Who I am and who I share it with. Roma university students between invisibility and empowerment

Abstract

Among the strategies developed by members of ethnic minorities in an attempt to fight racism, the invisibility strategy of ‘playing white’ has been particularly noted and seems to be more frequent among those who achieve university studies or have upward social mobility. Invisibility is also a form of structural discrimination since, in Spain, ethnic data are not collected in statistics. In this paper, we outline the results of a research project conducted with Roma university students in Spain, including quantitative data collected through an online questionnaire and student opinions collected through interviews. The participants identified with what they understood it meant to be Roma, but not at all identified with what the majority of society considers to be Roma. Most of the participants had no problem talking about their identity, although we find cases of invisibility due to the fear of rejection. Some expressed their identity, even though their families advised them not to do so, in what we understand as an act of empowerment. They claimed their identity, considering themselves both as a type of Roma that breaks the stereotype and as examples of other ways of being Roma.