Osobiscie wyslalam dwa listy do Chicago Tribune. Z rozmow ze sluchaczami i z ich e-maili wiem, ze wiele innych listow bylo rowniez wyslanych. do tej gazety. Chicago Tribune uwaza, ze sprawa obrazenia Polakow nie zasluguje nawet na miejsce w dziale Listy Czytelnikow. Niezaleznie od tego jak zachowa sie Fox, Chicago Tribune musi wytlumaczyc nam dlaczego ignoruje oburzenie polskiego Chicago. A takze dlaczego powinnismy w dalszym ciagu czytac te gazete i nie bojkotowac tych ktorzy sie w niej oglaszaja.<\/p>\n
From: Alexander Danel
\nSent: Saturday, December 15, 2007 5:52 PM
\nTo: aolivo@tribune.com
\nCc: Frank Spula; Consul Pawel Pietrasienski; Lucja Sliwa; Anna Sobor; Mark Sokolowski
\nSubject: Huge blowout in Polish community, no Tribune coverage yet.<\/p>\nDear Antonio Olivo,<\/p>\n
I have some news for you, or whoever is doing coverage of ethnic issues for the Tribune. It is amazing that this story, which is so huge in the Polish media, never drew any attention from the Tribune or any other English speaking media. The story started one full month ago. In the next few days, I might be able to offer an event (or two) that would provide an opportunity for a current story and photos.
\n<\/p>\nA reminder Antonio \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you and I have met. You interviewed me once for a front page article entitled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pulaski Defenders Decide it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Time to Party.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The article was well written, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m very grateful that you mentioned that I am \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the son of a Christian survivor of Auschwitz.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll just quote from a web petition that I wrote and will be launching soon:<\/p>\n
Defamation has been aired by Fox Network’s show
\n“Back to You.” The undersigned, on behalf of our
\naggrieved community, do hereby express our
\nindignation and proclaim our desire for redress.<\/p>\nOn Wednesday, Nov 14, 2007, the Fox comedy show
\n“Back To You” aired some dialog that involved a
\ncharacter of Polish heritage. In an attempt to
\nconvince him to do something (go bowling,) it was
\nsuggested that this activity was native to his
\nPolish heritage. Towards this end, the following
\nwas said:
\n “C’mon Gary. Bowling is in your Polish blood,
\n like kielbasa, and collaborating with the Nazis.”<\/p>\nThe reaction in our Polish community was like a kick in the head. Keep in mind that, in my case personally, everyone that I grew up with, and I mean everyone literally without exception, was born to parents who had fought and\/or suffered greatly during the war. Various people and entities have worked to defame Polish history for the last 200 years, but this was over the top. Here is more from my petition:<\/p>\n
The notion that Poles collaborated significantly with
\nthe Nazis has traction in America, even among some
\nwell educated people; but it is demonstrably false.
\nAny repetition of this falsehood is offensive and
\ndamaging.<\/p>\nSuggestions that “it’s just a joke” will find no
\nacceptance among the Polish-American community;
\nhistory and experience leaves us too raw. Precisely
\nthis calumny, that “Poles collaborated with Nazis,”
\nwas used by Stalin to help justify the annexation of
\nhalf of Poland’s territory.<\/p>\nI bet you didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that, about Stalin. Anyway, Polonia (the Polish-American community,) which is usually too individualistic to work in unison, suddenly had common cause. Radio and newspapers rallied the people, and as a result phone calls, e-mails, and letter writing happened. In response, someone with some connection to the show (rumor says it was an intern) issued a tepid apology. Indignation roiled. Then came a more official apology, and then finally, on Dec 4, a V.P. from Fox network flew out to Chicago, met with a select collection of Polonia activists in concert with, and at the office of Frank Spula, president of PNA\/PAC. I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t personally at the meeting, but from what I hear, the V.P. from Fox was well intended but had limited understanding. (No one who isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Polish could understand that we have suffered 200 years of degradation, and that, when all else had been taken away, honor and bravery were sometimes all we had left.) There were a tough 2 hours of negotiation with the Fox V.P., with the result that wording for an apology was agreed on.<\/p>\n
This is not over yet. Here is the balance of my petition:<\/p>\n
An apology has been issued; this acknowledges the upset
\nfelt by the Polish-American community. We appreciate,
\nand consider appropriate, the promise that the offending
\nline has been removed from the episode. However, a
\ndisquieting question about the original show remains
\nunresolved: How did this happen? Humor inherently
\ndraws upon common understandings; apparently the show’s
\npersonnel believed there existed a common understanding
\nthat “Poles collaborated with Nazis.” A very different
\ncommon understanding exists among Polish survivors of
\nNazi occupation.<\/p>\nThe apology was issued by Fox Corporation; but we would like
\na clear indication that the network’s statement also applies
\nto the production company and the company’s personnel.
