We’ve had very few opinions, other than heresay, about gipsies in the UK. I have never heard the term gipsy used as a pejorative for Romany gipsies, in fact their national body is called the Gipsy Council. www.gipsy-association.co.uk John Meechan Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: Ron Blechner via Callers Sent: 01 November 2015 19:38 To: Tom Hinds Cc: callers Subject: Re: [Callers] Gypsy / "Redneck" "who on this list believe that contra dancers have a negative view of the Romani people because of the word gypsy?" Over the last few days, as this conversation has spilled out onto a few forms of social media, I have now heard specific stories about people who are Roma and/or have Roma heritage who are folk dancers in dance forms that use "gypsy" as a term, and are offended directly. As to your question, do you consider "negative" to include "reinforcing stereotypes"?  Maybe? What if we had a dance move called "redneck". Sure, there's plenty of find country folks in America who proudly self-describe as a "redneck". There are songs written about them. There are people who dress up for Halloween as them. etc. Does that mean that there aren't also plenty of people who have been called "redneck" as a slur against the stereotype of "dumb, rural, ignorant yokels"?  I find the parallels compelling enough where I'm now seriously leaning off the fence... -Ron Blechner On Sat, Oct 31, 2015 at 10:37 AM, Tom Hinds via Callers <callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: In my opinion the offended women actually helped spread a stereotype she didn't like.  Who on this list knew that Romani women had a reputation for being (I can't remember, was it) sexual?  Not me.  Okay, it was the caller she complained to who put it out there, but she started it.   Should the caller feel defensive or should the caller turn the issue around if it's appropriate? I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY WANT TO KNOW, who on this list believe that contra dancers have a negative view of the Romani people because of the word gypsy?  Anyone? For me the more important issue is education.  I learned another tidbit about the Romani people.  Yes I understand how people can be sensitive, but perhaps this woman needs to learn something about us before jumping to conclusions. Tom _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus

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