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Anti-gypsy view cruel
10:11am Friday 27th June 2008
Comments (1)The coverage of the protests about the proposed gypsy sites makes very disturbing reading and I would appeal to everyone involved in this process to think very carefully and sincerely about what they are saying.
While I understand the worries of the protesters, I am very upset by the sentiments some have expressed. While it is entirely appropriate to say: "I am worried that having a site near my home/school might lead to problems with noise, I am afraid it will appear unsightly, and I am concerned the comings and goings might cause problems and disturbance" it is another matter entirely to say, as one Calne mother you quoted did: "I want the councillors to look into my baby's eyes and tell her she will be growing up next to gypsies."
The gypsies are an ethnic and cultural group. They are human beings and this attitude towards them is racist and very cruel. How would this quote read if the word Jews' or Somalis' replaced the word gypsy?
Half a million gypsies were slaughtered by Hitler during the Holocaust. We think it is appalling how one group of people could dehumanise another group in such a way that it extends to genocide - but consider how dehumanising this comment is? How would a gypsy child feel, reading that a mother wouldn't want her child to grow up alongside him or her? Are gypsies worth less than non-gypsies?
I trust the Gazette, as a bastion of fairness and a promoter of racial equality and human rights, will not let such views and expressions go unchallenged.
Sarah Singleton, Patterdown, Chippenham
CONTROVERSIAL ISSUE: Ian Clough and residents of Calne stand in front of a proposed gypsy site
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marthaquinn, Brighton says...
11:41am Thu 3 Jul 08
I applaud Sarah and those others who have stood up against the majority on this subject.
I would like to remind all those who have taken an interest in this subject that the UK Race Relations (amended) Act 2000 defines English, Welsh and Scottish Gypsies, European Roma, Irish Travellers, Showmen and women, and circus travellers as a distinct ethnic minority because of their long shared history, and family and cultural traditions. Further to this Article 14 of the UK Human Rights Act 1998 states that The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status .
I always thought that Calne was quite a forward-thinking and tolerant town, I am obviously very wrong, as it is clear that the majority of the population are happy to rely on long standing stereotypes which are based on historical inaccuracies, instead of working to create an inclusive community, where everyone is accepted no matter what there race, colour, language or lifestyle. I feel very sorry for the aforementioned baby who will grow up with such ingrained racist attitudes.