\nThis clear indication can be and should be more than just words.
\nTo be a party to a “deep and sincere apology” requires empathy,
\nand empathy requires understanding. Therefore we ask for the
\nfollowing concrete action; which will promote understanding:<\/p>\n(1) Open a dialog between the show’s personnel and
\n Polish historians so that opinions and knowledge
\n can be exchanged.<\/p>\nThose offering an apology should be open to reasonable
\nrequests for remedy. The offending line has been expunged;
\nthis action prevents future harm, but it does not repair the
\ndamage done. Therefore, as a remedy, we ask for:<\/p>\n(2) A commitment that future episodes of “Back to You”
\n will use the Gary character actively and often to
\n educate the general public about the heroism of the
\n Polish people during World War Two.<\/p>\nIn other words: the wrong people apologized. It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Fox that did this, it was the independent production company. Fox\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s apology is like that of a father who apologizes for his delinquent son?
\nAnyway, this whole series of events is a story that the Tribune should cover. The angle I would like to work for you is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Raising their voices as one\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c i.e., the contrast of this united action versus Polonia\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s past dysfunctional ways. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got a couple events that are coming up in the next few days that can work beautifully in this theme of a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unified voice.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d One event is the inauguration of my web-petition, which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to try to get Frank Spula, etc., involved in, and the other is an big, open invite Christmas caroling event which is literally \u00e2\u20ac\u0153raising our voices as one.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\nPlease contact me, or forward this e-mail to someone who will.<\/p>\n
Alexander Danel<\/p>\n
Chairman, Americans of Polish Descent (AMOPOD)<\/p>\n
Moderator of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153StopJack\u00e2\u20ac\u009d anti-defamation group.<\/p>\n
CC:
\nFrank Spula, President, Polish National Alliance, Polish American Congress
\nPawel Pietrasienski, past Consul General, Polish Consulate in Chicago
\nLucja Sliwa, WPNA radio 1490 AM
\nMark Sokolowski, anti-defamation activist
\nAnna Zolkowski-Sobor, Polonia activist<\/p>\n<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Osobiscie wyslalam dwa listy do Chicago Tribune. Z rozmow ze sluchaczami i z ich e-maili wiem, ze wiele innych listow bylo rowniez wyslanych. do tej gazety. Chicago Tribune uwaza, ze sprawa obrazenia Polakow nie zasluguje nawet na miejsce w dziale Listy Czytelnikow. Niezaleznie od tego jak zachowa sie Fox, Chicago Tribune musi wytlumaczyc nam dlaczego … Continue reading Ciagle czekamy na reakcje Foxu. Przestalismy czekac na reakcje Chicago Tribune.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-o-czym-rozmawiamy-w-programie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jvlradio.com\/cowp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jvlradio.com\/cowp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jvlradio.com\/cowp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jvlradio.com\/cowp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jvlradio.com\/cowp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.jvlradio.com\/cowp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jvlradio.com\/cowp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jvlradio.com\/cowp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jvlradio.com\/cowp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}