Sadly, Newe Roma's core dancers, the beautiful, talented and happy Gypsy family has gone. A week ago, following a violent confrontation between different ethnic communities they hastily packed their basic belongings and left Southampton seeking safety in a very distant part of Britain. They have been residents of Southampton for the last 4 years. They had jobs, home, schools for their 4 children, friends and neighbours. Now they have fled leaving all this behind and will have to start their new life in exile. They are heartbroken but they say: "This is our life - the endless journey of the unwanted". They call it Gypsies' fate. I call it a pogrom.
We, newcomers to this country often criticise our host community, the British or - even more specifically - white English people for being unfriendly, unwelcoming, xenophobic and racially prejudiced. The truth is that we fail to see our own contribution to the tension between our communities. Ethnic harmony will always be under threat if we, the main thread of the fabric of British diversity keep being the source of tension between our own ethnic groups.
Due to the fear that this family were under, they have decided not to report the incident to the police as they do not want to go through the Police and court procedure and just want to get on with their lives in another part of the country. It is sad that this incident has gone this way as Hampshire Constabulary take all cases of hate crime seriously. This is a case of a family just wanting to get on with their lives in a peaceful environment.
We'll miss their beautiful Gypsy songs, dance and music.
Their photographs will not be removed from this website just to remind us our loss.
Barbara Storey .
barbara.storey@lingland.net
We have received many messages from people expressing their solidarity with NEWE ROMA and wishing them more luck elsewhere. One e-mail was particularly moving: "I read what you had written about the gypsy family and feel so sad and angry for them. It can make you lose all faith in human beings sometimes, hopefuly to be restored again by acts of love and kindness, of which we are also so very capable"
Thank you, Julia, you are right, we are capable.
And one more thing, just to clarify something - Newe Roma were forced out of Southampton NOT BY THE POLISH non-gypsy community
