So what are the facts?
In short, there’s some divisive, strong, “colorful” language involved, but is that hate?
- PSD (Dancila’s party) Focsani (a Moldovan city) wrote on Facebook: „Klaus, Siegfried, Kovesi, Orban, Hellvig, Clotilde, Kelemen, Tomac. Au ajuns străinii să ne conducă ţara? Felicitări SRI” which lists foreign-sounding names of Romanian politicians, followed by “have foreigners managed to lead our country? Congratulations secret services!”. They continue, revealing the supposedly different confessions of some of these politicians, different from the Christian Orthodox norm, and their open-minded support for gay rights, opposed by the Romanian church.
- In a satire supposedly listing 10 reasons to vote for the “prezidentiabila” (rpctp-10mo), which is the Romanian word for a lady-candidate for that function, he makes the claim that her name means, in its root, “progeny of a Gypsy / “lautar” or “taraf” musician – not sure how to translate all this, will probably have to research later (“rromariachi”?). His point is that if the others are not pure Romanians (presumably having German, Hungarian, French names), neither is Dancila, which is a Gypsy name.
- Delia Grigore of Rroma Centre “Amare Rromentza” has or will make a complaint with the CNCD (National Council for Combating Discrimination), according to rtv-dg.
- CTP defends himself in a new article, quoting dictionary DEX for Danci (rpctp-ncgnd). The dictionary explains “danci, denci” as meaning in the Gypsy / Roma / Romani language “gimme something” which is associated with Gypsies who are often begging for money.
Let’s agree on a number of things.
First, there’s no question that the Romanian society is even more antiziganist than it is antisemitic (much like most of Europe and especially Eastern Europe). For background, CTP has in the past used “colorful” language re: Dancila (i.e., he “attacked” her). Meanwhile, I personally am a fan of his SF short stories (though not so much of his “journalism”) and dislike the former premier and her party.
But discussing the etymology of one’s name is not racism! He’s quoting facts!
Unwittingly, Ms Grigore is strengthening the anti-PC sentiment in Romania. After all, many complaints for political correctness are based not on a factual appraisal of words used or ideas expressed, but rather on the perceived hate or other subjective interpretation behind those words or actions. The most famous example is the N***** word in English, which can be used by blacks but is off-limits to whites. The mere use of that word constitutes proof that the person having used it is a racist, and that’s insane, especially for someone whose first language is not English and who has to learn not just the meaning of words, but the strong and somewhat irrational response some people have to specific words.
Here’s what Ms Grigore is quoted to have said (rtv-dg):
From the obsessive fear of confusion between Romanians and Roma, manifested by writing the word "românca" with two "r", to an fake etymology of the word "danci", an important part of the repertoire typical of anti-Roma racism is manifested. As it is clear, the author has no knowledge of the Romani language! The word "danci" does not exist in the rRomani language, not only because it does not mean "rRoma child" or "rRoma mariachi", but it does not mean anything at all and does not come from any rRoma expression. The word "dances" is only a pejorative name used in the past, especially in relation to the children of the rRoma in order to offend or ridicule the rRoma. "
I know nothing about the Rroma language, but if the above is true, the problem is not with CTP, the problem is with the DEX dictionary where CTP found his sources. Ms Grigore would make a better use of her time by trying to correct the supposedly incorrect etymology note.
So, to conclude, I’m with CTP on this one. He seems to purposely test how the PC-crowd / CNCD reacts in various circumstances, much like a hacker is stress-testing the shoddy defenses of an IT system. Regardless of what you might think of Dancila and CTP, I suspect that PNL is in the process of completely replacing PSD and I’m not sure that’s a positive development. LE: And in the sea of polarized, either laughing or frowning faces, Mrrr (née Ţiganu) smiles knowingly.
Sources / More info: rpctp-ncgnd, rpctp-10mo, cpt-prblmjr, evz-rad, rtv-dg