Ron: "we're comparing our having fun traveling to various dances to the widespread persecution of an ethnicity (the worst being the Holocaust)." Maybe you do. No one else uses such bizarre logic. Conbtradancers as a group are about as left of center and non-discriminatory in their beliefs as any non-political group gets. Your suggestion is absurd Michael Fuerst 802 N Broadway Urbana IL 61801 217 239 5844 On Sunday, April 3, 2016 8:38 PM, Ron Blechner &lt;contraron(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: That article had a few interesting *new* points, for me. 1. That Roma are in the US, not just Europe, and face continued discrimination. 2. That Roma in the US often don't speak up about their identity out of fear of discrimination. 3. That perhaps the use of "gypsy" as a term isn't as bad as non-Roma self-identitying as "dance gypsies". Roma wander because they are persecuted or can't find work. When we talk about "dance gypsies" beig wandering from place to place, we're comparing our having fun traveling to various dances to the widespread persecution of an ethnicity (the worst being the Holocaust). On Apr 1, 2016 10:03 AM, "via Callers" &lt;callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: I was thinking that very thing, but didn't have any experiences. Something I read recently pointed out that Romani people in Spain proudly refer to themselves as "Gitano" which translates to Gypsy. This is issue is not as cut and dry as many of us would like it to be. Thanks for sharing this story. ****************************************************************************************************** Amy Carroll amy(a)calleramy.com 206-330-7408 http://www.calleramy.com/ On April 1, 2016 at 9:02 AM Rich Sbardella &lt;richsbardella(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: There are still at least two sides to this argument. Although I am using the term less and less, I want to relate a recent experience. I was dancing in one of MA biggest contra venues as a caller walked the a dance with a "two eyed" turn. A dancer in my line became more than a little upset, yelling it "it's a gypsy". Turns out the dancer is Romani, and the term "gypsy" is one he proudly owns. I do not think the Roma people as a whole have come to a consensus. (For example, The Gypsy Kings proudly use the term as a reference to their heritage.) Rich Stafford On Fri, Apr 1, 2016 at 4:56 AM, Michael Fuerst via Callers < callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: Ms Carroll: Quite frankly a fairly useless article for us. Ms Raessi is "a Romani/Métis researcher and activist" so it seems logical that she dislikes the term gypsy. She lists alleged myths stereotypes about Romani people Every ethnic group has an associated set of myths and stereotypes. Every ethnic group tries to purge the negative stereotypes and retain the positive aspects of their heritage. Ms Raessi writes "many people find that using this term is wrong because it perpetuates misinformation about our origins" This makes little sense. Anyone person bigoted enough to entertain any of her alleged stereotypes has no idea about the origins of Romani people. Ms Raessi writes "...the term has been used as a racial slur and is loaded with stereotypes ..." Yes the word gypsy has been used to deprecate Romani people but over the years it evolved to mean a free-spirited or nomadic person. Other ethnic slurs (such as kike, chink, jap or nigger) have not similarly evolved, and thus their use remains offensive. This article discusses some English words or idioms that evolved from ethnic slurs: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/24/offensive-words-_n_4144472.html The ongoing discussion during the past year of the word gypsy has included claims that some persons of Romani descent embrace gypsy and its positive aspects of current usage, most don't care, and some hate the word. And of course only those who object will speak out. As long the common usage of gypsy keeps evolving towards a free-spirited or nomadic person, keeping it in the contra lexicon seems appropriate Michael Fuerst 802 N Broadway Urbana IL 61801 217 239 584 On Thursday, March 31, 2016 11:32 PM, via Callers < callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net&gt; wrote: http://bellydanceu.net/culture/520/ "What's wrong with the Word 'Gypsy'?" ****************************************************************************************************** Amy Carroll amy(a)calleramy.com 206-330-7408 http://www.calleramy.com/ _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net _______________________________________________ Callers mailing list Callers(a)lists.sharedweight.net http://lists.sharedweight.net/listinfo.cgi/callers-sharedweight.net