Armenian National Committee – Western Region
104 North Belmont Street, Suite 200
Glendale, California 91206
Phone: 818.500.1918
Fax: 818.246.7353
[email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
April 29, 2009
Contact: Andrew Kzirian
Tel: (818) 500-1918
ANC-WR Combats Prejudice in Glendale
— Challenges Teacher for Questioning Armenian-American Patriotism
Los Angeles, CA – Below are excerpts from recent commentary pieces
published by the Glendale News Press pertaining to the Armenian Youth
Federation (AYF) of the Western United States. The ANC-WR learned that
on April 16, 2009, Dan Kimber, a teacher in the Glendale Unified
School District, authored a piece criticizing the Armenian Youth
Federation (AYF) for being `un-American’. The story can be read here:
009/04/17/columns/gnp-kimber0417.txt
Here is a relevant excerpt from Kimber’s piece:
`The whole attitude seems to me to be, in a word, un-American. (Kimber
referring to the AYF’s mission). I know that there will be many in
this community who will disagree with me, but my gut feeling – no,
make that an absolute conviction – is that the Armenian Youth
Federation, or any organization for that matter that dedicates itself
to a `stick to your own kind’ philosophy, is out of step with the
professed ideals of this country. Their ethnocentric behavior
encourages the very kind of separateness that many in our community
and in our schools are fighting against. Under the guise of cultural
integrity, national pride or whatever high-sounding phrases one might
summon, any organization that would write such a sentence displays not
only an ignorance of what this country is all about but promotes a
thinly veiled prejudice as well.’
On April 22, 2009 Vicken Sonentz-Papazian, Chairman of the Armenian
National Committee – Western Region (ANC-WR) and an AYF alumnus,
rebuked Kimber’s piece and outlined the long history of the AYF in the
United States and the roles that its alumni played at important times
in American history.
Link: 23/opinion/community_commentaries/gnp-comment0423. txt
Relevant excerpts from Sonentz-Papazian’s piece are below:
`As an alumnus of the Armenian Youth Federation, I read with a sense
of great consternation Dan Kimber’s woefully misplaced commentary
piece, (`Greet melting pot with open arms,’ Friday) which completely
mischaracterizes the origins and purpose of the organization.’
`In 1933, when Njdeh turned his attention from fighting successive
campaigns against the Turkish and then communist invaders to saving a
desperate and scattered nation, half of which was held captive under
Soviet rule, the other half attempting to deal with the trauma of
annihilation, the assimilation of Armenian youth truly represented a
step closer to extinction. That same year, in 1933, it was Njdeh that
nurtured and advised one founding member, Col. Harry Sachaklian. A
decade later Sachaklian took the lessons he learned, under the
tutelage of Njdeh and as a member of the Armenian Youth Federation
when he served with distinction as a military aide to then-Gen. Dwight
Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe.’
On April 23, 2009, Kimber apologized to the AYF for his previous
remarks and elaborated on his position.
Link: 24/columns/gnp-kimber0424.txt
Relevant excerpts from Kimber’s response:
`And now about last week’s column. I received more than 50 responses
from the good people in our community, more than any column I have
written in the past six years. The subject was assimilation, and the
object was a sentence that I came across in writing a student
recommendation that read like a mission statement from the Armenian
Youth Federation. I have since learned, and probably should have
researched before I wrote the article, that the federation has done a
world of good for more than 70 years and did not deserve this slap for
one (however misguided) sentence. My apologies to the Armenian Youth
Federation.’
The Armenian National Committee – Western Region is the largest and
most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in
the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of
offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States
and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANC-WR promotes
awareness of the Armenian American community on a broad range of
issues.