[Music] Christiana Gregor studies at Vanderbilt University in the US state of Tennessee on a prestigious Fullbright scholarship Gregor is Romanian she is also Raman or Roma part of an ethnic group often referred to as gypsies she says most Americans know very little about her people most of the Americans I I met don't know much about uh Romani people um they know about Gypsy um but not as a real ethnic group like real people uh they see it more like a like you know like a Halloween costume or Ro that you play once per year in the United States Roma are often associated with the distant even exotic culture on Gypsy Lane in Philadelphia a resident is not sure how a street got its name but he is sure that there are not any gypsies living here I would think it was very few very few um estimate I mean I I think it's you know 0.01% of the population or something something very minimal in fact though University of Texas Professor Ian Hancock says as many as 1 million Roma live in the US he says there have been waves of Roma immigration since the early 1800s Hancock who previously served as a ramdy representative at the UN says that historically it has been easy for Roma to blend in while holding on to their tradition doing so however has not been without consequence here being an immigrant country you get people of all backgrounds of all complexions and appearances and so Roma don't stand out as in opposition to White uh in the same way uh which has helped to Foster the idea that Gypsy is a behavior and not an ethnicity hcock maintains the Romany archives and Documentation Center his collection includes books pictures and movies that he says encourage this distorted image of Roma the media can get away with saying things about Roma that they wouldn't dare say about other minority populations this includes the entertainment industry even today are you coming with me I might feel your cloth and where Fay Williams is a third generation ramony American who lives with her family in Texas she says images like this have stuck most people don't even have a clue about our people I think you know it's just people running around stealing little kids and th chickens William says that growing up she was told not to tell people she was Ramy despite the stereotypes though she says the ability of her people to blend in has been a blessing rather than a curse especially when compared to you Europe I think it was the greatest thing in the world that happened to us you know when our folks come over here because people from all the countries was coming in you know it was like a Melting Pot and so it was so easier to blend in and to move around and work and do that we had it aund times better than anybody overseas but Christiana gregori says American cultural diversity is what prompted her to talk publicly about her ramany identity for the first time she contrasts this to Perceptions in her home country of room man where Roma still experien discrimination imagine it took me 20 years to talk about um about my uh ethnic identity uh so imagine how strong the the the negative stereotypes are Gregor an amateur ballet dancer says she has not experienced racism in the United States in fact she says her ethnic Heritage has been an asset when I talk about me as a gypsies people are like oh that's so cool you know he's like my life it's suddenly more interesting some romeny Americans however say discrimination is still a substantial burden in the US especially when it comes to the workplace in part two we discussed the stigma associated with some traditional ramany occupations Glen kad's Voice of America