While at my local video rental store the other day, an
independent movie with a very provocative name caught my attention.
I decided immediately to rent the small-time movie instead of
“The Bourne Supremacy,” my original choice. The movie
was called “A Day Without a Mexican,” and was about the
sudden, mysterious disappearance of all Chicanos from California in
one day.
Not only was the movie very funny and entertaining, but it also
made the viewer realize the contributions of Chicanos to our state.
The directors did a great job in presenting how empty California
would be without its Chicano population.
After watching the movie, I wondered how I would react if I woke
up in the morning only to find that the Chicanos had disappeared.
But first I asked myself if such thing was even possible, and if
so, how the world would react to it.
Then I realized that things like this have happened many times
in the past. Since I am an Armenian American, I have grown up
listening to the stories of my elder generations and have read
books about the sudden disappearance of my ancestors from their
homeland, which is known as Eastern Turkey today.
I am referring to the Armenian Genocide, which was committed by
the Ottoman government in 1915. According to UCLA history Professor
Richard Hovannisian, the complete deportation and massacres of many
Armenian towns and villages did not take more than a couple of
days.
The movie made me think deeper and got me to imagine being there
in the summer of 1915. I thought to myself that if an Armenian
merchant happened to be on a business trip during the time of the
deportation of the Armenians from his town, he would have came back
to see something similar to what I saw in “A Day Without a
Mexican.” The merchant would have been shocked and would have
probably thought he was dreaming.
He would have been horrified and would have wondered about the
absence of children playing in the alleys, the elderly sitting
around and arguing by their doorsteps, the smell of fruits and
foods from the markets, the sounds of students coming out of the
schools and the couples walking in the streets. I believe the
merchant would have just stood there and thought that he was in a
very horrible nightmare.
I wondered how the Ottoman government managed to wipe out the
entire 3,000-year-old civilization without being punished by world
powers such as the United States. In the summer of 1915, every day
was a day without an Armenian in the towns of the Ottoman
empire.
Today, I am sadly sitting in my room and imagining myself in the
streets of the ancient Armenian capital of Yerevan, picturing
myself passing through the markets and watching the merchants work
the same way they have for centuries, seeing people walk in and out
of the churches, just as they did for over 1,600 years, and seeing
the elderly sitting at the doorsteps and the kids playing in the
streets, just as they did for over 3,000 years.
But then I realize that I am in my room in Glendale, California.
I sadly have to admit that in the land of my ancestors, it is still
truly “A Day Without an Armenian.”
On April 24, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger officially recognized
that date as the Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide. Even
though 37 American states have now officially recognized the
Armenian Genocide, the leaders of our country have still refused to
condemn the Turkish government for its barbaric actions. But the
fight will go on.
By writing this submission, I am appealing to all of the
students at UCLA; I am basically appealing to the future leaders of
our country. Only with activists such as myself and supporters like
you will our country officially recognize the Armenian Genocide and
pressure the Turkish government to apologize to the world for its
horrible actions and its painful campaign of 90 years of
denial.
Sookasian is a fourth-year political science
student.