Romani groups in Colombia have debated on the popular representations of their lives even before they were officially recognized as a distinct ethnic group. Colombian Romani civil society organizations have taken it upon themselves since their inception to instigate dialogue about the negative stereotypes with which they coexist in daily life. This article sustains that the negotiations with the state which established Romani People as an ethnic minority in 1997 marked a shift in the strategies through which Romani families have adapted to the Colombian context, including their public image.Grounded in the concepts of representation, stereotypification and performativity, the text sustains a critical perspective on the division between “gypsyness” and “non-gypsyness” that is part of the Romani experience. The argument is based on theauthor’s fieldwork in Bogota and other Colombian cities from 2006 until the present. Ethnographic description is brought to the text through empirical moments, vignettes that demonstrate the co-construction of divisions between “us” and “them” through the constant (re)production and transformation of stereotypes about “gypsyness”. The article seeks to initiate a conversation that goes beyond creation of stereotypes of Romani families in Latin America by critically examining the contextual relevance of narratives.