[LINK] "Madonna booed over Roma comment"

[rfmcdonald]

Yay.

At first, fans politely applauded the Roma performers sharing a stage with Madonna. Then the pop star condemned widespread discrimination against Roma, or Gypsies, and the cheers gave way to jeers.

The sharp mood-change that swept the crowd of 60,000, who had packed a park for Wednesday night's concert, underscores how prejudice against Roma remains deeply entrenched across Eastern Europe. Despite long-standing efforts to stamp out rampant bias, human rights advocates say Roma probably suffer more humiliation and endure more discrimination than any other group on the continent.\

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Romania has the largest number of Roma in the region. Some say the population could be as high as two million, although official data put it at 500,000.

Until the 19th century, Romanian Gypsies were slaves, and they've gotten a mixed response ever since. While discrimination is widespread, many Eastern Europeans are enthusiastic about Gypsy music and dance, which they embrace as part of the region's cultural heritage. That explains why the Roma musicians and a dancer who had briefly joined Madonna onstage got enthusiastic applause. And it also may explain why some in the crowd turned on Madonna when she paused during the two-hour show — a stop on her worldwide “Sticky and Sweet” tour — to touch on their plight.

“It has been brought to my attention ... that there is a lot of discrimination against Romanies and Gypsies in general in Eastern Europe,” she said. “It made me feel very sad.”

Thousands booed and jeered her.

A few cheered when she added: “We don't believe in discrimination ... we believe in freedom and equal rights for everyone.”

But she got more boos when she mentioned discrimination against homosexuals and others.

“I jeered her because it seemed false what she was telling us. What business does she have telling us these things?” said Ionut Dinu, 23.