Kate -> RE: beware of gypsies and skinheads (Nov. 9 2007 10:47:14)
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When I first came to Granada I was told by a fellow student that the one area I should never go was the Gypsy barrio of Almanjayar. He said I should not even drive through it in case my car broke down as it was so dangerous. Shortly afterwards I met the kids from Almanjayar who invited us to their neighbourhood for a gig. We went in the car and guess what........it broke down. We pushed it to the side of the road and went to the party, afterwards we had to get a taxi home, not so easy as taxis just dont cruise round Almanjayar. Last week there was a bus strike as the drivers are refusing to go to that part of town. Anyway the following day we went back to fix the car and found it just as we had left it. We became regular visitors though it always amazed me how the kids would know we were coming like there was a bush telegraph that sent out smoke signals or something, 'guirris in a car heading your way'. One scary moment happened when I was there fetching some tools from a lock up with one of the group, we stepped out onto the street and there were some young lads with rifles pointed at us. "Just walk slowly and dont look back" was my friend's advice which is what I did, not easy with a gun pointed at you. So I guess I am saying that people who say beware can be right but maybe not for the right reasons, some areas are dangerous, though it probably has more to do with poverty and drugs than specific race. I would say it was no different from telling tourists in the States not to just wander into the housing projects or crack dens in the Hood. Without a doubt the guy who told me not to go Almanjayar was looking out for me, but he was also prejudice against the Gypsies, and I found working with Anaquerando ( a Gypsy Association which aims to help integration) that sadly this sort of ignorant prejudice is common. When we rebuilt our old house here we employed a load of friends who happened to be Gitanos from Almanjayar to work with us, the reaction of the builder we had contracted was that we woud get into a whole heap of trouble and be ripped off big time. However the reality was that we cut his fee for the work in half as he was charging us double what he actually paid his guys. So to my mind it was him trying to rip us off and using this 'fear' of Gypsies to convince us. There is still a long way to go to tackle this prejudice. One evening I was visiting a Gypsy family when their 17 year old daughter was doing her homework. I was shocked to see it was simply colouring in, and when I questioned this at the Gypsy Association I was told quite blatantly by the people who worked there that that was all that would be expected from a Gypsy girl. Without doubt there is an inequality here amongst the poor Gitanos. However many are well integrated and far removed from the poor Gitanos of the Poligonos. Also not all Gypsies in Europe are of the same 'tribe' and can be prejudiced against each other. The Cale generally do not like the Roma who beg, and have a total dislike of the 'Hungaros' who travel around with goats that sit on, actually they are tied on to, poles, though of course not all Roma beg and not all Hungaros stick goats on poles. In the UK they changed the laws and no longer recognise the Gypsy as a race but class it as a lifestyle, casually getting round any accusation of racial prejudice, as anyone can register themselves as a 'Traveller'. A recent case was an English MP whose village had a carnival where they pulled a caravan with effigies of Gypsies inside it, including children, through the streets and which they then set on fire. The MP who was involved registered himself as a 'traveller' and then claimed he could not be prejudice. It was a total disgrace but still the case against him for inciting racial hatred was dropped by the Commission for Racial Equality. Years ago I worked with the Anti racist campaign in London and was involved with a community of Romanichal who had bought and settled their own land in East London. I was saddened recently to find that these families are to be forcibly removed and their land taken from them to make way for the Olympics. As I was writing this there was a knock at my door and there stood an old Gitano, stick in hand, hat on head which he removed respectfully. He told me he had come to find the ' tecnico sonido' who worked with Gitanos. I had to ask him to return later as Harold is out so dont know what he wants yet but it made me think of one more thing before I finish this post. Which is that when we first came here and before we had our own studio we went to several recording studios in Granada and all of them said quite openly that they would not work with Gitanos. Its a crying shame but it is something that has to be tackled together, Gypsies and Payos alike. Kate
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