FACES AND PLACES: GOP heritage groups up and running (05/09/04)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

GOP heritage groups up and running

After a long hiatus, the Republican National Committee (RNC) has re-activated the National Heritage Groups Committee.

The original Heritage Groups Council was established soon after Richard M. Nixon was elected president in 1968. Sensitive to European and Asian ethnic concerns, the RNC even created an ethnic affairs office headed by Laszlo Pasztor, a former Hungarian freedom fighter. The GOP Nationalities Reporter was revitalized. European ethnics were back in the RNC loop and finally receiving the kind of recognition they deserved.

Laszlo was a dynamo. He traveled around the country creating various local and national ethnic affiliates which became part of the Heritage Groups (Nationalities) Council, sending delegates to annual Heritage Groups conventions. During the 1970s, there were 34 nationality federations and 25 state councils recognized by the RNC Heritage Groups Council.

Under the direction of long-time Republican activist and UCCA president Dr. Lev Dobriansky, Ukrainian Americans established the Ukrainian National Republican Federation (UNRF) with representatives in 20 states. Of all the ethnic federations in the GOP, it was the Ukrainians who were most active, a fact recognized by the RNC, which awarded the UNRF the coveted Dwight D. Eisenhower Service Award in 1972.

Ukrainian Americans also helped establish state nationalities councils in various states. Headed by a Ukrainian, the Republican State Nationalities Council of Illinois received the Bob Dole Award for being the most productive state organization in 1970. Sen. Dole was RNC chairman at the time.

Thanks to their visibility and activity, Ukrainians enjoyed increasing influence in the Republican Party. President Gerald R. Ford appointed a Ukrainian as a presidential special assistant for ethnic affairs in the White House in 1975. Ukrainians also served on the staffs of Sen. Robert Taft, Jr. (Ohio), Sen. James F. Buckley (New York) and Sen. Dole (Kansas). Dr. Dobriansky was appointed ambassador to the Bahamas by President Ronald Reagan.

During the Reagan administration, various Ukrainian American leaders met with the president to voice their support for his "evil empire" posture towards the Soviet Union. Jaroslaw Stetsko, chairman of the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, was also invited to the White House.

As ethnic influence in the Republican Party and the White House increased, individuals influenced by the Sovietophile left in American politics began a vicious villification campaign against ethnic groups associated with the Captive Nations lobby.

The most egregrious charge appeared in a left-wing publication titled "Old Nazis, the New Right and the Reagan Administration" by Russ Ballant. Published by Political Research Associates (described as "an independent research institute which collects and disseminates information on right-wing political groups and trends"), this particular perversion argued that "old Nazis" and "fascists" were influencing American foreign policy and prolonging the Cold War. As long as anti-Soviet ethnics were allowed into the White House, Mr. Ballant argued, a true peace with the Soviets would never be achieved. A similar piece authored by the notorious Joe Conason appeared in The Village Voice.

It was as if Department D of the KGB Second Chief Directorate was calling the shots.

Although there was absolutely no proof that any of the charges were valid, the RNC apparently decided that the Heritage Groups Council was not worth the trouble. Slowly, and painfully for some of us, the RNC nationalities division was allowed to wither on the vine. Relying on erroneous information regarding Ukraine - I suspect then National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft was the source - President George Bush visited Kyiv following a meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and urged Ukrainians to remain loyal to Moscow. All Ukrainians were mortified by what has come to be known as Mr. Bush's "Chicken Kiev" speech.

George Bush II is not a carbon copy of his father. Mr. Scowcroft is no longer working in the White House, and the Heritage Groups are reviving under the leadership of RNC coordinator John Eddy.

So what now? Andrew Fedynsky, a fellow Weekly columnist of the Democratic persuasion, urges Ukrainian Americans to become involved with this year's elections - not just at the national level but at the local level as well. Regardless of party affiliation, our voices need to be heard. We're Americans first, Ukrainians second.

Although the current political situation in Ukraine is unacceptable, all the news isn't bad, at least from an American perspective. Ukraine, with its 1,700 troops in Iraq, is the fifth largest military contingent there after the U.S. (135,000), Great Britain (11,000), Italy (2,700) and Poland (2,400). Spain had only 1,300 troops in Iraq, but received more attention than Ukraine.

President Bush has congratulated President Leonid Kuchma on a number of occasions for Ukraine's contribution to building democracy in Iraq. That's nice, but hardly enough. Financial assistance to Ukraine, especially in the cultural and educational realm, needs to be increased substantially.

Now that Mr. Eddy has taken on the unenviable task of Heritage Groups coordinator for the RNC and Casey Oksas, a Lithuanian, has been reinstated as the chairman of the HGC, the situation for Ukrainian Republicans should improve.

If current political predictions are to be believed, this year's presidential election will be as close as the last one. Americans appear evenly divided politically, and the election campaign promises to be brutal. If the election were held today, it would a dead heat with the outcome uncertain.

Both parties are planning to spend millions of dollars to get their man elected. Big money will be spent on slick TV ads, focus groups, political advisors and the like. If the 2004 presidential election is as close as some political savants predict, however, money will not be the major determinant of success. Grass-roots enthusiasm and commitment will be the difference between victory and defeat, and thus far I don't see a lot of that - for either candidate.

Myron Kuropas' e-mail address is: [email protected].

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