Overcoming racism

I spent the weekend with a friend of mine, who is Greek. I mentioned to her mother about my internship. "Romania? That's where the gypsies come from! You shouldn't be going over there! There are gypsies!" You should have seen the look of horror on her face when I told her that one of my organisation's projects was to integrate the Roma (gypsies) into Romanian culture.

"The gypsies will steal the teeth out of your head!"
"The IIT is working to counteract this negative impression of the Roma."
"Roma?"
"Yeah...that's what they want to be called. Like 'Inuit' instead of 'Eskimos'."
"You watch out for those...those...gypsies. They'll steal the teeth from your head!"
"I think that's a slight exageration. This is like a vicious circle. You see the same thing with the First Nations here."
"I was almost lured into a gypsy camp when I was younger...good thing I was rescued before it was too late. I would never have been found again. You better listen to me: watch out! You should never trust a gypsy."
"Roma."

Old stereotypes die hard, I guess.