Of the nine children, only four married Roma and only one speaks Romani at home. ![]() Maria and Constantin spoke Romani at home with their nine children. The rest of the village consisted of Romani families working for the boyar. Before 1947, only one Romanian family lived in this village, the family of the boyar (a feudal landowner). The situation can be illustrated by looking at a typical Romani family from the village of Budrea in Buzau county, Moldavia, Romania the family of Maria and Constantin Ignat. Even the few Romani politicians elected to represent Romani communities often criticise or insult those communities, in an effort to distance themselves from ordinary Roma and to show the majority that they belong to "high society." ![]() Important Romani members of the Romanian government, writers, professors, doctors, sports celebrities and singers refuse or avoid discussions targeting their origins, afraid of the likely consequences: exclusion from social life, scapegoating or the decline or end of their careers. The direct result is the reluctance and, in most cases, refusal of important public personalities of Romani origin to declare their membership or links to Romania's Romani minority. Romanian society harbours one of the worst cases of social stigma in Europe. Why would a member and representative of the Romani community make such a degrading public statement? In Romanian politics, Mr Voicu usually advocates the rights of Romania's Romani minority. Romanian media received his declaration almost ecstatically: it was quoted in most mainstream Romanian newspapers and was considered the political declaration of the week. ![]() They are just primitives and they manage to irritate the entire society which is already watching them closely They run through the country and Europe barefoot, slimy and dirty, wearing clothes which are more likely to disgust you than make you feel sorry for them Begging, soliciting and being disorganized will never bring them any advantages. They could at least be crafty but they aren't. In August 29, 2002, Madalin Voicu, one of the most well known Romani politicians in Romania and one of two Romani representatives in the Romanian parliament, made the following statement: Being a "Gypsy": The Worst Social Stigma in Romania
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