The Eighth Tribe, 1976 (3. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1976-04-01 / 4. szám
April, 1976 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page 5 Dennis Frigyes: THE NEW HUNGARIAN MAJORITY The dawn of America’s third century brings a new day for the concept of ethnicity. Across the nation the young are interpretting the meaning of their national heritage in a different light and the old ground rules by which sociologists and political scientists have classified and compartmentalized ethnics, have become all but obsolete. The Hungarian community too, has aged a generation, and yesterday’s children are today’s young adults and yesterday’s young adults are today’s middle-aged members. With the crack of the melting pot, these young and middle-aged Hungarins are less reluctant to abandon their cultural identity and together with the many older Hungarians who avoided the organizations and clubs circuit, they are rapidly becoming the new Hungarian majority. This new Hungarian generation is asking many questions and seeking solutions to them. In Cleveland they are asking why there is no Hungarian civic or cultural center. They are anxious about the next generation of Hungarians’ means and opportunities to preserve their tradition. They are asking about public life, and why no Hungarians have been elected or appointed to office to represent the interests of their community. While their questions are still unanswered, their first step toward solving them, solidarity is the right one. The new Hungarian majority which is emerging is more prone to reject yesterday’s divisive distinctions. Businessmen, professionals, laborers, students and senior citizens, are beginning to realize that the acute class standards imported from Hungary after World War II have proven counterproductive. The new generation of Hungarians will have two major tasks to tarkle, defining its goals and facilitating the compromises and cooperation required to reach them. What reasonable and prudent goals should the new generation set? The nature of these goals should he put in the proper perspective. While being Hungarian is a vital day-to-day concern where it is a matter of existence, as in Transylvania, it has become more a cultural and fraternal consideration in the United States. Thus the goals of Hungarian Americans are much like those of Polish, Ukrainian, Italian, Lithuanian or Greek Americans. These and other European-Americans are concerned with lan-Note: Dennis Frigyes is Past President and founder of Patria, the midwest’s only Hungarian civic youth organization, with headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. guage schools, care for their elderly, perpetuation of folk arts and dances, as well as social opportunities. Within the overall American community, they are interested in electing members of their nationality to city council seats, state representative seats, judicial benches and so on. Most ethnic communities hope to exert influences when necessary on U.S. foreign policy when the interests of their ancestral country is at stake. There is nothing un-American about such aspirations as they are shared in whole or in part by most U.S. interest groups other than ethnics. For Cleveland-area Hungarians these goals, particularly those of a local nature, are timely. Language schools, folk arts and social functions could best be facilitated through the much discussed and long overdue Hungarian Civic Center. The second issue, that of representation in a decision-making capacity, is also timely. The existing wealth of talent and ability within the Hungarian community should be put to work in the service of the public. Young Hungarians should consider the reality of seeking public office in coming years. The cooperation necessary for Hungarian-Americans to reach their goals must begin with a realization that everyone is needed on the team, that no individual or organization is any more or less important than another. With many Hungarian organizations and parish groups in operation, cleavages and conflicts are not inexplicable, yet their occasional gravity has discouraged many younger Hungarians from pursuing the traditional organizational structure. Many of the more successful and productive ethnic groups have alleviated much of their internal dissent through allocation of functions. The youngest Hungarians should be provided the basic language and cultural education that will develop their identity. Commendable and sueccsful work has been done for several years by both the East Side and West Side Hungarian Schools. Both have developed excellent curricula and have purchased the finest textbooks available for teaching. In addition to the local services rendered by the West Side (Mindszenty) Hungarian School, its sponsoring foundation also has provided guidance and material assistance to Hungarian schools elsewhere. It is at this age that young Hungarians are generally enrolled in the Hungarian Scouts and the Cleveland Magyar Athletic Club, the Scouts enriching the child’s cultural background and the CMAC introducing him to several diverse sports attractive to Hungarians such as fencing, boxing and soccer. Many young Hungarians leave the Hungarian community, temporarily or permanently, midway through high school. They had graduated from the
