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Discrimination and the Roma community, 2015
However, although it did ‘soften’ its negative and offensive definitions, this institution still insists that the terms
‘gitanada’ and ‘gitano’ carried the negative connotation of deception.
Our recommendation to the RAE was to eliminate the definition ‘trapacería’ (use of cunning and deceit) from the
definition of the word ‘gitanada’ and ‘trapacero’ from the fifth definition of the word ‘gitano’.
If the RAE decided to not accept this recommendation, the Ombudsman would request that they add the
abbreviation ‘negat’ (negative) or ‘despect’ (pejorative) to the definitions of the words ‘gitanada’ and ‘gitano’.
This amendment of the fifth definition of the word ‘gitano’ was introduced in the online version of the dictionary
on 13 October 2015 as part of the new 23rd edition of the Dictionary. Use of the word ‘trapacero’ (swindler) in
the definition of the term ‘gitanada’ (relating to Roma) now includes a note warning of the offensive or discrim-
inatory nature of this usage. In our view, it would have been simpler for the RAE to have directly eliminated this
definition in its online dictionary as this would have had a very positive impact since this is the version which
most people use. The elimination of this definition is what the organisations of the State Council of the Roma
People had proposed from the outset and they will continue to work to achieve this objective.
54.
National.
Press.
Incitement to hatred against the Roma community.
The online newspaper
www.noticias.lain-
formacion.com published an article praising the comments of a neo-Nazi party that targets the Roma community
in general with its racist comments and hate-mongering.
The Department monitors this type of news as it breeds more racist comments against Roma and is borderline
criminal (hate discourse).
55.
Sabadell.
Internet.
Direct discrimination.
The newspaper Publico.es ran a story under the following headline:
“Two thirds of the Gypsy population live below the poverty line,” and goes on to add the following information:
“The crisis and cuts could reverse three decades of progress towards equal opportunity and lead to
regression in employment, education, health and housing” according to a report by the Fundación Sec-
retariado Gitano (FSG).
In reaction to that, a number of racist and xenophobic comments targeting the Roma community appeared in
the readers’ forum:
“They’re at the poverty line because most Gypsies don’t complete their studies. They barely finish
primary and drop out of secondary school at 16. When they’re young, many just hang out, steal, take
drugs or get into some other sort of trouble. Their parents are mainly to blame for not educating them
at home and the children simply follow the example they see in their own homes and communities.”
Racist and xenophobic comments targeting the Roma community were published on the forum of the online
newspaper in Catalonia called ara.cat:
“Call me racist or call me whatever you want, but I live in a working class neighbourhood with a large
Gypsy population and I know what I’m talking about. They’re at the poverty line because most Gypsies
don’t complete their studies. They barely finish primary and drop out of secondary school at 16. When
they’re young, many just hang out, steal, take drugs or get into some other sort of trouble. Their par-
ents are mainly to blame for not educating them at home and the children simply follow the example
they see in their own homes and communities. I should also point out that in my neighbourhood there
are Gypsies who don’t have an education but are hard workers and this has an effect on their kids who
don’t become delinquents but end up working hard as well. Summing up: the problem with the Gypsy
population is education, both formal schooling and social education, and if the government doesn’t do
something about it, things will never change.”