I’ve tried really hard to refrain from writing about the most controversial issue in the papers today, but it deems itself inevitable. Last week, headline news began bashing on the Armenians about yet another white collar crime- credit card skimming, fraud, identity theft, etc. My problem isn't necessarily with the fact that these crimes are brought to the public's attention, but rather that the suspect's in question are racially defined, which creates certain opinions drafted amongst a people with a definite ethnic attachment.Over the course of the past 6-10 months, two or three separate articles were published regarding crimes committed by the Armenian race. In and of itself, each article does an expert job at including the ethnic background of the American citizens. The accusations, if true, are not morally or ethically accepted and should be prosecuted to the extent of the law. However, to tie one’s ethnic background to certain crimes should not be tolerated. In fact, this would go as far as being discriminatory towards one race. The suspects of this crime ring were not of one nationality; there were in fact, many other ethnic groups involved.
In this past week alone, the Papers have published a repetitive article about the recent arrests related to credit card fraud, racketeering, etc. The most recent, published on February 20th, was titled "Fighting the 'Power.'" As if one article butchering the Armenian name was not enough, each article to follow, specifically and might I add, falsely, continues to mention the one gang they know to be affiliated to the Armenian race. The latter article discusses, generally, the Armenians and the difficulties they have endured as immigrants. It appears to mean well, but the title is quite frustrating. (Click Here to read the full article) Just because a crime is committed, it doesn't necessarily mean that it is related to that culture's gang, nor should it matter at all. In comparison to the entire population, Armenians are considered a minority. There are only approximately 7-8 million Armenians all over the world, which comparatively, is a significantly small percentage. In order to understand the sensitivity of this issue one has to understand the pain and suffering this race has endured. In the nineteenth century, the Ottoman Empire began to decline, thereby creating internally political ethnic tensions. While Armenian political organizations made demands for proper representation and security from neighboring countries, the Turkic people began to feel threatened and refused to help the Armenian cause. When the Young Turks went to war with several European countries in 1908, they used this warfare as an excuse to wipe-out the Armenians to create an all-Turkic state. In their agenda to reach their ultimate goal, what the Turkish people essentially did was massacre the Armenian nation. They forced millions of people out of their homes and made them walk all the way to the Syrian Desert , only to kill the men, rape the women, and then kill them as well along with their children. Click here to read more about the Armenians, their history and the most crucial and sensitive topic related to their culture- the genocide.
Armenians have endured a lot of pain and suffering. Aside from the 1.5 million Armenians who were massacred in 1915, many have slaved away their lives, while others have been raised as orphans [often in a Turkish home], forced to give up everything they know and who they are- converting from their Christian religion to that of Muslim and learning to speak none other than the Turkish language. Thus, when the media decides to strike against a race, which has a sensitive history regarding discrimination and is as small as this, it is a simple knee-jerk reaction to cause commotion and defend oneself.
Every culture has its positive and negative aspects. There is the good and bad in everything and in everyone. No one is perfect. Again, I am not justifying the actions of anyone who committed a crime or did wrong. I am simply questioning the motives of the media. What is their purpose? Why does it seem like their sole intention is to degrade the Armenian race so much so as to create a sense of hatred towards them by other nationalities? Armenians are as much a part of this nation as any other race, and exaggerations made by the media causing a third-party to stereotype against them can be very dangerous grounds. Let's not forget that discrimination is against the law. True, America gives you the right to freedom of speech, but what the media is doing, is borderline libel, if not an indirect way of discriminating. Action must be taken to stop the madness and stop the hatred.
If this keeps going on, I believe that people should get together and have the ACLU involved so as to put an end to this verbal massacre.
