Roma young people on Jimmy Carr and life in Govanhill

Recently, the comedian prompted disgust with a skit from his latest show in which he made the "joke" that the deaths of thousands of Roma and Sinti people were a "positive" to the Holocaust.

With a courtesy that Carr has perhaps not earned, Leon says: "I would welcome him in and give him a cup of coffee and talk to him and educate him.

"I would explain why Roma people are facing discrimination, racism, segregation and always have.

"I would have a conversation, be nice to him, target his mistake and maybe he would apologise for it."

The 24-year-old youth worker is with a group of Roma young people at Govanhill's Community Renewal, a charity that helps with employability, health and learning.

They are disgusted that someone with Carr's platform would use it to make offensive jokes at the expense of an already marginalised community.

Following Carr's punchline, laughter and applause can be heard from the audience.

Laura Balogova, 19, added: "I think what he did was very disrespectful. I'm quite upset about it.

"When I first knew about it, I couldn't quite believe it but then when I watched the video and heard people laughing in the background... it really made me feel, not even angry, but more upset and disappointed that people would actually laugh at jokes like that.

"If I was in the audience I would have been up on my feet saying, 'Who do you think you are?'"

Carr's show, His Dark Material, was released on Netflix at Christmas but the joke gained notoriety recently when a clip of it was shared on social media.

In it, the comedian says: “When people talk about the Holocaust, they talk about the tragedy and horror of six million Jewish lives being lost to the Nazi war machine. But they never mention the thousands of Gypsies that were killed by the Nazis.

“No one ever wants to talk about that, because no one ever wants to talk about the positives.”

Around one quarter of Europe's Roma were killed in the death camps of Nazi Germany. In Auschwitz there was a so-called "Gypsy section" where eye witnesses described the conditions as being worse than in the main camp.

Natalia Balogova, 16, added: "He wanted a big reaction from the audience, he wanted everyone to be on his side because he's a popular man and he's got power and he's got everybody's attention and that just makes it even more wrong, knowing he has that power."

In the sketch, Carr goes on to explain that he is using shock value to raise awareness and educate - but this context doesn't wash with the young people.

Iulia Isar is not Roma but she is an activist. She said: "He has the audacity to say that he's educating people.

"It's really hurtful. As an activist theatre maker, it's so painful to see that a big platform like Netflix will give space to this.

"If the punchline is offensive then it's not educational.

"Comedy is a very powerful political tool. He's using that beautiful tool in the opposite way."

Govanhill has the largest Roma population in Scotland and the second largest in the UK but, despite being an integral part of the community, the young people say they still face discrimination daily.

Everyone in the group speaks of feeling constantly under suspicion when they are out in the community.

Laura talks of shopping for clothes with a friend and having the security guard repeatedly follow and circle them, watching all the time.

Alex Horvath talks of the first time he was stopped and searched by police - an experience they all say is tiresomely common.

It was summertime, he says, and he was standing outside a corner shop with friends proudly wearing a new bag that his mum had brought him as a gift.

Plainclothes officers, he said, approached and demanded to search the bag, querying why the then-15-year-old had batteries with him.

Alex, now 17, is deaf and had to show the officers his hearing aids.

He said: "I was looking at Laura because I am scared of the police, I was scared in that situation and I was holding her hand and not letting her go, and I was saying to her to not leave me."

Laura added: "He was holding on to me. But you're coming up to a young boy and asking to search him, of course he's going to be terrified.

"He's done absolutely nothing wrong.

"You should feel protected by the police but all of us feel scared, scared of being searched or thrown in jail."

The bag, Alex added, was put in a cupboard and never used again.

But Leon said: "These experiences are common, this isn't the first or the last thing to happen with the police.

"Everybody has their experiences."

Superintendent Gary I'Anson of Police Scotland said local officers are involved in a wide range of ongoing initiatives in the community and work closely with member of the Roma community.

He added: "I would encourage anyone with any concerns to speak with officers from our community policing team based at Gorbals Police Office."

Ann Hyde, project lead at Community Renewal, said police had been invited to a forthcoming meeting to talk about the challenges in the community.

But she added: "It's not the first time that's been done, it's been done many times over the past 15 years. That's what's really disappointing.

"It's very difficult to get people in the public sector to take this seriously.

"It's the same in the schools - bullying is described as 'playground banter'."

While Glasgow City Council makes the case that a great deal of work has been done in schools in the community to support Roma children and young people, the group at Community Renewal said they have been let down.

Nicola said: "I was having a conversation with one of the boys in our football group who asked me if I thought the teachers were racist.

"He said that a teacher read out a story with the n-word in it and just read it aloud. And he said, 'They treat us differently'.

"So it's not just police, it's every service they are involved in."

Laura said that other pupils were racist and would tell Roma children to "go home".

The young people say their academic potential was undervalued to such an extent that many, including Alex, dropped out of school.

Leon said: "I grew up here and I hardly went to school based on the fact we suffered so much discrimination.

"There were racist attacks from the pupils and fighting.

"But when I left school I went to training I fell in love with Glasgow and with the people in Glasgow because they were so accepting if you wanted to do something they would reach out their hand to you.

"It was beautiful to see that."

A council spokesperson said: A council spokesman said schools work "very closely" with families to make sure every pupil "feels valued".

She added: "It’s disheartening to hear there are some who feel they have been let down.

"It is important that we listen and learn from their experience."

Leon now works in local secondary schools teaching Roma history and says that helps give a sense of the value of Roma contributions to society.

David Balog, who works at Community Renewal, has one thing to add, short and to the point.

"Roma people," he says, "They were part of the history and they will be part of the future as well."