,500 miles to the east and who was raised in Aberdeen where his father was a professor. I assume the purpose of homecoming at Northern is the same as it is at every college and university. I am struck by Zigeuner’s talent for coherence, but am still flummoxed by the relationship she/he made between the NAACP and the N-word.
And Bearcreekcat, my spouse’s much older cousin was a guitar-player in an Army band that was in France when WWII ended. He was in a unit that worked with people who had been targeted by the Nazis and he had met Django Reinhardt. We inherited his jazz collection and library which contains many materials by and about Django. Many of the titles contain the words Gypsy Jazz, Should we dispose of them or tape them over with the words Romani Jazz?
John Silas, just as with the earlier group that you asked about, I’m not the one to tell you what to do with your inheritance. And regardless of your choices, the brilliant and creative music imagined by Django, skillfully shared with his burned and damaged hands, will live forever even if the titles or labels are changed or long forgotten. Your spouse’s cousin sounds like a lucky man, indeed, as well as generous in the gifts he passed on to his loved ones.