The Armenians are a people, an ethnic group, and a nation that hails from the land of Armenia which is located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Armenia is a landlocked country that is mountainous in topography. Countries that border it are Turkey to the west, Azerbaijan to the east, Georgia to the north, and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south. Amazingly Armenians don’t call themselves Armenians in their Armenian language; they call themselves Hay which is pronounced as Hye. Thus Armenians from Armenia are referred to as Hyeastansees, Armenians from Iran are known as Parska-Hye and those from Lebanon are Lipana-Hye (Morgan 18).
Christianity is the main religion in Armenia hence most of the Armenians are Christians despite being under the rule of other states that had different religions. It is a former republic of the Soviet Union but now a unitary, multiparty democratic state. Back then, the Kingdom of Armenia was the first state to adopt Christianity as its religion. The country is a member of over 40 international organizations among them the United Nations, World Trade organization, the Council of Europe, World Custom Organizations, and the Commonwealth Independent States. Armenia is also one of the seven members of CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) military alliance and is also an active participant of NATO’s partnership for peace. Armenia is currently in negotiations to become a member of the European Union.
The first state was established in the 6th century BC and later it became part of the Roman Empire at around AD 114 TO 116. The country was conquered by Persians, Arabs, Byzantines, Mongols and Ottoman Turks. It was while under the Ottoman rule that the Armenians began being discriminated against because they were Christians under Muslim rule that was led by Abdul Hamid II. The Armenians demanded their rights and began protesting against the Ottoman Empire. Their protests were quelled by the Hamidian massacre which left about 300,000 people dead between 1894 and 1896. The ethnic cleansing culminated in the Armenian Genocide in 1915 and 1916 under the Ottoman rule (Morgan 22). After the Second World War Armenia was conquered by the Red Army and became part of the USSR and later on it gained its independence to become a republic.
Armenians began immigrating to the United States more than a century ago in the early 1890s following the devastating massacres that took place during the Ottoman Empire rule. They found avenues for running away from their country through the many protestant missionary churches, missionary hospitals, schools and outposts that were in Armenia at the time hoping for business and education opportunities and a better life in the west. The first Armenian known to have moved to America was called Martin the Armenian. He arrived at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1618 while the first Armenian to arrive in California was called Normart an Armenian name that means “new man.” The name came about because he was so relieved to be out of danger thus he was a new man.
Over time an Armenian community began growing in Los Angeles and a majority of the emigrants preferred to settle there and later on there was the mushrooming of Armenian schools and churches in areas such as the Valley, Pasadena, Montebello, and even Hollywood. Today Los Angeles arguably has the largest Armenian population in the United States and the most diverse Armenian community in the world. Today the Armenian population in the Armenian population in the U.S. is more than one million, half of which are in Los Angles.
Armenians in the United States have faced discrimination time and again. This has led to the formation of committees such as the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), which is the organization that highlights cases of discrimination against the Armenian people. In America, a legislator, Jane Harman barred Armenian Media from a national media conference she hosted on November 28th 2007 at her district office in California. The committee board of directors of ANCA issued a statement implying that the legislator did so because of her growing controversy over her opposition to the U.S. recognition of the Armenian Genocide.
In the same year a Managing Editor, one Douglas Frantz stopped the completion of a story on the Armenian Massacre written by Mark Arax who is of Armenian decent citing that the facts would be biased because of his roots and that he was also politically involved in the topic. Douglas also stated that the company did not allow the writing of stories by journalists on topics in which they were lobbying for. Mark made a discrimination complaint against Douglas and said that he would file a suit against him. The editor who didn’t find any errors in the facts presented in the story and was accused of being biased, a bias which he acquired while he was posted in Istanbul, Turkey.
Another instance was on American radio show on KFI with Bill Handel who on attempting to make a joke, said that Glendale should be sold to provide additional money to the U.S. economy due to the medical budget issue. In response a listener sent Bill an email terming his comments as being racist. Then Bill’s co-host went ahead and said, “What the Turks started, Bill Handel will finish.” Subsequently, the show was made to apologize and has since had interviews with Armenians.
There was another incident that didn’t get enough media attention. It involved a string of hate mails that were directed at Paul Krekorian, who was vying for the city council Californian Democratic Primary. The hate mails were making racist notations and accusations alleging that the Armenians were engaging in electoral malpractices.
Most of the time, the discrimination against Armenians is as a result of the denial of the Armenian Massacre and instead the ideology that the Armenians rebelled against the Ottoman Empire, an argument usually used by anti-Armenians to justify the killings that took place in Armenia
The President of the U.S. Barack Obama has contributed to the discrimination of the Armenians by failing to properly recognize the Armenian Massacre time and again while making presidential statements during the remembrance of the Armenian Massacre that took place in 1915 and is commemorated annually on the 24th of April. According to The Armenian Weekly, President Obama has been dancing to the Turkish government tune that has a gag rule on the frank and fearless discussion of the Armenian Massacre. President Obama is said to use evasive terminology and euphemism to describe the horrible event that left over 1.5 million people dead many more maimed and displaced (Weekly Staff 4).
With discrimination coming from all directions; the people, media, legislators and national leaders, the Armenians feel shortchanged by the very people who are supposed to be peace-loving and brother-like. These are the American citizens and leaders who are supposed to protect their fundamental rights and freedoms.
Works Cited
Morgan, J de. The history of the American people, from the remotest times to the present day.
London: Nabu Press, 2010. Print.
Weekly Staff. “Armenian Americans hold vigil, Pro-Ankara Protesters Celebrate Genocide in
DC.” Armenian Weekly 29 Apr. 2011. Web. 30 July 2011.
(http://www.armenianweekly.com/2011/04/29/armenian-americans-hold-vigil-while-
pro-ankara-protesters-celebrate-genocide-in-dc/)
