<p>Huh. Never seen it. Awesome. I’m sure we were portrayed quite well, just like we always are :rolleyes: (Although I admit I get mad when people use that term too.)</p>
<p>Well they seemed like a normal family but they got offended easily.</p>
<p>@strawberries: Same here. I had always assumed it was just another word somebody made up like bamboozled or hoodwinked. Even so, I doubt very many people intend it as a slur against Gypsies, any more than “Knight Templar” is a slur against Christians, or “Robber Baron” a slur against Europeans. I would avoid using it simply out of respect for people like Romani, but I don’t see anything wrong with it if no one is offended.</p>
<p>(I am not trying to debate you- just throwing something out there.) </p>
<p>Do you see anything wrong with using words like “nig-rigged” or “Jewed” as long as you’re not with any black or Jewish people, and therefore no one would be offended?</p>
<p>I got to be Injun Joe in a play in 5th grade because “I look Native American”.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ve ever heard of the phrase outside of that Tom Sawyer play… hmm</p>
<p>I’ll never understand how, at school, this guy picked up a quarter from the ground, and all these guys around him screamed “JEW!!!” Some people are so effing stupid.</p>
<p>^^ Yes, because people using those terms are typically making a racial slur. On the other hand, I’d be willing to bet that none of the people I have heard say gypped thought any worse of gypsies. I don’t think of “gypsy” as a race having anything to do with “gypsy” as a stereotype, aside from an unfortunate historical relation that ought to be dead. But that’s just me, and I try not to offend people over trivial things. I hope a day will come when racial tensions ease.</p>
<p>^^ I dislike that stereotype also. It has some base in fact (like most stereotypes): in the middle ages Jews controlled a network of wealthy merchants, and any wealthy people tend to be seen as greedy. The problem is that what some Jews in the middle ages has nothing to do with what all Jews are like now.</p>
<p>^^ As do I. But the fact is- it’s still a racial slur. I bet there are people out there who have used “nig-rigged” and not realized it was a racial slur. The only reason that people don’t think of “gypped” as a racial slur is because Roma aren’t very vocal here in America. If Jews and black people were as hidden as Roma people are, it would be perfectly acceptable to use those other terms, no?</p>
<p>^ That is because in Italy, the ONLY job they were allowed to have was as loan-people. It was against Christianity to collect interest on money and therefore that is what Jewish people HAD to resort to in order to survive.</p>
<p>^ Yes, the Jews back then were probably not responsible for their stereotype. Their only crime was to be rich and foreign, which meant people didn’t like them very much.</p>
<p>I don’t think being hidden or vocal makes a difference in the actual morality. To me, none of those terms are “wrong” in and of themselves, but some of them are used maliciously or thoughtlessly, and a lot more can be perceived as such.</p>
<p>I haven’t grown up in a life where race and racism made much difference, so I’ve never been as charged on that issue as some have. It’s one of the advantages of homeschooling: I was never in the world where to be different meant to be mocked.</p>
<p>For my parents, who grew up in the 70s, it was always drilled into their heads to not be racist in any way, to the point where my dad dislikes words that sound like racial slurs, even if there’s no relation between them. For me, the color of a person’s skin never mattered. The only thing that makes it hard for me to interact with other races is the fear that they will think I am somehow judging them by their race.</p>
<p>In other words, the biggest prejudice I have is that racial minorities are thin-skinned about their race.</p>
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<p>Ah, I’m shocked. Sorry. One of my issues with homeschooling. </p>
<p>Being different does NOT mean to be mocked. You can be mocked by some close-minded individuals, but they are out there and homeschooling should not be code for a shield from the big-bad-world.</p>
<p>I am both Jewish and Roma. I know the stereotypes both here and in Europe. It’s lovely, let me tell you. But, I am stronger for having experienced it. I couldn’t imagine growing up in a bubble. </p>
<p>And the reason that minorities are often “thin-skinned” about their race is because many have had issues with it for so long. Let’s face it- it’s not easy to be a minority in America and the viewpoint that some are “thin-skinned” (ie- code for basically “they should get over it”) is exactly part of the reason that these words continue to exist. “Jewed” and “nig-rigged” and other words of that nature are only a few generations behind being as common and whatever as “gypped”.</p>
<p>And so what? We all have parents from the 70s. Difference between yours and mine is that mine grew up as a minority in Europe in the 70s. It’s bad for Roma now, imagine what it was like 40 years ago. Sorry, that was an irrelevant point IMO.</p>
<p>■■■■■.</p>
<p>last week we had this lady as a guest speaker @ school. (it was about stalking).</p>
<p>She was short, white (very tan, actually) & blonde.</p>
<p>I was surprised while she was talking and got to the part about " oh, I was just in an Indian neighbourhood (in MPLS) and you know how they’re just drunks and won’t hurt you…you can just brush them off…"</p>
<p>I think I was the only person in the class taken back by that statement…hahahaha…</p>
<p>Same, when I was really little i thought gypped was “jipped”</p>