Hi LEJ:
The forced migration in the US is the result of a dynamic for which both Roma and the host comunity are responcible. In the US, there has been no recognition that the community exists here by any governmental organs, other than the police, most police deptartments treat the Roma as a criminal subculture rather than as a displaced national entity. Roma, on the other hand, because of a serries of deeply felt spiritual reasons, and fear of being sucked into the society, and fear of exposure, generally dont send their children to school, pay taxes, and many other things which make life in the US somewhat dangerous. Other than city council hearings in New York, organised by me... there has been no effort to understand these problems or deal with them, other than to attempt to remove the children from the homes, which is the primary reason for forced migration in the United States. My proposal was to recognise that Roma are a self governing entity, a nomadic nation, which, by the way have been here since before the constitution, so are an encapsulated nation, and there for, could have help from governments to set up the needed resources to build Roma schools, overseen by Roma, with main streaming in higher education.
In the former communist contries, as my song points out, Roma felt forced migration took from them cultural rights, which I feel need not happen in a pluralist democracy.
As to a patern of discrimination, two towns in the Czech Republic have voted funds to build walls around the Roma neighborhoods, bring back the walled Ghetto to Eastern Europe, and there have been some numerous murders of Roma, with little concern showed by the courts, which gennerally charge the killers with disorderly conduct, such as in the case of a man, who while walking his daughter home from a club ( he would meet her to assure she was safe from skin heads ) a gang through him under a truck. The court ruled it was the truck which killed him, not the act of beating him and tossing in a buisy street - similar to the ruling in the song above, also a true story, where the courts ruled the river killed Teresa, not the act of throwing her into the river.
Richard! When you see the song Waile Waile Waileh, standing the test of time, I would not be surprised if one of yours surprises you, espcially if it is called for. Why, even Yvettes song, my song about Canadian forced assimilation of natives, quieted a noisy bar last night, so there is some hope for folk music with meaning! I only wish I didnt have to sing it myself, so I could consentrate on my piping! I used to say, old hippies dont die, they go to law school, (like Country Joe McDonald), however, I think old lawyers dont die, we either open pool halls or return to our musical roots. I hope all is well with your wife, that she is out of hospital.
all the best
Larry