Kilroy meets the Gypsies

Yes, Robert Kilroy-Silk has decided to spend several days living with the travellers for the purposes of a Channel 4 documentary to be aired during April (see title link). All very nice, and I'm sure it'll be entertaining in a Louis Theroux's Wierd Weekends style, but something jumped out of the text of the Guardian article that's interesting:

'Matters are not helped when Clifford tells him he cannot use his bathroom, because it goes against the strict customs of the community. "It is not because we think you are dirty, it is just to maintain the purity of our unit as Romany Gypsies," he explains.'

Consider that gypsy and other travellers are arguing that they should be able to pursue their way of life (setting up camps, in some cases without planning permission) partly on ethnicity grounds, with the assistance of the Commission for Racial Equality; why has noone pointed out the absurdity of maintaining 'the purity of the unit as Romany Gypsies' - talk of purity in these terms (note the capitalisation) doesn't fall far short of racism.