colony, and the public’s reaction might well be, “Why aren’t they out chasing criminals instead of perse cuting those poor gypsies?” When a gypsy is arrested, little happens. Last month Policemen John Mc- Shane and Malcolm Lindsay were about to arrest a Halsted St. gypsy for fortune telling when she offered them $20 to “ just go away and for get it happened.” They then added bribery to the charges, but when she appeared in court Judge Daniel Ryan fined her only $25 and then suspended the fine. A week later, a Daily News re porter had his fortune told and his pocket picked by the same woman— back in business as usual. Hartigan and Mulcrone believe the most effective way o f aiding the young gypsies would be to insure, somehow, that their children are ed ucated. But they warn that the gypsy parents will fight this bitterly. “Now, the girls are entirely de pendent upon their families,” Harti gan says. “ She can’t earn her own living. She’s like a retarded child. “ They know they won’t be able to control her i f she’s educated. The whole family’s livelihood depends on keeping her ignorant.” The unrest among some o f the young gypsies probably means a cul ture breakup is inevitable, with or without the aid of welfare or law enforcement authorities. But this could take another gen eration, and it’s hard to comfort an unhappy 20-year-old by saying, “Wait 30 years—you’ll be free then to live as you please.” For the present, the youthful gypsies are caught in a nerve-shat tering vise: Ostracized and ridiculed by their community because they won’t participate in its customs, and tormented by guilt and self pity if they do participate. E ditor ’ s N ote : We wonder, after reading the above, if any readers have had experience in trying to reach Gypsies for the Lord, and if so, what were the results. Will you let us hear from you? It seems that the young people particularly might be reached with some kind of serv ices planned particularly for them. *Used by permission.
tized — but has been unable to draw them into church activities. “ They won’t talk,” he said. “ No body gets to know them too well.” The baptism itself has a perplex ing history. For some reason, the Romanies want their babies baptized according to Roman Catholic rites. Yet they never ask for any other sacraments — marriage, communion, last rites. “Our records of gypsy baptisms go way back,” Father Bendziunas said. “ Years ago the chancery gave us permission to baptize these children, even though the families are not members. “ This church has become a tradi tional baptismal site. Gypsy families even come here from other states with their babies.” Probably no one in Chicago has worked as diligently to aid the gyp sies — and been stymied as often — as Sgt. Hartigan and another Youth Division officer, Lt. Edward Mul- crone. “ I’ve never been able to get them to keep a child in school longer than two or three weeks,” Hartigan said. “ A few years ago I personally took two boys to school and regis tered them with the principal, and checked up on the family daily. “ But as soon as I stopped check ing, the whole family cleared out. “ They seem to take a delight in not conforming. They’ll go to any lengths, any inconvenience — in cluding packing up and closing a highly profitable business, rather than change.” Hartigan often has mentioned to gypsy wives that under Illinois law they’re not legally married, but he says: “ They laugh and point at all their children wandering around the house as proof o f their marriage.” Law enforcement officials could crack down on gypsies in a number of areas. For fortune telling, for liv ing in storefronts without sanita tion and ventilation required by the building code, for picking pockets, for not sending their children to school. It’s doubtful that such a crack down would be effective. In the first place, gypsies do no great harm to outsiders. They’re considered a quaint, colorful little
as young as 14 to lure a stranger into her parlor and distract him by stroking his stomach with one hand while she picks his pocket with the other. • Romance in general is shameful. “We have a TV set, and when it shows people kissing, then my fa ther says, ‘Turn that thing off,’ ” said a girl in her 20s. “ And the wom en get so embarrassed, they get up and walk away. “ But if a man on TV hits a wo man, the gypsy men laugh and say, ‘That’s the way — like the gypsies do.” ’ It’s sinful, too, for a married couple to make any sort of public dis play of affection, such as holding hands. The girl explained: “ Then they say about the wife, ‘Look at her, she got no respect for her husband, she is shame.’ ” The young Romany gypsies, per haps inspired by what television has led them to believe is typical Ameri can life, are seething with rebellion against this code. They want someone to come and help them be “ free,” but they’re torn apart on what form this help should take. They say the police should raid the fortune-telling parlors, the city building i n s p e c t o r s should crack down on ordinances that prohibit families from living in storefronts, the school system should force par ents to send children to school or else Family Court should take the youngster away. Then they add: “ But we don’t want anybody hurt. We love our peo ple. We don’t anybody to go to jail. . . .” The few who have attempted to help the young gypsies have been continually frustrated by their mixed love-and-hate attitudes. When a YWCA arranged for some gypsy girls to live there while they learned to read and write and adjust to city life, the girls backed out at the last minute. “ Our mothers would get beat up by the other gypsies,” they ex plained. The Rev. Anthony Bendziunas, pastor of Providence of God Roman Catholic Church, 717 W. 18th St., sees young Romany families when they bring their babies to be bap
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AUGUST, 1966
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