Magyar News, 1999. szeptember-2000. augusztus (10. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
2000-04-01 / 8. szám
In a few weeks the United States census will take place. Theoretically every person should be counted. On the census form there are many questions that could ask about housing, gender, number of family members, etc. Not being familiar with the system, I tried to look on the internet to find out how the Hungarians are doing. I got zillions of numbers, most of which I didn’t understand, but I really couldn’t find what I was looking for. I also tried the old fashioned way and looked up in some encyclopedias and basically found the same thing. Hoping that there would be a listing of nationalities so I could compare the Hungarians to others, the only success I had was seeing the list of 30 million blacks and the 22 million Hispanics. I immediately realized that we Hungarians in the United States are not in the same league with them. We Hungarians understand that our numbers are dwindling. There are two reasons. One reason is that many of the younger Hungarians are fully submerged in the American way of life. Some have mixed marriages and they blend in with another non-American culture. The other reason is a wrong evaluation Some considered that their ancestors were very backward people. They thought that all of Hungary was far away from civilization. There was only hard work, peasant life, no running water, and when it rained the mud flowed over the top of the high boots - “shameful situation, better not talk about it. ” These people didn’t want anybody here to know where they came from. The now older generation had their way to escape the stigma. “Oh! We are not Hungarians anymore, we are not Europeans, we are Americans. ” Are running water, the cars and other things really capable of brainwashing people? What kind of Americans could they be? Nowadays big groups with large numbers of people are building up some kind of identity. There are the African-Americans. Some are from South America or the islands around there but they want to be different kinds of Americans. Another group is the Asian-Americans, they cover a pretty big territory. I don’t see any of them wanting to be just plain Americans. As far as Europe is concerned there are the Irish, the Germans, Italians, Greeks who still show their identity. We don’t hear such a term as European-Americans. Do we? So where are the Hungarians and what are they doing? I would like to get to the second reason why the number of Hungarians is dwindling. We don’t stand up for ourselves! mm AND BE COUNTED Make it a tribute to your ancesters Could you or some of your friends honestly say that they never skipped the questions asking about their nationality or ethnic origin during the census? One might ask of what importance there is to show that we are Hungarians in America. Well if other people show their nationality then why shouldn’t we? There are many other nationalities who are small in size, depending on how they are counted relating to their ancestry. In numbers we are not far behind the natives, the American Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts. They are diminishing too. One only has to be 1/8 of one of these nationalities to be counted as such. These people together only add up to a couple of hundred thousands more than the American Hungarians. I am pretty sure that we could do better. The first generation after the original immigrant is full Hungarian. From mixed marriages the second is half, the third is a quarter and the forth generation would be an eighth. I see some great numbers growing here. We shouldn’t lose our grip on our existence. We should be counted. There are 30 million African- Americans, 22 million Hispanics, their number is growing by 53% between censuses. The Asian population just about doubles that with 108%. Admitted permanent residents 1981-1990 had 5,000 Hungarians, 8,000 from Czechoslovakia and 30,000 from Romania. Since then it went down respectfully to 40, 25 and Romania 447. One third of the American Hungarians live in the North-East, one third in the Mid- West, and one third is split between West and South. Slovaks are similar, while the more than half of Czechs are in the Mid- West. In our region we would count over 500,000 Hungarians. Comparing the currant population of these countries now are; Hungary 10,167,000; Czech Republic 10,284,000; Slovakia 5,401,000; Romania 22,291,000. I didn’t use Yugoslavia, or those after the break-up of it, because it was somewhat confusing and I couldn’t sort out the data. All of us who are aware of the Central European population and the original ancestry of these people know that immigrants from Hungary’s neighboring countries are also made up from the Hungarian minorities there. This article is meant to be a wake-up call to all whose ancestors, all or some, were Hungarians. Having America know about us is not a competition with other minorities. It is important that our elected officials take note of us. Frank Koszorús, Esq. at the American Hungarian National Convention last fall underlined the grassroots importance to influence American Policy to be favorable to Hungarians. He explained how much it means to get in touch with our representatives. Not only organizations but also individuals should call their attention to matters that we are concerned about. Well, if with the census we could come up with a decent showing, then we already have earned part of our goals. Our Hungarian churches, museums, collections are in need of tremendous support. There are grants and many other sources that could be put to proper use in helping us. When it comes to giving a hand to Hungary, a good incentive would be to make a count of the American Hungarian taxpayers. Try to think about all the effort, sacrifice your ancestors made to build the Hungarian nation. A nation that gave much to the world defending it, adding to civilization, the advancement of technology, in the fields of art, music, and-----the line never ends. You might already have the census form in your hand, or you will have it in a very short time. Answer the questions, having your ancestors in mind. Here are a few questions that you will find on the form: "What is this person's ancestry or ethnic origin?" HUNGARIAN "Print the ancestry group with which the person identifies" HUNGARIAN "Persons who have more than one origin, may report two ancestry groups. HUNGARIAN-......... "Does this person speak a language other than English at home? What is this language?" HUNGARIAN Stand up and be counted as a Hungarian! Joseph F. Balogh Page 1
