They also say that they would like more education to pursue their dreams. That their parents remove some of the girls from school so they don’t meet boys with whom they might elope. And both girls and boys in the video indicated a desire for more freedom in how they choose one another. One of the girls interviewed in the video said she has refused to marry the husband chosen by her family, that she has a non-Romani boyfriend and that her parents would not be pleased with her for that. For the poor, family and community are everything.
Mind you I don’t disagree with your point. But I believe people with fewer options are naturally more reluctant to upset the apple cart. I just don’t think it’s a black and white issue. In fact, I thought the video showed both sides of the issue, both from the Roma’s and the journalist’s very different perspectives, quite sympathetically.
I don’t think it’s oppression. But I do think less poverty and more educational opportunities confer options not open to most Roma children.
