Letter to the US Dept. of State Regarding the Adoption
of Bills that Promote Racism and Discrimination
November 22, 2002
Dear Secretary Powell,
In June 2002, the Illinois state legislature adopted
resolution 92_SR0446 and in August 2002, the California state
legislature adopted a similar resolution, bill ACR 241. The bills
can be viewed online at the links below:
Illinois Resolution 92_SR0446
http://www.legis.state.il.us/legisnet/legisnet92/srgroups/sr/920sr0446.html
California Bill ACR 241 http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_0201-0250/acr_241_bill_20020828_enrolled.html
These bills proclaim,
"...that the ancient
Macedonians are Hellenes and that the inhabitants of the northern
province of Greece, Macedonia, are their Hellenic Descendants."
In adopting these bills the legislatures of Illinois
and California have declared their support for the notion of Greek
racial purity. One would have thought such ideas had gone out
of fashion with the demise of the Nazi party.
The group that sponsored the bills calls itself
the "Pan-Macedonian" Association. Here the term "Pan-Macedonian"
is misleading in that this is an organization of Greeks -- not
ethnic Macedonians.
These bills contain so much false information that
it is difficult to know where to begin.
The American Philological Association refers to
Professor Eugene Borza as the "Macedonian specialist".
On the subject of the ancient Macedonians and ancient Greeks here
is what this acknowledged expert has to say:
"It is clear that over a five-century span
of writing in two languages representing a variety of historiographical
and philosophical positions the ancient writers regarded the Greeks
and Macedonians as two separate and distinct peoples whose relationship
was marked by considerable antipathy, if not outright hostility."
The authors of these bills do not appear to realize
that Macedonians and Greeks are separate and distinct peoples
and have been for centuries.
They seem unaware that the "Hellenes"
were incorporated into the larger Balkan milieu before the time
of Christ. By the 1st century AD the term "Hellene" had lost its
ethnic connotation and was used to distinguish those whose faith
was pagan or non-Christian.
A person in this day and age who seriously believes he is a descendant
of the ancient Hellenes should be regarded as delusional.
The bills neglect to mention that in 1913, under
the Treaty of Bucharest, the historic territory of Macedonia was
partitioned, with the southern portion being annexed by Greece.
This is the region nowadays referred to as the Greek province
of Macedonia. From 1913 onward it has been Greek policy to exterminate,
ethnically cleanse, imprison and forcibly assimilate ethnic Macedonians
who fell under Greek jurisdiction.
The bills omit the fact that Greece altered the
personal names of the indigenous Macedonian population to make
them appear Greek. That all toponyms: villages, towns, rivers,
mountains, etc., were similarly renamed. Those children born after
1913 who bore non-Greek names were denied birth certificates and
the Greek Church, which usurped jurisdiction over this "new
territory," refused to baptize them.
The reason for all this deception was to make Greece's
newly acquired province of Macedonia and its people "appear"
Greek. With these bills the Pan-Macedonian Association is perpetuating
that lie.
The claim that today's inhabitants of northern Greece
are the descendants of the "Hellenes" is patently untrue.
Nowadays, the majority of people living in the northern Greek
province of Macedonia descend from "Christian" stock
transplanted into the area from Asia Minor. These population transplantations
were only undertaken from the 1920s onward and are part of the
recent historical record. They were needed to repopulate the province
after a series of ethnic cleansing campaigns.
These newcomers, whose descent the Pan-Macedonian
Association is trying to mythologize, have precious little historical
connection to Macedonia and cannot plausibly be referred to as
the descendants of the "Hellenes."
Recent DNA analysis has shed some much-needed light
on the relationship between Macedonians and Greeks. The conclusions
do not support the claims made in bills 92_SR0446 and ACR 241.
The results can be viewed at the following link:
http://www.maknews.com/html/articles/hla_genes.html
From a Macedonian perspective it seems that racists
have hijacked the legislatures in Illinois and California. The
adoption of these bills merely serves to "validate"
a phony descent mythology for people with virtually no historical
connection to the area. It distorts the history of Macedonia and
the relationship between Macedonians and Greeks.
But there is a far more sinister undercurrent
to these bills.
From 1913 to the present day use of the Macedonian
language has been banned in Greece -- to the point where Greek
police attend village festivals and prevent the singing of Macedonian
songs. Macedonians are denied freedom of religion and their services
may only be conducted in Greek. Their ancient churches and cemeteries
have been systematically destroyed. They have no education in
their mother tongue nor are they permitted publications, radio
or television programs in Macedonian.
Macedonians in Greece must declare themselves, publicly
and in official documents, as "ethnically Greek" or
risk prosecution. If they declare their Macedonian heritage outside
Greece they risk being denied re-entry and their property may
be confiscated.
Greece abolished the counting of Macedonians in
its census soon after annexing Macedonian territory then declared
there are no Macedonians in Greece.
It is precisely such chauvinistic policies that
the Pan-Macedonian Association advocates and the state legislatures
of Illinois and California have unwittingly supported through
bills 92_SR0446 and ACR 241.
I concede US lawmakers do not generally know the
history of the Macedonian people and the Pan-Macedonian Association
has taken full advantage of this to misrepresent it. However,
the notions of Greek racial purity and glorious ancient descent
promulgated via the legislatures of Illinois and California are
dangerous and have serious consequences.
In Greece today this glorious descent mythology and
the notion of Greek racial purity are regarded as "irrefutable
fact." They are taught in the school system and proclaimed
from church pulpits. They are the driving force behind Greece's
ongoing discrimination of its Macedonian minority.
With the adoption of these bills the legislatures
of Illinois and California have cast the United States as a country
that "actively" promotes racism and discrimination in
the Balkans.
The reputation of the United States has been undermined;
especially among the innocent people affected by the discrimination
these bills perpetuate as well as those striving to ensure Greece
treats its minorities according to Western norms.
I would respectfully suggest these bills be withdrawn.
If that is not feasible then the US Department of State may wish
to distance itself from these vulgar machinations.
Yours truly,
Lubi Uzunovski
