Let there be no mistake, if you dare to use the word "GYPSY" in anything but a complimentary fashion you will immediately be classified as a bigot, racist, or someone intent on making life miserable for Romani Americans. This is especially applicable if you are a law enforcement officer, member of the news media, or a politician. Such allegations and accusations would in themselves be understandable if they were somehow based on an accurate or otherwise truthful foundation. But they are not. Rather than discussing the issues in an honest and forthright fashion, many self-appointed Romani activist groups and individuals have resorted to using lies, and ad homonym attacks against anyone who questions their often illogical views. Why such tactics are used is the topic of this article.

It seems that every cause needs a purpose and an enemy. With the Romani groups, the stated purpose is to gain recognition for their contributions to our society, obtain reparations for past wrongs committed against them, and prevent all occurrences of persecution or violations of civil rights from affecting their people. The enemy, as they see it, are the police and all who don't agree wholly with their personal appraisal of the perceived problems.

Although there is certainly nothing sinister with the stated purpose, the same cannot be said about the tactics. While professing a desire to make life better for all Romani by eradicating the hate and improper characterizations they feel exist, these activists frequently become the purveyors of the hate and intolerance they claim to detest. That I have written a book on this very topic places me high on the list of people to hate.

To illustrate just how outrageous these Romani activists can get, I've chosen to document the antics of a Rom named Dr. Ian Hancock. I do this for two reasons. For one, I am very familiar with his tactics because I have been, and continue to be, on the receiving end of them. For another, Dr. Hancock appears to be a highly respected spokesman for many activist groups, and his words, deeds, and thoughts, are mimicked by nearly all the Romani/Gypsy organizations. Although many people can share the same beliefs, I rather doubt they would each use the identical wording to convey those beliefs. So when one is chastised by two dozen activists, and their letters are nearly carbon copies, it would be safe to attribute the words to Hancock.

Reality Check

Law enforcement could care less what any particular criminal group calls itself.  It's their criminal activity and not their name that become the target of all law enforcement efforts. With the present case, there exist a large number or highly organized criminal groups in America who call themselves Gypsies.  They protect themselves through bribery, intimidation, false complaints, and corruption.  Police records document emphatically that Gypsy crime is a multibillion-dollar enterprise, one that is exceedingly well organized and extremely efficient.  Although the activists would have us believe these criminal perpetrators are victims, who steal because they have no other choice, the truth says otherwise.

Until recently law enforcement has failed in their efforts to hold these groups accountable for their unlawful activities. The reasons for this ineffectiveness were many, but here are the most notable:

·       Crimes committed by criminal Gypsies were being misreported. Suspects were often being listed as Hispanics, Italians, or Indians.

·       Most officers had no knowledge of the highly identifiable method of operation used by such criminal groups, and as a result did not know how to properly investigate such offenses.

·       The transient nature of these criminal groups made it difficult for local officers to identify, locate, or apprehend them.  This in turn led officers to ignore such criminal activity whenever possible. For them, such was a waste of precious time. Then, too, interstate crime was within the realm of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Unfortunately, the FBI was also doing their utmost to avoid investigations involving Gypsy suspects because they were just too difficult to catch.

Curious Results

Tired of their ineffectiveness in coping with all transient criminal groups, including con artists and Gypsies, many officers throughout the United States combined their efforts in an attempt to hold such thieves accountable.  Through educating their fellow officers, and sharing criminal intelligence information among themselves, the ease by which such groups operated came to an abrupt end. 

Rather than receiving accolades for a job well done, law enforcement officers, the media, and authors writing on the topic of Gypsies, began receiving threatening letters from impressive sounding organizations like the Romani Union, Lawyers' Committee for Roma Rights and Recognition, and the Romani Anti-Defamation League. In all cases, the people were called racists and bigots, and told that legal action was forthcoming. Such action, of course, never happened, but the initial threats sent many a person back into the shadows vowing never again to utter the dreaded 5-letter word GYPSY.

Here’s an example of the method of attack these Romani activist groups use with routine consistency.

