Qristina Zavačková Cummings: Hunter to Hunted

Yesterday, I discovered (via Facebook) that someone was attempting to sell a
shirt via the popular website "Zazzle" (an online retailer that allows users to
upload images and create their own merchandise, or buy merchandise created by
other users, as well as use images from participating companies), that was
extremely offensive.

The shirt, "Gypsy Hunter Badge – We Kill the Gypsies" was for sale by a user
called Le Volodya.
I was both sickened and outraged.

My family tried to flee the Holocaust, but more than half of them perished.
It’s my belief that almost all of those who died did so at the hands of the
Einsatzgruppen – the military ‘task forces’ (also known as "Schutzstaffel (SS)
paramilitary death squads") who roamed the countryside literally hunting and
killing Romani where they stood (often forcing them to dig their own graves
first).

This shirt, with its "Gypsy Hunter" slogan immediately dragged my mind to
that very scenario. There are Romani alive today who still remember being hunted;
who still remember the panic and fear of the voices and gunshots in the woods.
But, that isn’t all. According to the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
at the University of Minnesota,

"Also in the 16th century began the "gypsy hunts." Not unlike a fox hunt,
the Gypsies were rounded up and hunted for sport. This savage practice was
prevalent in Switzerland, in Holland up to the 18th century and reaching as far
as Denmark. No crime needed to have been committed by these people in order for
them to be incarcerated or hunted down like animals.

Related article

T-shirt reading "WE KILL THE GYPSIES" for sale online by Zazzle

Michal Komárek

In 1589 the King of Denmark decreed that any leader of a Gypsy band was to
be sentenced to death. Honors and rewards were given to those who would
participate in Gypsy hunts and capture them. These hunts continued as late as
the 19th century. A great Gypsy hunt covering four districts of Jutland took
place on November 11, 1835. The day brought in a bag of over 260 men, women and
children.

A Rheinland landowning aristocrat is said to have entered in his list of
game killed during a day’s hunting: Item: A Gypsy woman with her sucking babe. (Kenrick
1972:46)

In Germany and other countries the law supported this treachery. Martin
Block, the Gypsiologist, had recorded the following German law enacted in Aachen
in 1728: …in order to root out this brood of rascals… whether the Gypsies
resist or not, these people shall be put to death. Nevertheless, those who… do
not counterattack may be granted at most half an hour, to go on their knees and
beg of the Almighty, if they so wish, pardon for their sins and to prepare for
death ….(Greenfeld 1977:61).

In an account of the "miserable state of these people," the scholar
Grellman stated, "They were not always looked upon as human creatures, for at a
hunting party, at one of the small German courts, a mother and her child were
shot like a couple of wild beasts." (Greenfeld 1977:61)"

While the above information is horrific enough, it’s important to recognize
the discrimination and racism that Romani face today – and while not actively
hunted in the same sense of the word, many Romani families face violence and
hatred on a daily basis, with their homes and lives regularly being destroyed (through
evictions, cases of arson and other violence, or pogroms). Our families are
still targeted, hunted by authorities, neo-Nazis, and others to be moved on,
harmed, or killed.

As news spread – via Facebook, email, and other websites – emails were sent
en masse to Zazzle demanding removal of the shirt (not only for the reasons
outlined above, but also because it directly contravened their own
user
agreement, particularly User Conduct). I saw at least eight different people
sharing the shirt website and contact email for Zazzle, with further commentary,
shared letters, and other information. I also shared the information on
Tumblr.
The Romani news server,
Romea.cz also posted information regarding sale of the
shirt on their website (which in turn prompted the creation of a separate Zazzle
user account promoting a "Romea.cz Oppressing White People" shirt by
"Romea_Troll"). Over the course of the day, further emails were sent to Zazzle
calling for the removal of the second shirt, as well as Le Volodya’s account
from their website. It wasn’t enough simply to ban the offensive t-shirt. Le
Volodya had violated the terms of use he had agreed to upon creation of his
account – and not in an accidental harmless way. He deliberately sought to
create an offensive, racist, t-shirt which promoted the killing of Romani
people.

Luckily, the team at Zazzle responded by removing the offensive shirt
immediately and later, after further emails, removed the user Le Volodya
entirely. Of course, this doesn’t mean he cannot recreate a new profile (I doubt
they banned his email address or IP), but for now our collective actions were
incredibly successful.

It’s important to note that our calls for removal of the shirt and the user
were calm and assertive. Often, I think, Romani are accused of being "over-dramatic"
or "angry" in our responses to horrifically racist incidents such as this. While
our anger is one hundred percent justified, it’s important to react in a way
that others can relate to, without becoming defensive or verbally abusive
ourselves. In my experience that only serves to harm our cause rather than aid
or affirm it in any way. Sometimes, it’s not possible to be detached or control
the anger, so in those situations I definitely advocate asking to copy or edit
someone else’s email or letter.

When my son saw the t-shirt (on Facebook), he was confused and upset. He
asked why it was available for sale, why no one thought it was offensive (except
us), and why we had to continually argue the same points to the (same) people. I
wasn’t sure I had answers for him. I showed him our emails and I showed him
Zazzle’s response.

He said that although they "did good" they didn’t do "good enough". I agree
with him.

If we have to do this one shirt and one user at a time, we will. There is no
excuse for this.