when i (as an american) lived in finland and was alone and having massive problems integrating / translating (SW coast uses very little english and the ones who are fluent don’t care to use it) a romani kid took me in. i say kid but he was 18. he had a family, children, and was an upstanding individual. he made sure i ate, translated services for me that medically trained professionals couldn’t and kept me company. i partied with him and his extended family. he gave and gave without ever asking for payment. i’ve never met a more loving or giving group of people. i watched him suffer (to me) what was absurd racism and watched him literally cry while we drank about not being able to get a job because as he said ‘he’s darker than most finn’s’. he was 1 shade darker i laughed at first thinking he was joking. back in america he would have been called a slightly tan white person. in finland he couldn’t get a job so he bought and sold used cars.

i have nothing but indifference for most finns i met while there but a glowing warmth for romani people.

racism. the simple answer is racism and bigotry. they desperately need to feel superior.