Reader Response - CORINNE HERNANDEZ

Dear Marineh Khachadour, I agree with you that we must learn to accept

differences, however I must say that the town of Glendale has changed a

lot over the past 10 years.

I grew up in Echo Park, which is very close to Glendale. As a

teenager, my friends and I would take the bus from Echo Park to Glendale

to shop at the mall, go to the movies, and hang out at the arcade that is

on Brand Boulevard.

In your letter, you state that immigrants have a right to complain,

well I’m not an immigrant and I think that it is very rude when you go

into various stores around Glendale and the people who work there are

speaking Armenian, they don’t even acknowledge that you are there

(sometimes to me it seems that they don’t care because I am not Armenian)

-- maybe I’m wrong.

And one more thing I notice that all these different articles in the

News-Press never mention the fact that Raul Aguirre death was on May 5,

which is Cinco de Mayo (a Mexican holiday) and the High School was having

a special event. Why didn’t the school put more security in place that

day?

Finally, in your commentary, you say “your violence and gang problems

are not specific to the Armenians and Latinos in Glendale” That is true,

but I notice that Armenian youths walk around with a chip on their

shoulder. And you can’t tell me that those teens dislike the Chicanos.

You know what the funny thing is? The style that Armenian teens wear

is taken from Chicano and African-American gang members (Tommy Hilfger

did not invent this style). I notice that when I am at the Glendale

Marketplace or the mall that when I seen groups of teens, I will see a

Chicanos, Asians, African-Americans and Anglos (male & female) all

together and then I will see Armenians -- and it will be a group of boys

walking around with that chip on there shoulder.

I think Armenians need to get Americanized and get out of their

Middle-Eastern machismo attitudes.

Corinne Hernandez

Glendale