While I find it relevant to do stories about organized crime, it is sad that it is the ONLY time they seem to feature my race is mentioned in US papers. It's a shame considering our many great artists an activists. If you MUST print only negative stories, please consider printing one on the Genocide occuring. Kosovo has joined many European nations in forcing us to die in concentration camps again. (granted, the Zyclon-B is gone, but most inmates still die of disease, starvation, and over-work.) England rewrote the race relations act so that no gypsy's have the same rights as any other race. Indeed it is illegal for us to camp even on land we legally own there. In Hungary manditory sterilization is the fate of female gypsys who seek hospital treatment.

If you MUST continue writing ONLY this kind of article, at least get the basic facts straight. The date you gave for us leaving India is actually when the first PROVEN reports of us in Europe exist. We left centuries before that and hung out in Persia before spreading across Europe AND Africa. Plus, the Romani are only one many ethnicities of Gypsies.

BTW Mr. Merino. I must sadly agree with you that many of our elders use enforced ignorance as a weapon to keep seperate. Might I point out, however, that seperatist bigots of ALL races do that. (Indeed I think while the fact we just spent five centuries having our noses and ears lopped off as punishment for EXISTING doesn't excuse this ignorance, it certainly goes a long way to explaining it.) It's a shame you have to reject our entire race just because of the foolish ones and the fact that your cousins are making public spectacles of themselves.

most slurred terms involve the word dirty and aren't allowed in school or the work place but the term gypped is ok?? i can understand the reluctance to be part of "normal" society.

need some help in idenyfying a shdow like being walking across the floor between myself and televition.This house is 8year young and has been with me for about 20 years