That plays entirely into the hands of the Gadje doshman and removing from the People thousands if not millions of Amare Chel simply because, even though they know and follow the Culture, Traditions and Practices, are not able to rokker Amari Chib (properly).
They do not appreciate the historical reasons why so many of Amare Chel have lost the ability to rokker Amari Chib properly or altogether. In Britain it was a hanging offense to speak the “Egyptian tongue”, as it was called, and almost the same is true for Spain, and also for those of ours in the Austro-Hungarian Empire under Maria Theresia.
Furthermore the experience of Samudaripen also has done its part in many parts of Europe hence many young Sinti and Roma in Germany, Austria, etc., have lost the Chib or part of it.
While it is true and could be said that Amari Chib is part of us and our Culture it is not the be all and end all of being Rom. Today any Gadjo or Gadji can learn the Romani Chib and many of them now rokker the Chib better, albeit often one particular dialect that has nothing to do with the region they come from, than many a Rom. More important to being Rom is the knowledge of the Culture, the Traditions and the Practices. But it seem that just because those activist often have no idea of the latter the peddle the former of being the Culture.
It is also true that over the last decades of even half a century and more there have been books published from which any of us who have lost the Chib could have (re)learned it, albeit, once again, it may not have been the dialect of the group of Rom that we actually belong to. However, who has the time to do that when we have so many more important issues to consider, not the least of it the ongoing persecution of our People.
Most of our Calon brethren in Brazil, for instance, do not rokker the Chib, not even those that are not originally Ciganos from Portugal or Gitanios from Spain, but even Sinti and Roma, who see themselves one with them, and who have been in Brazil for a century or a century of a half only, if that. They all speak just simply Brasiledo, that is to say Brazilian Portuguese, with then maybe a few Cale words interspersed.
On he other hand, however, they live the Culture, the Traditions and Practices of Romanipen, though the spiritual aspects to some decree cloaked in Catholicism, daily. Shall we deny those millions, for million, for millions they are, they birthright just for the lack of the Chib?
We have a problem, as I have said before, and the problem is us; in this case a certain number of activists.
Acts and talk such as theirs alienates those who know that they are Rom and have only known that but don't rokker the Chib and causes a division of the already fractious unity among Amare Chel. But that is exactly what the Gadje are looking for and those activists with those actions and talk of their play directly into the hands of the doshman.
Maybe it is more than high time that we recognized the doshmane among our own ranks and eliminated them, regardless whether they are ethic Rom or Gadje; pretenders or those with a white savior syndrome.
2024 © Michael Smith / O NEVO DROM
