When this discussion started I decided to actually use honky instead of gypsy the next time I called.   I would of course explain to the dancers this extremely important and delicate issue that is now confronting the contra dance community.   Why not get a chuckle from the floor?  I appreciate the suggestion of red neck but I think honky flows better.  See the end of this email for calling examples.

Several people have thanked me off list for what I said because they don't want to be seen as insensitive.  Basically we think there's way too much mental effort and concern based on 1 person's complaint.  That I'm actually taking time at all on this topic is a bad reflection on my judgment.

Ron, I really want to know:   since you started dancing have you thought badly of the Romani people because of the use of the word gypsy?  Is there any caller or dancer out there who has thought badly about Romani people because of this call?  

At the time that I wrote my last email, I also wrote the following but decided not to send it because I didn't want to be seen as insensitive.  Here it is.  Maybe you'll get a chuckle.  



As a caller I've often used self-defecating humor to get dancers to relax.  It shows that we callers are human and can make mistakes etc.  It also takes the focus off of them and on to me.

With that said I was thinking that we, the white majority in the US, might consider pointing the finger at ourselves in a joking way.  This  might show minorities that we to can take a joke and perhaps communicate that, in some situations,  it's important not to take things too seriously.

Let's do away with the call gypsy and replace it with honky.  Here are some examples:

"Honky your partner"

or

"Honky 'round your neighbor"

or 

"ladies honky once and a half"

If a Romani person ever complains to you tell them this:  naming a move after an ethnic group is one of the highest honors of our dance community.  The only other people to be so honored are the Dosidoes.

Tom