[cristianpascu]

I have once robbed by a Gypsy guy, right after I thought to myself "I should judge him". It was late in the night. He was backed up by an obviously non-gypsy guy. Needless to say, I've been more skeptical since then about interactions like these. BUT, it was not only he was gypsy. The whole situation screamed danger. That's where stereotypes are powerful and useful, for your own safety.

On the other hand, whenever people are casually talking about 'darker skinned faces', in Romania meaning gypsy, then we're talking about something else. These are the situations where people are just promoting a gratuitous sense of pride and superiority for its own sake.