Ethno-political interest groups have long been a part of American politics, and their lobbying efforts have often forced self-interested legislation with no regard for the overall good of the country. Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi gave into such political lobbying efforts last week when she threw her support behind a House resolution aimed at labeling the deaths of Armenians a century ago at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
Of course this lobbying goes beyond party lines, and all parties are equally guilty of playing this game. Unfortunately, these ethno-political interest groups have woven themselves seamlessly into American political culture. Is it not time to move beyond this? When will Americans simply be “Americans”? When will we stop referring to ourselves as African-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Italian-Americans, German-Americans, Armenian-Americans and so on? It is time that we, as Americans, stand and say that we are Americans, one distinct group unto ourselves. These quasi-ethnic classifications just breed animosity and unnecessary division. All they do is reinforce differences between our fellow countrymen and put up walls that build stereotypes and lack of trust between ethnicities.
Very few of us who claim this hyphenated status of Americanism have ever even been to the country of our supposed ethnicity, yet somehow we still try to identify with it. There is nothing wrong with being proud of your heritage, but most of us are several generations removed from the countries we claim to have direct connections to. What makes us distinctly American is that our ancestors have all come from different places. In this, our differences are what we have in common.
Ask an American what his or her ethnicity is and you will most likely get a laundry list of heritages the person claims to be. Why aren’t we simply Americans? This supposed ethnic pride that most of us, unless you or your parents were direct immigrants, have no real connection to, is partially responsible for the rise of ethno-political interest groups. These lobbying groups are largely self-serving, and they bridge both sides of the political aisle.
The detrimental nature of ethno-political lobbying on American politics manifested itself last week in the House committee resolution regarding the Armenian genocide. While Ms. Pelosi’s motivations behind advocating this legislation are unclear, the political ramifications could have been catastrophic for U.S. foreign policy and the U.S. military.
Conveniently, key Democrats in Congress, namely Ms. Pelosi, have brought up the
100-year-old question of whether or not the Ottomans committed genocide against the Armenians in World War I. Ms. Pelosi just so happens to have a large Armenian-American population in her constituency in California, which also has an ethno-political lobbying organization known as the Armenian Assembly of America. This lobbying group is now pushing for U.S. recognition of the genocide during the World War I, and in turn, the Democrats are using it as a political tool to push our forces out of Iraq. Pelosi is no doubt appeasing her Armenian-American constituents.
The goal here is a liberal attempt to destroy the important Turkish-American partnership that supports the American war effort in Iraq, and a key piece of the puzzle has manifested itself in ethno-political lobbying. Thus, in a way, an Armenian-American lobbying organization is attempting to dictate American foreign policy and destroy one of the few Muslim alliances the U.S. has in the Middle East.
The ramifications of an action such as this would be costly for American foreign policy in the region for years to come. Not only could this jeopardize the immediate support and supply of coalition forces in Iraq, it could also eliminate one of the few American allies in a region so vital to U.S. interests.
I don’t mean to single out liberals with this example. Conservatives are just as guilty of catering to ethno-political interests. This is merely a recent and relevant example of the power of these organizations. Conservatives have often yielded to Israeli-American lobbying interests, which has resulted in a strong Israeli-American alliance. This has had an untold number of consequences for our image and relations to the Arab world. Even if the U.S. wanted to withdraw its support from Israel, Israeli-American lobbying organizations would fight tirelessly to make sure that didn’t happen.
These are just a few examples of the influence of ethno-political lobbyists. The power wielded by these organizations is a scary, but unnecessary, evil. If Americans would put down their supposed ethnic allegiances and just consider themselves “Americans,” these organizations would be irrelevant and a much smaller threat to our political system.
Joseph Trovato ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in journalism and political science.
