I love Romani. They are wonderful people who are fun, hospitable, ingenious, and have a fascinating culture. One of my closest friends is 1/4 Roma and her family is a real bunch of characters! That being said, whenever I'm interacting with them when I'm overseas, I don't need to keep my hands in my pockets and check my peripheral vision every few seconds to make sure their kids don't come at me from the side to snatch anything off of me because I don't just react from what people consider the stereotype. It is also a common thought that they attempt to buy any jewelry or electronics off of you, when i came across none that had done that. So, unfortunately, the stereotype of Romani being thieves has spread, these claims are not true. But can you blame them through how powerful the media potrays certain groups? It's like an earlier poster said: "it's kinda a vicious cycle. I oppose persecution and deportation of Romani peoples, I support their right to live their traditional nomadic way of life, but I still don't quite trust them with anything shiny" so we are edging towards acceptance but the common thought still lingers on