Challenging stereotypes Italians are good chefs, Americans are arrogant, Romanians are hospitable, Germans are violent,

Spanish are loud. Fellow toastmasters and dear guests, We all label people because its easier and more simple to do so. Stereotypes are generali ed beliefs, preconceived ideas about groups of people. !onight, Ill bring to your attention a fe" stereotypes regarding a particular minority in our country# the Roma people, "hich I "ill refer to as the Gypsies since it might be a more familiar term for most of you. Its not a random choice, nevertheless I "ill not argue about their social integration instead, I "ill challenge five common stereotypes that "e often hear in the public opinion. $y goal is for us to understand "here do these stereotypes come from. Some of them are part of sayings that "e gre" up "ith. %or e&ample, Im sure you heard "hen you "ere little '(ehave yourself. !he gypsy "ill come and ta)e you* +myth is fre,uently used by parents to scare their children -. Thieves. It has been proven that mass.media constantly enforces this stereotype by sho"ing only negative e&amples. Gypsies started to steal because they "ere poor, as history tells us, "hen they became free from their masters, they didnt o"n anything and couldnt support their families. So stealing became the easiest thing to do. In addition, their lac) of education, of /obs and of financial possibilites often pushes them to crimes and anti.social behaviour. Think about it, what creates more damage to the state, petty crimes (stealing hens) or mass corruption (tax evasion)? Is there anybody in the room that didnt misbehave as a child? id the gypsies took!steal you away "rom your "amily? irty. !hey are accused to be allergic to soap, afraid of "ater, and a source of disease. !ruth is that many Gipsies have limited access to fresh "ater because they live in marginali ed areas "ithout "ater pipes, plumbing, or indoor toilets. %inding a better place to live or improving living conditions is often difficult or impossible. I have personally found out that for the most Gypsy families I "or) "ith it is important for their house to be tidy and for their children to be clean . #sk yourselves, are $ypsies the %&'( )*%)'* that you see dirty in the city? ont go to school, dont value education . State authorities have refused for many years to ac)no"ledge gypsies as a cultural minority "ith different habits and needs. (esides this, economic reasons and discrimination often prevented Gypsy children from attending school. +ould you like to learn in place were you dont "eel welcomed and where you only guilt is that you are a cultural minority? Rreports sho" that the number of children "ho enroll in school has almost doubled compared "ith 01 years ago and in fact, many more go to highschool no"adays that they did years ago. +hy dont you pass by a ,oma community in the morning?you will de"initely see groups o" children going to school. -ery rich, own palaces and luxurious cars. According to the statistics, less than a ,uarter of the Gypsy population in Romania live this "ay. !hose "ho do so "ant to sho" a completely different image that the others have about them, "ant to be seen as having a higher status and use material possesions to achieve this. ont many other ,omanians have this tendency as well?
!he list does not end here. $any half.truths and myths about the "ay people regard the Gypsies survive from one generation to the other , along "ith un/ust accusations and over.generalisations instead of

ob/ective facts. I do believe that one "ay of reducing negative attitudes "ould be to simply increase contact, to get to )no" people, to read their history in order to understand their current lifestyle. !he better you get to )no" people from the other group, the more you "ould reali e that all your assumptions about them "ere not true. I have reali ed this about gypsies and no" I have friends that finished universities, I "or) "ith children that go to 2S and I )no" parents "ith decent , legal /obs. (ut "e dont often hear about positive e&emples, do "e3 In the end, its up to you. What is more important for you learning from personal experience or from what other people are speaking about? o you choose the simple, narrow mind or a more time!consuming but culturally enriched "ision?