tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post7120098081407494300..comments2024-03-28T16:15:19.319-04:00Comments on Saideman's Semi-Spew: Xenophobia's Standard Target: Europe's RomaSteve Saidemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09881915512311951902noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8446351548038522890.post-38182898813483572492013-10-28T13:43:25.862-04:002013-10-28T13:43:25.862-04:00When I lived in Bulgaria, where there are plenty o...When I lived in Bulgaria, where there are plenty of Roma, the Bulgarians said they were thieves. We Americans knew better than to discriminate and lectured the Bulgarians on tolerance. <br /><br />Except over time, every woman I knew was the victim of several pickpocketing attempts, many of them successful. I had my purse partially opened 3 times. Each time after several Roma-looking women had moved very close to me. If you've experienced it, it's weird, as you're in a crowd, but there are too many people too close for even the crowd you're in. <br /><br /> So, we liberal, diversity-loving Americans told each other to hold our purses in two hands when Roma came near. <br /><br />The thieves may be a small percentage of the Roma, but at least in Bulgaria, the Roma are a very visible percentage of the pickpockets. <br /><br />Obviously, marginalized groups which get little education and fewer job opportunities might have fewer other options that preying on the people who have excluded them, but I don't think Europe can integrate the Roma without dealing with both the perception and the reality of Roma as thieves. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com