The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum #5

=> what's the point.....

what's the point.....

Posted by pancho (Moderator) - Thursday, December 31 2015, 16:39:52 (UTC)
from *** - ***

Network -

Windows NT -

Mozilla
Website:
Website title:

...of maintaining an Assyrian identity?

What's the practical use...what's the goal? I think, after 30 years of being a “professional” Assyrian, I'm in a good position to ask this question. Even better because I never believed we were directly descendant from the ancients in any meaningful way and certainly not as exclusively Christian...in a general sense every Iraqi considers the ancient Assyrians but also the Babylonians and Sumerians as his or her ancestors...they make no distinctions as to religion..only we do that...only we say that to be an Assyrian you have to be a Christian; Muslims need not apply....which makes of us what everyone else thinks; a Christian sect and not any kind of a nation. A Christian sect whose leaders knew enough to know they could not demand a Christian enclave for their own and so they became a “nationality”, a political/ethnic “nationality” and made their demands for a return of “their country”. A country which, if it was to be democratic would face the certainty of one day having a voting Muslim majority...and then what?

When the Jews got their own country we were even more convinced that out turn would come next. This is the “hope” and the “faith” which has caused us so much grief in the past...right up to this present war in which once again we believed the West was coming to “save us”...each time we've allied ourselves to this fond wish we've suffered for it...suffered disappointment, suffered loss as have our Muslim neighbors, and suffered retaliation when the West left us flat. We have been all too eager to turn traitor to our countries of origin and their inhabitants. And this is not something new...it goes all the way back to the Mongol invasion of Iraq when we aided the attackers in hopes of gaining an advantage.

How do you remain Assyrian...or express it in the modern world? How, if not as a hobby, as something to entertain friends with....and when the identity is passed on to our children, what exactly are we passing on that has many meaning or relevance to their lives?

Quickly enough those of us brought to the West as children learned that being Assyrian was no advantage...the language was of no help but neither were the manners and morals of our parents...in fact there was no part of being Assyrian which didn't have to be shed, and quickly too, if we wanted to adapt to our new lives. Our parents expected us to succeed...to get out there and get the best of everything we could, which was primarily why they brought us to a new world. Yet they were dismayed and angry when they saw us shedding too much of the Assyrian baggage which, back home, was no hindrance, usually...but was a liability now. This was especially true in the 50s when my family came. America was a melting pot, there were no honors given to being ethnic...blending in, fitting in, being like everyone else was all we wanted to do.

It's not like that today...today there is a Little Korea and a Little Vietnam and even a Little Chaldea, in Detroit....being ethnic is cool, it's “in”....and no shame, even a source of pride. But, pride in what? Our glory days as Assyrians are well gone...and even there the misinformation and prejudice against the ancients makes it difficult to take pride in their achievements without having to also own what the West calls their incredible “savagery”. Our Christian history has a few bright moments in it but the most we are able to say about it is that it allowed us to survive....stones also survive...what we do know is that we haven't thrived...not as Assyrians.

We hear rumors that this or that successful person is from an Assyrian background but the individuals themselves seem never to mention or credit their ethnic identity. The only exception I can think of is Narsai David who was a famous restaurateur, a pioneer in the California cuisine revolution which spread around the country while always maintaining pride in his Assyrian identity, and advertising it. The director Terrence Malik : might be of Assyrian descent, because of his name.....we know Andre Aghassi is half Assyrian but he disdains any mention of it. There may well be others...certainly we are as capable of producing accomplished individuals as any other group and we have, no doubt. But there may be something in this identity, in proclaiming too loudly ones “pride” in it or, worse, dreaming of a return to Assyria, that stunts those qualities necessary for competing on the larger stage.

Chaldeans aren't afflicted this way. They seem to maintain their pride in being Chaldean while at the same time competing successfully outside the ethnic confines. This can be traced back to their very different behavior and attitude in Iraq where they felt no disdain for Muslims and circulated freely among them and learned how to deal and how to succeed. Chaldeans never made a claim for a return of “their” Chaldea...they always saw themselves as Iraqi nationals of a Chaldean ethnicity, but loyal Iraqis. In this they were more clear-headed, more realistic, more versed in common sense and practicality, than were the Assyrians who refused to mix with Muslims and kept to themselves nursing a “dream” that one day they would have their own Assyria back.

When Chaldeans came to the West they were already successful, knew what it took to succeed and proceeded to do so....when we arrived we came as if just released from prison, from a prison of our own making...with no experience of how to deal in the larger world....so we got by, we “survived” as best we could and clung all the more to this dream of one day going back to an Assyria...and THEN we would do something big.

That dream of regaining Assyria, if not completely dead, is in it's last gasp with no chance of improving. The Assyrian population in Iraq has been drastically reduced by war and now escape. It will be a long time, if ever, before Assyrians will consider returning....indeed they can build much better lives for their families outside Iraq, preferably in the West, as have the rest of us.

….so now what?

---------------------

- BACK TO INDEX - REPLY - QUOTE - EDIT - DELETE -

The full topic:
No replies.

***