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Travelling towards a better understanding of gypsies
Edinburgh, 25.7.2010 13:26, (Scotsman.com)
As hundreds of gypsies and travellers arrive in Edinburgh for a religious
convention, Romany journalist Jake Bowers offers an insight into their often
misunderstood world. Britain's 300,000 gypsies and travellers have lived, worked
and travelled throughout Britain for over 500 years, yet we have been almost
entirely written out of British history.
The first written record of us in Britain was when we entertained King James
in Holyrood Palace in 1505. Since then we've both fought and died for Britain,
picked the crops, bred the horses and worked in everything from factories to
police stations. Yet go to most museums, libraries and schools and nothing about
our history and culture is kept or taught. The result is a widespread ignorance
about who we are, which sometimes turns to hatred and fear. As a result, racism
against gypsies and travellers is still widely recognised as an enduring form of
acceptable racism.
Read more By Jake Bowers
Scotsman.com
http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/Travelling-towards-a-better-understanding.6431136.jp
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