Question 3: "Gypsy peoples faced a very big crise after industrialization and lost their traditional jobs. They had to work in jobs which wouldn't be preferred by other people, with little income and without any social security. In the time when these jobs started to become more popular non-gypsies started to show a strong interest on this jobs and brought a competition to the field. Did this competition which was lived under peace conditions come to a point of discrimination for Gypsies by using violence ? Did gypsies go back to jobs with very little incomes?"
People were subsisting on making agriculture and stockbreeding before the industrialisation. Even our ancestors also tried to make agriculture and stockbreeding whenever possible, they were hindered and in some cases forbidden to make agriculture and stockbreeding by non-Gypsies. Our ancestors were forced to subsist on Gypsy Ways of Subsistence. They were getting their food from Non-Gypsy ethnicities whom they were providing some services and preparing some craft products. Although their crafts and services were too important and necessary for society, they were facing prejudices, slanders and inequity.
Situation of Gypsy ethnicities have gotten worse with industrialisation. Many crafts maden by our ancestors have been needless as a result of industrialisation. Our ancestors' craft products fell from favour with becoming widespread of fabrication baskets or metal tools and enamelled cooking utensils which makes unnecessary tin-coat. Services provided by our ancestors- dentistry, folk medicine, healing (a kind of psychotherapy)- have been taken over by modern foundations.
Industrialisation also changed subsistence ways of Non-Gypsy ethnicities. People who had subsisted on making agriculture and stockbreeding started to settle urban areas after becoming widespread of using of modern techniques on agriculture and stockbreeding. Because agriculture and stockbreeding with modern techniques require less labor force. People who had had herds and agricultural lands before industrialisation were more advantageous when they settled urban areas. They selled their herds and lands and they capitalized money they earned from selling their lands and herds. They established small companies. They subsisted on entrepreneurship. People who had had less lands and herds before industrialisation started to subsist on employee status after settling urban areas.
Food aid coming from villages was an important support for people with a non-Gypsy origin who didn't break with their relatives living in their village completely. On the other hand, people with non-Gypsy origin who had selled their resources -land and herd- in their villages had a small capital to make easier their life in urban areas they had settled recently. In contrast with members of non-Gypsy ethnicities, our ancestors had no capital to make easier their life when they settled to urban areas. Because they were generally hindered to have any agricultural lands or herds by non-Gypsy etnicities whenever they tried to do
Gypsy ethnicities, who had lost their traditional jobs, started to work in jobs not prefered by members of non-Gypsy ethnicities with little income and unhealthy. These jobs had lower status. Members of non-Gypsy ethnicities were not preferring these jobs. Unfortunately, our ancestors were only able to work in jobs unpreferred by the others.
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We could give many examples from various countries about Gypsy ethnicities to find new jobs after losing their traditional jobs. I will explain only a few of them below to make the issue more understandable.
Pavee of Ireland started to subsist on scrap collecting and street-trading after they lost their tradional job tinsmithhing. They also have worked on asphalting of streets. They have been a part of recycling collecting iron, paper and copper. Quinquis of Spain started to sell clothes and to subsist on milinery after losing their traditional job, tinsmithing. Reizigers of Holland and Belgium, whose tradional jobs are horseshoeing and knife grindering, focused on secondhand car saling and selling of cheap clothes.
Rudari people living in different regions of Balkans have lost partially their tradional job, craft of wooden tools. Many of them started to subsist on agricultural working, carpet trade, seasonal working and partially factory working. M'allaemins of Africa lost their tradional jobs and started to work as cleaning workers, dock workers and agricultural workers. An other group from Africa, Nyamalakalaws started to subsist on agricultural working after losing their traditional job, blacksmithing.
Roma groups living in the western side of Turkey started to work as paper and scrap collectors when their tradional jobs, mostly tinsmithing and bear training, dissappeared. Some other Roma groups, whose tradional job was basket-making, living in big cities of Turkey started subsist on flower selling. Some Roma groups still work in factories which run seasonally and unable to pay their workers for all year. Lom, Sieve-Maker or Bosha groups living in mostly central and eastern sides of Blacksea region of Turkey started to subsist on cheap clothes selling after disappearing of their traditional jobs, tinsmithhing and sieve-making.
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Gypsies are able to work on sectors which is mostly unpreferable for individuals of non-Gypsy ethnicities. For example, tobacco workers were mostly members of Gypsy ethnicities until 1960s in big cities of Turkey. Since 1950s, the migration from rural areas to urban areas became faster in Turkey and tobacco working became an easier job in conjuction with technological improvements. New residents of big cities with non-Gypsy origin started to work in tobacco factories then. Rate of Gypsies working in Tobacco factories have decreased after that time on account of the fact that members of non-Gypsy ethnicities started to prefer working in tobacco factories. Then they started to subsist on shoe-making, musicianship and shoe-shining...
Jobs, which are not unpreferable for non-Gypsy people, could be popular especially in crisis periods. Under these circumstances, it is possible that there could be a competition for jobs maden by generally Gypsy people between Gypsy and non-Gypsy and non-Gypsy people could win this competition using their population advantage, their capital and their relations. People who were working as house cleaners were mostly Gypsies 5-6 years ago in Samsun city of Turkey. Then, members of non-Gypsy groups from villages started to come city and to work in this job in conjuction with decreasing of possibilities to subsist in villages. This situation is same for shoe-shining. There are many non-Gypsy people working as shoe shiners who came cities recently from villages. Today, subsistence is more difficult for Gypsies working as house cleaners or shoe shiners on account of the fact that there is a big competition for these subsistence ways between Gypsy people and non-Gypsy people. We have to point at that flower selling is also becoming popular for non-Gypsy people these days.
Jobs maden by our people generally have low income and harder than other jobs. However, our brothers and sister could be able to make money from these jobs with their creativeness and great efforts. Unfortunately non-Gypsy people start to prefer these jobs when they understand that the jobs maden by our people let us to make money. Even worse, they generally have the chance to hinder our people to continue subsisting on these jobs using their population advantage, capital or their relations with officials. Then our people have to work again in other jobs with low income and harder... This situation cause our people to stay in poverty cycle continually.
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Historical and contemporary circumstances, we explained here in last few weeks, force Gypsy ethnicities to live under extreme poverty conditions. A healthy entegration is never possible under these circumstances. The biggest barrier which hinders our people to have better relationships with non-Gypsy ethnicities is extreme poverty. Poverty is the result of the process we tried to explain in these article series.
Unfortunately, exclusion of Gypsy ethnicities is not related with only economic conditions. Next week in the last part of these article series, we will try to explain how our people have been forced to live away from the rest of society with examples from history and modern day.
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Have a nice week.
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