After an appearance I made, along with my coauthor, Dr. John Dowling, on the Geraldo Rivera show, (in 1990) which was devoted to the crimes committed by Gypsy fortunetellers, I immediately began receiving letters from all of the previously listed organizations. One such letter, from someone identifying himself as Yanko le Redzosko, from the Romani Union, severely chastised Dr. Dowling and me for appearing on the program.  Another letter, from a Dr. Ian Hancock, claimed (and to this day continues to claim) that I had said the following:

"[A]n Illinois police unit detective, Dennis Marlock, told the nation on public television that American Gypsies had not yet developed genetically, like other people, to the point of being able to distinguish right from wrong. This month, his book on the same subject has just been published, on the cover of which is the warning that no one is safe from my people. How do you imagine that I, as a university professor and a Rom, feel when I hear myself being described in this way? What do I tell my children?”
  
  Ian Hancock

As Hancock already knows, I neither believe that Gypsies are born to a life of crime, nor did I ever say anything even remotely close to what he claims I said. Apparently unable to find anything racist with what I did say, he found it necessary to concoct something that did.  Being a stickler for accuracy is apparently something that Hancock expects from others but fails to use on himself.  If not, then he might have noticed that I never lived in Illinois, nor am I a member of an Illinois police unit. Further more, unable to support his claim that I, or my fellow law enforcement officers, are racists, his colleagues have now decided that we are “unintentional racists.” According to this half-baked theory, we really don't intend to be racists but are nevertheless engaged in racist conduct. If this is not a good example of stretching a definition to suit one's beliefs, then no such example exists.

In receiving the letter from Redzosko I noted a strange similarity between his signature and that of Dr. Hancock. In one piece of correspondence, Hancock even said that my letter to Mr. Redzosko had been passed on to him for further comment. I soon discovered that Hancock is Redzosko.  He now says that Redzosko is his Gypsy name.

Also within Redzosko's (aka Hancock) letter was mention that he had forwarded a copy to the B'nai B'rith, Anti-Defamation League.  Having worked with this organization in the past, and having no desire to have them think of me as a racist, I contacted them and asked that they conduct an investigation into Hancock's allegations.  As you might have guessed, no such letter was ever received from Hancock. When told of the situation they wrote to Hancock and asked that he send them a tape of the Geraldo program wherein I made the racist remarks.  Several weeks before their request Hancock's secretary advised me that the tape would be aired during a presentation to be held at Texas University. Now caught in a big lie, Hancock compounded his deceit with yet another big lie.  His response to the B'nai B'rith went as follows:

"Very many thanks for your letter of August 21^st regarding the defamatory content of the Geraldo Rivera show, in which you requested a copy of a videotape of that program. There seems to have been two versions of that show aired in different parts of the country, some with content deleted.  We are trying to obtain the full version to send to you, and shall do so as soon as possible.  Sincerely Ian Hancock."

That letter was written on August 27, 1990. As of August 25, 2005, the B'nai B'rith has yet to receive a copy of the non-existent tape.  To this day, Hancock and his associates insist on spreading this lie to support their unwarranted allegations.

What confuses those who happen upon this topic is this: If the Romani people consider Gypsy a pejorative term, then why do they insist on trying to sanitize or otherwise salvage such a negative image?  Then, too, why do they find it necessary to defend criminals who insist on calling themselves Gypsies, and who claim that anyone who does not follow their lifestyle of thievery and deception are not true Gypsies?  Absent any sensible explanation might I suggest that it is because few people have ever heard of the Romani while most everyone is familiar with the Gypsies. As such, some Romani have taken it upon themselves to use the criminal element to their advantage.

As I stated earlier, ever cause needs an enemy, and since no one is demeaning the Rom, then using the arrests of criminal Gypsies to promote their cause appears to be a logical choice. This wrongheaded effort might even work were it not for one fatal flaw.  Criminal Gypsies show no desire to bring their criminal activities to a halt anytime soon.  Conversely, the sudden help from the Romani activists has made it easier for them to escape being held accountable for their misdeeds.