Please find below:

(1) A letter by the American Hellenic Media Project (AHMP), as published by The Village Voice on May 12, 1998, and accompanying responses by the authors concerned;

(2) A response by AHMP; and

(3) The unedited letter as originally forwarded by AHMP to The Village Voice.

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(1)

LETTERS

GRECIAN BURN

MICHAEL MUSTO, in his April 28 column [La Dolce Musto], questioned: ". . . was there ever any doubt about the guy's [George Michael's] sexuality anyway, not because he's Greek, but because he was once reported to be dating Brooke Shields?" This tongue-in-cheek approach does not excuse the message -- stereotyping sexual orientation based on ethnicity. Would a similar stereotype, however lightened by levity, have been made about the denseness of Poles, the stinginess of Jews or the criminality of African-Americans?

If ethnic slurs are unacceptable for Poles, Jews and African-Americans, why are they permissible against Greeks -- especially in light of centuries of anti-Hellenic bias that has often resulted in genocide, pogroms, and hate crimes?

After Admiral Mark L. Bristol, the United States high commissioner at Constantinople, proclaimed in 1919 that "the Greek is about the worst race in the Near East," a million and a half Greeks from Asia Minor were slaughtered or ethnically cleansed by Turkish troops. The West stood idly by and watched this holocaust from naval vessels off the quay at Smyrna (now renamed Izmir). Today, bombs are exploded in Greek churches, Orthodox cemeteries are desecrated, Greek clergy are murdered, and unarmed protesters are shot or beaten to death in Cyprus and Turkey, again, with our silent approval.

The only thing more surprising than Musto's message is where it came from. Yet this is not the first time The Village Voice has allowed anti-Hellenic bias to be expressed in its pages. In an April 30, 1996, article, "Greeks Bearing Gifts," Wayne Barrett singled out HANAC, one of dozens of ethnic and race-based organizations with strong connections to city government, for its ties to the Giuliani administration. Other than the offensive nature of its headline, Barrett's article made sure to emphasize the irrelevant fact that HANAC was founded and headed by Greek Americans.

One would think that Musto's and Barrett's stereotyping and ethnic bias have no place in one of the most progressive newspapers in one of the most progressive cities. If The Village Voice is willing to engage in such ethnic-bating, it is disturbing to think of what other periodicals may have in store for Hellenes.

P. D. SPYROPOULOS, Director
American Hellenic Media Project
Manhattan

Michael Musto replies: I'm sorry that the oppression-sensitive Mr. Spyropoulos considers my wisecrack a slur against Greeks because it links them with gays. I don't.

Wayne Barrett replies: HANAC tenanted a federally funded senior citizen project almost entirely with Greeks, and illegally built and operated a Greek Orthodox chapel in the project's community room. My piece also dealt with the citywide political role of the HANAC leadership. It would have been impossible to report these realities without mentioning the ethnicity of the organization.

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(2)

American Hellenic Media Project
P.O. Box 1150
New York, N.Y. 10028-0008
ahmp@hri.org
www.ahmp.org

Via fax: (212) 475-8944

April 26, 1998

To the Editor of The Village Voice:

In his April 28th article, "La Dolce Musto", Voice writer Michael Musto declared "was there ever any doubt about George Michael's sexuality anyway, not because he's Greek, but because he was once reported to be dating Brooke Shields?"

The article's tongue-in-cheek approach does not excuse its message, stereotyping sexual orientation based on ethnicity. Would a similar stereotype, however lightened by levity, have been made about the denseness of Poles, the stinginess of Jews or the criminality of African-Americans?

If ethnic slurs are unacceptable for Poles, Jews and African-Americans, then why are they permissible against Greeks—especially in light of centuries of misograecist bias; discrimination which has often resulted in genocides, pogroms and hate crimes. After Admiral Mark L. Bristol, the U.S.'s High Commissioner at Constantinople, proclaimed that "the Greek is about the worst race in the Near East", a million and a half Greeks from Asia Minor were slaughtered or ethnically cleansed by Turkish troops in 1922 as the West sat idly by and watched this holocaust from naval vessels off the quay at Smyrna (now renamed Izmir). Today, bombs are exploded in Greek churches, Orthodox cemeteries are desecrated, Greek clergy are murdered and unarmed protesters are shot or beaten to death in Cyprus and Turkey, again, with our silent approval (e.g. www.hri.org/Cyprus/Cyprus_Problem/bikers/murder_1.html & /murder_2.html to view two such killings caught on videotape).

The only thing more surprising than Michael Musto's message is where it came from. Yet this is not the first time the Voice has allowed anti-Hellenic bias to be expressed within its pages. In an April 30, 1996 article, "Greeks Bearing Gifts", Voice writer Wayne Barrett singled out HANAC, one of dozens of ethnic and race-based organizations with strong connections to city government, for its ties to the Giuliani administration. Other than the offensive nature of its title, Mr. Barrett's article made sure to emphasize the irrelevant fact that HANAC was founded and headed by Greek-Americans.

One would think Messrs. Musto's and Barrett's stereotyping and ethnic bias have no place in one of the most progressive newspapers of one of the world's most progressive cities. If The Village Voice is willing to engage in such ethnic-bating, it is disturbing to think of what other periodicals have in store for Hellenes.

Very truly yours,

P. D. Spyropoulos, Esq.
Director

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(3)

American Hellenic Media Project P.O. Box 1150 New York, N.Y. 10028-0008 ahmp@hri.org
www.ahmp.org

Via Fax & E-mail: (212) 475-8944

May 6, 1998

Letters to the Editor
The Village Voice
36 Cooper Square
New York, NY 10003

To the Editor:

Wayne Barrett responded to the American Hellenic Media Project's letter to the editor (Letters, 5/12/98) by restating that "HANAC tenanted a federally funded senior citizen project almost entirely with Greeks, and illegally built and operated a Greek Orthodox Chapel . . ." I am confident that Mr. Barrett, a veteran investigative reporter, has a well-founded basis for his statements regarding HANAC. AHMP's complaint is not about the factual accuracy of the report but about singling out Greek-Americans for doing what numerous other ethnic organizations also do.

Whether public monies should be spent to benefit ethnic or religious groups is a question better left to voters, politicians and lawmakers—and to the courts if done illegally, as Mr. Barrett's report claims happened with HANAC. But the large number of Jewish, Catholic, Hispanic, African-American and other organizations that receive far larger amounts of federal, state and city funding (and other resources) that exclusively benefit members of their own group, with presumably an equal amount of self-dealing, misuse of funds or other corruption, seriously undermines Mr. Barrett's rationale for selectively targeting a Greek-American organization.

As for Mr. Musto's response, it's a good one-liner but of course has nothing to do with the thrust of the letter's complaint, namely, that even innocuous or unintentional stereotyping against groups that have endured serious persecution in the recent past as a result of bigotry, or the apathy of others towards its expression, weaves yet another strand—however fine and however difficult it may be to see individually—of a far larger and complex web that may entangle its victims in the gravest of consequences.

Very truly yours,

P. D. Spyropoulos, Esq.
Director

cc: Wayne Barrett
Michael Musto