Tweet
GUEST COLUMN: LET'S TALK ABOUT BIGOTRY IN GLENDALE
Glendale News Press, CA
Nov 14 2013
By William Bairamian
November 14, 2013 | 12:30 p.m.
Ever since Councilman Zareh Sinanyan admitted to making racist
comments, there has been a chorus of individuals at the ready to remind
us of his transgression. The latest, Grey James, in calling Sinanyan
a "confessed racist," has implored the City Council to propagate
an anti-hate proclamation. His comments need some Glendale history
for context.
James says that Glendale supports hate speech and he's right, though
perhaps not in the way that he thought. Armenophobia - fear or dislike
of, or racism against Armenians - has been part of the lives of
Armenians in this city for decades. It ranges from blatant to thinly
veiled to underhanded and is generally ignored or declared a non-issue.
In politics, there was first the vilely anti-Armenian mailer sent
during Councilman Frank Quintero's State Assembly run against Paul
Krekorian.
Before and after that nadir, the City Council passed ordinances banning
outdoor barbecues and new banquet halls, measures overwhelmingly
affecting Armenian-owned businesses.
Then the Council decided to toy with the handling of absentee ballots,
the most-used voting method for Armenian-Americans in the city.
Although questions about racial motivations were deflected by the
council, the impression about absentee voting among non-Armenians was
summed up by one prominent Glendale real estate agent who wrote in an
email to supporters during a recent election cycle, "Maybe certain
special interest groups, groups that win by absentee ballots, may
not want you to go to the polls [.]?"
In an eerily similar message, disgraced former mayor John Drayman,
during his unsuccessful 2011 reelection bid, in an ad in another
newspaper, wrote, "...some are hoping that you won't vote; protect
your interests; vote local." His main non-incumbent challenger was
Rafi Manoukian, an Armenian-American.
Who were Drayman and the real estate agent talking about?
No questions, no explanations, no calls for anti-hate proclamations.
These seeming recurrent coincidences ascribed to nothing but
happenstance, if anything at all.
And mercy upon you if you suggest that Armenophobia has been the
impetus for anything that has negatively impacted the Armenian
community. You are ignored, mocked, or flatly dismissed.
There is more.
Glendale has been atrocious in attracting police officers and
firefighters of Armenian descent in a city where almost 50% of
the population, officially, is of that group. Besides less than 10
Armenian-American firefighters and a pending lawsuit alleging racism
against Armenian-American police officers, neither department has
much to show.
Where is the outcry?
As for the sentiment in the community, we need not go further than
racist comments that were previously plainly visible in the Glendale
News-Press' comments sections on its website and Facebook page.
So I agree with James, but where has he been all these years?
Yes, Glendale has a problem with race. Although Sinanyan makes a
convenient villain and scapegoat for the issues of hate, racism, and
xenophobia in our city, James makes the point in his own comments: We
have a confessed racist - but I would rather have one who's confessed,
and apologized, than one who hasn't.
If our leaders have been unwilling to show leadership in proactively
addressing overt or covert problems in our city, it is hard to expect
that we might be anywhere but where we are.
Before any other incredulous citizens lambaste Sinanyan's admittedly
vulgar comments, our community might be better served if we focused
on the hate and racism right here under our noses.
Armenians don't deserve special treatment, but they do deserve to be
treated fairly and respectfully, like any other citizen.
A proclamation may feel good but if the City Council actually wants to
address the issues of race and hate within Glendale, it should stop
pussyfooting, get its hands dirty, and get to work. And it might do
well to start with some introspection.
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/tn-gnp-guest-column-lets-talk-about-bigotry-in-glendale-zareh-sinanyan-20131114,0,4440307.story
From: Baghdasarian
Glendale News Press, CA
Nov 14 2013
By William Bairamian
November 14, 2013 | 12:30 p.m.
Ever since Councilman Zareh Sinanyan admitted to making racist
comments, there has been a chorus of individuals at the ready to remind
us of his transgression. The latest, Grey James, in calling Sinanyan
a "confessed racist," has implored the City Council to propagate
an anti-hate proclamation. His comments need some Glendale history
for context.
James says that Glendale supports hate speech and he's right, though
perhaps not in the way that he thought. Armenophobia - fear or dislike
of, or racism against Armenians - has been part of the lives of
Armenians in this city for decades. It ranges from blatant to thinly
veiled to underhanded and is generally ignored or declared a non-issue.
In politics, there was first the vilely anti-Armenian mailer sent
during Councilman Frank Quintero's State Assembly run against Paul
Krekorian.
Before and after that nadir, the City Council passed ordinances banning
outdoor barbecues and new banquet halls, measures overwhelmingly
affecting Armenian-owned businesses.
Then the Council decided to toy with the handling of absentee ballots,
the most-used voting method for Armenian-Americans in the city.
Although questions about racial motivations were deflected by the
council, the impression about absentee voting among non-Armenians was
summed up by one prominent Glendale real estate agent who wrote in an
email to supporters during a recent election cycle, "Maybe certain
special interest groups, groups that win by absentee ballots, may
not want you to go to the polls [.]?"
In an eerily similar message, disgraced former mayor John Drayman,
during his unsuccessful 2011 reelection bid, in an ad in another
newspaper, wrote, "...some are hoping that you won't vote; protect
your interests; vote local." His main non-incumbent challenger was
Rafi Manoukian, an Armenian-American.
Who were Drayman and the real estate agent talking about?
No questions, no explanations, no calls for anti-hate proclamations.
These seeming recurrent coincidences ascribed to nothing but
happenstance, if anything at all.
And mercy upon you if you suggest that Armenophobia has been the
impetus for anything that has negatively impacted the Armenian
community. You are ignored, mocked, or flatly dismissed.
There is more.
Glendale has been atrocious in attracting police officers and
firefighters of Armenian descent in a city where almost 50% of
the population, officially, is of that group. Besides less than 10
Armenian-American firefighters and a pending lawsuit alleging racism
against Armenian-American police officers, neither department has
much to show.
Where is the outcry?
As for the sentiment in the community, we need not go further than
racist comments that were previously plainly visible in the Glendale
News-Press' comments sections on its website and Facebook page.
So I agree with James, but where has he been all these years?
Yes, Glendale has a problem with race. Although Sinanyan makes a
convenient villain and scapegoat for the issues of hate, racism, and
xenophobia in our city, James makes the point in his own comments: We
have a confessed racist - but I would rather have one who's confessed,
and apologized, than one who hasn't.
If our leaders have been unwilling to show leadership in proactively
addressing overt or covert problems in our city, it is hard to expect
that we might be anywhere but where we are.
Before any other incredulous citizens lambaste Sinanyan's admittedly
vulgar comments, our community might be better served if we focused
on the hate and racism right here under our noses.
Armenians don't deserve special treatment, but they do deserve to be
treated fairly and respectfully, like any other citizen.
A proclamation may feel good but if the City Council actually wants to
address the issues of race and hate within Glendale, it should stop
pussyfooting, get its hands dirty, and get to work. And it might do
well to start with some introspection.
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/tn-gnp-guest-column-lets-talk-about-bigotry-in-glendale-zareh-sinanyan-20131114,0,4440307.story
From: Baghdasarian