Non-Bulgarians are generally inclined to think that we (Bulgarians) are discriminating gypsies because of racial/ethnic prejudice, and we are to blame for their bad condition.

Bulgarians, on the other hand... True, Bulgarians may be biased about the topic, but do not forget one essential fact: we actually live here. We know from personal experience what the situation is like.

From MY personal experience: gypsies prefer todo everything the easy way. There have been many cases when gypsies were offered jobs (relatively good ones), and arable land (of quite decent quality). They refused all that! They stated clearly that they wanted money... and not just once. They wanted regular cash inflows, without them actually doing anything to earn it.

There have been gypsies coming to my door, asking for "help for the poor." Poor??? They wore stylish clothes... one of them even had blonded hair! And if you offer them food or clothes? They refuse it! They explicitly say that they do not want food and/or clothes - they want money.

A story from my grandfather: he talked to a gypsy boy that begged on the streets of my home town. He asked him "what do you buy with the momney you earn here?" The boy told him that his parents would take all the money he earned, and buy booze with them. Then, they would get drunk and beat him for "not bringing enough money home."

And my personal observations show that the majority of gypsies are of that type. I have lived here for 21 years, and I have witnessed many expressions of the "gypsy culture."

I will post some more examples later... until then, take a look at the photo at the top of this page. What kind of mother would ever leave her child as dirty as the one on that photo?