Open Letter to President Obama on the Plight of the Roma (Gypsies)

Honorable President Barack H. Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Washington DC 20500

Honorable President Obama:

Some time ago I watched you on television when during a national address on financial reform, you indicated that Wall Street had “gypped the people.” I am assuming for the sake of argument that you do not know that the origin to the verb “to gyp” is from “Gypsy,” which is the commonly used term for the Roma people. Gypsy originated when Roma immigrants to Europe were mistaken for Egyptian Coptic Christians fleeing from Muslim persecution.

Eventually of course, Gypsy became a pejorative term as it is associated with crime and dishonesty. This stems in part from prejudicial stereotyping of Gypsies and the fact that discriminatory legislation against them, both in the United States and Europe, forced them to lead a marginalized existence.

I am writing now because of the crisis over the Roma expulsions being carried out by France. The process that leads to persecution starts with words that stereotype and denigrates minority groups. Eventually as we have seen historically, those words can eventually lead to mass murder, as was the case for the Roma during World War II. Their death rate at the hands of the Nazis was probably as high percentage-wise as that for the Jews.

There have been many great and honorable people of Roma descent that defy the stereotypes. Amongst the Roma are Elvis Presley, Sean Connery, Rita Hayworth, Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Charlie Chaplin, Roger Moore, Yul Brynner, and so many more.

I am requesting that you issue a directive banning the use of the word “Gyp” or any variation by federal employees and that you personally eliminate it from your vocabulary. I am also requesting that you ask Secretary of State Clinton to use her best efforts, publicly or privately, to intervene against the expulsion of the Roma by any nation, starting with France.

If a President of the United States had used phraseology on national television that Wall Street had “Jewed” the American people, the gravity of the offense would be obvious. Now imagine that a Roma child was watching you on television use this pejorative term about his or her people. The use of the word is so common in the media that it is a constant reminder to Roma of their less than second class status as citizens of the United States and that should be simply intolerable.

Respectfully Yours,

Jan B. Tucker

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