Dear Friends:
 
I am very proud to announce that our hard work has paid-off and the Daily News has published our op-ed.  Please pick up a copy of July 7th - NY DAILY NEWS (BROOKLYN/QUEENS SECTION) - OUR STORY IS IN - on page 6 in the Brooklyn and Queens Edition/Section.

 
THIS OP-ED IS OUR RESPONSE TO THE ARTICLE THAT WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 8th 2009. (see below)

John Lisyanskiy

Original article:

Brazen thieves steal $1M in jewels from midtown jewelry shop when guards step out for lunch: cops

 
 BY Erica Pearson and Alison Gendar
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Friday, May 8th 2009, 5:19 AM
 Keivom/News
Scene of the robbery at Gioia Galleria Inc.
A pair of bold bandits snatched $1million worth of diamonds from a midtown jewelry store Thursday while the security guards were at lunch, police sources said.
The store's co-owner, Rafaela Amini, buzzed the duo into Gioia Galleria Inc. on E. 57th St. a little before 3 p.m., police said.
As soon as the two men were inside, they doused Amini, 34, with pepper spray, knocked her to the ground and then kicked the stunned woman in the head as she lay crumpled on the floor, sources said.
The robbers - both in their mid-30s and with Russian accents - grabbed a pair of diamond earrings and a diamond ring, together worth more than $1 million, according to police.
"They were casing the place. Two gentlemen. They saw me leave for my lunch break. Twenty minutes later, they came to the door," said a security guard who gave only his first name, Jesse.
He said Amini told the pair that they would have to wait until the security guard was back from lunch.
"They forced their way in," Jesse said.
But Amini told cops she recognized the men because they had been to the store before, so she buzzed them in, police sources said.
Amini's father and Gioia co-owner, David Amini, declined to comment on the theft.
Rafaela Amini was treated and released at Roosevelt Hospital.
As she came home last night, wearing large sunglasses, she declined to comment about the brutal robbery.
"Now is not a good time," said a woman who was with her.

agendar@nydailynews.com
With Simone Weichselbaum

Initial Response:

Dear Ms. Gendar, your story today about the heist on 57th street, you said "The robbers - both in their mid-30s and with Russian accents "
 
My question to you is and I hope you can clarify this for me; the Russian accent part, how did that come about? was there an expert evaluation on the scene (a recording) is this something that was just thrown around by investigators on the scene, could it have possibly been a polish accent, Slovakian, Ukrainian, Czech, Albanian, Croatian, or any other accent from the Baltic.. or Eastern European accent.  Please let me know why it is that you were tempted to insert particularly a Russian Accent part in this story. 
 
(Can you or for that matter who ever has given you this info; distinguish Mexican accent from that of Dominican, Cuban, Ecuadorian or Puerto Rican? and would you consider writing that in your story?)
 
I would greatly appreciate a response... 

OUR OP-ED:

ACCENTS DON'T DEFINE PEOPLE OR THEIR GROUPS
 
By:
 
John Lisyanskiy
Julia Volpin
Evgeny Freidman
 
Just as it takes practice to tell what country a Spanish speaker comes from, an untrained ear cannot discern what Eastern European accent belongs to what country.   There was a time when anyone with any kind of Spanish accent committed a crime and he/she was described as a Puerto Rican regardless of the fact that there are nearly two dozen different nationalities whose native tongue is Spanish. The result was that people in New York came to think that Spanish speakers had to be Puerto Rican, and that if one was Puerto Rican then he/she was likely to commit a crime. Such is the power of stereotyping. Today, New Yorkers are much more cautious about slapping labels on people with Spanish accents, and the contributions by Latino groups to our city and nation are proudly recognized. However, it seems that the lesson has yet to be learned.
 
Italian Americans have been burdened for decades because reporting on organized crime groups was focused on Italian ethnicity, and mistakenly perpetrated the myth that all organized crime was Italian.
 
The point is this: It is far too easy to carelessly label people. Doing this is worse than simply being hurtful since it is dangerous and it is damaging.
 
As members of the Russian-speaking American community, we are concerned with the stereotyping of a proud group of citizens who have contributed much to our adopted country, and continue to do so everyday. Russian Americans have become leaders and innovators of businesses, experts in law, medicine, science, engineering, the arts. Like so many immigrant groups before us, however, we must overcome negative stereotypes that are sometimes carelessly thrown around by otherwise well meaning people. 

Even in the Daily News, a recent story identified the accents of a pair of robbers as Russian, though there was no indication the judgement was made by someone who could tell one Slavic language from another. We do not specifically blame this publication or the reporter in this incident, but hope to use this event in educating people on their hidden and undeserving discrimination.
 
What troubles us is that portrayals of the Russian community have, in the recent past, been relegated to discussions that neglect to highlight the contributions that our community has made and continues to make to this city, state and nation. With each wave of Russian immigrants arrived a group of people with a vision of the American dream, a set of skills, and a desire to start a new and better life for themselves and their children.  Those of us who weren’t privy to English language courses often encounter a myriad of stereotypes and misconceptions when our accents are heard.  How different everyday interactions are for those of us with unaccented English?
 
New York’s Russian-speaking community has a great deal to be proud of.  We are employed on Wall Street, at some of the top law firms, community centers, hospitals, media outlets, and in government.  We are adding and building to the fabric of this city by working hard to do our jobs and to raise our families, and make a great effort to build bonds with our neighbors. As we enter the fourth decade of this immigration, we are thriving and struggling much like all of New Yorkers. Some of us have accents, others speak English as fluently and flawlessly as any American-born individual; but we all share a deep respect and love for our adopted homeland.

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