One hundred and eight years ago, the Ottoman Empire began a campaign of violence that killed or displaced 1.5 million Armenians. The genocide left a scar on Armenia and its people around the world, still felt in the Armenian communities throughout Los Angeles today.

In a recent town hall meeting at Glendale Central Library, the Truth and Accountability League (TAAL) and LA County Commission on Human Relations brought elected officials and community leaders together to discuss a string of recent racist fliers seen in Beverly Hills and Glendale that reportedly called for the extermination of Armenians.

“It’s unfathomable that, on the heels of the Armenian genocide anniversary, Armenians are terrorized by fliers around schools and churches,” said TAAL founder Vic Gerami, who moderated the event dedicated to raising awareness and discussing solutions to combat increasing anti-Armenian racism and propaganda.

“This is really painful because we have kids; we have to explain this to our kids,” Commissioner Sam Kbushyan said during the town hall. “They go to public schools; they engage with all kinds of people. … And this is on social media saying that Armenians should have been erased and the next phase of genocide will be concluded. It really hurts because growing up, we Armenians are victims of the genocide. … We’ve been educated with the non-Armenians and the world of all these atrocities that ‘Never again,’ and we have this issue.”

Glendale Mayor Daniel Brotman spoke of the city’s “checkered past” and summarized a brief history of anti-Armenian rhetoric in the community as more Armenians began to hold political positions and build cultural influence in Glendale, now one of the largest Armenian diaspora communities in the world. 

“There was a lot of pushback,” he said. “There was a lot of the old Glendale that didn’t appreciate having others come in and kind of change the fabric of the community. … But when we look at today’s Glendale, I mean, can you imagine Glendale today without the Armenian community? The Armenian American population is incredibly active politically, in civic organizations, contributes so much to this city. … I don’t want to downplay the tensions that still exist, but despite all that, we are really a highly functional, integrated community.”

Brotman said that the city is “in a good place,” that he didn’t know where the fliers came from and doubted that they came from members of the Glendale community. Gerami responded by saying that where they originated from is “irrelevant,” that anti-Armenian racism still exists in Glendale, and that there is no task force or budget dedicated to combating hate incidents in the city. 

“There are many ways to go at this,” Brotman replied. “We have our Armenian genocide commemorative event every year. … We obviously speak out regularly on these issues, and we pass resolutions. We have sister cities in Artsakh, and we do many, many things to show that we have the backs of our Armenian community here and Armenians around the world.”

The Glendale Police Department has not yet made an arrest regarding the fliers, but the investigation remains ongoing. Glendale Police Chief Manuel Cid said the department is looking to enlist the help of community members who may have information regarding the incident.

“It’s concerning, and it follows a trend of ongoing hate speech and rhetoric that we see in several different communities, in this instance targeting the Armenian community here in Glendale … (with) fliers found, I think, more than a dozen of them, scattered in front of a church and throughout other areas in the city,” Cid said. “Any threat to any group or individual in our community really is a threat to our way of life and our entire community. I think as a police department and as a community, we need to take it as such. 

“We’re going to bring all our resources to bear in investigating any of those sorts of incidents, trying to identify who’s responsible for them, working in collaboration with our partners … to try to identify these individuals that are responsible, establish if we have a crime and, if we do, actively look to prosecute it.”

Joseph F. Iniguez, chief of staff from the LA County District Attorney’s Office, explained that many cases of racism cannot be pursued as a crime, as the First Amendment can protect instances of hate speech from prosecution. When a hate incident motivates property damage, physical harm or death, it can then be classed as a hate crime. Despite this distinction, Iniguez said that both events cause immense harm to the victims and wider community.

“When there’s a hate incident, there’s a tremendous impact in the community and on individuals that are impacted by that hate incident, the same way that a hate crime where there may be property damage or physical injury or even death can also have an impact on the community,” he said. “Our relationships with law enforcement are very strong, and we’re confident that when they bring us these cases, we’re going to give them a fair analysis. But more importantly, we’re going to provide victims with services because that’s the biggest component to start the survivor’s healing journey, even if we can’t prosecute a case.”

The need for collaboration was also raised by Robin S. Toma, executive director of the LA County Commission on Human Relations, who stressed the importance of connecting victims with available resources like LA vs. Hate, an online reporting tool.

“I’m sure all of you have seen (anti-racist) statements for a long time,” Toma said. “Just putting a message out there perhaps is not going to change the way we’ve been operating. It’s important, but it’s not enough.

“There’re so many different acts of hate that happen that are completely unknown and unreported, except for people experiencing them. … There are things that we can’t turn to the police and the prosecutors to take action on because it’s just simply not a crime, and that’s where their ability really ends.”

Systems like LA vs. Hate were created so that people can report incidents of hate and not only receive resources like trauma counseling but also take action.

“This is something where you can pursue your civil rights under our state laws, under our federal laws,” Toma said. “Say it happens at a school and you don’t know whether the school’s really taking it seriously. … We’re going to help you work with the school to make sure that they are taking the strongest action as possible, that they know the options they have and the resources they have to take it seriously.”

Cid added that education can be crucial to preventing hate incidents from occurring in the future while also making people aware of resources like LA vs. Hate if they are a victim of racism.

“There’re so many parts of our communities, particularly our immigrant communities, that don’t understand the resources that are available to them,” he said. “The collaboration with our school district can’t be understated. And to be able to educate our youth, let them know and their families know the resources that are available to them is something that this police department takes great lengths in doing. (We) pride ourselves on it, and we’ll keep working at it because by no means have we attained where we’re trying to be, but there’s a great deal of effort that’s being put forth from this organization and this community.”

Nearly 40% of Glendale’s population belongs to the Armenian community. The city has become an important home for Armenian people and their cultural heritage, and both elected leaders and community members alike have expressed their commitment to ending Armenian hate in Glendale.

“It’s not just caring about your own group that’s targeted, but recognizing that we stand for one another when it happens” Toma said. “This won’t change unless we realize that it matters.”

https://www.pasadenaweekly.com/news/stand-tall-to-hate-glendale-town-hall-discusses-anti-armenian-racism/article_b86d93ec-ef61-11ed-9c71-0fdfc94eef56.html