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Our Fear is Justified In answ er to L. R iznyk’s a rtic le of Our Life, N ovem ber, 1967. I agree w ith M rs. L. R iznyk’s statem en t th a t if “n atu ra l feel ings fo r ancestral trad itio n s, cul tu re and h eritag e are cultivated a t home, children will re ta in such feelings.” I also agree th a t “P re-W ar I im m igrants w ere able to im p art to th e ir A m erican born children a sense of U krainianism th a t has not been lost and th ey p a rtic i p ated in organizationl life.” B u t I am very m uch surprised th a t M rs. R iznyk is som ehow an noyed th a t U krainian p aren ts w ant to save th e ir children from assim ilation. It m ay be proper to recall here A rnold Toynbee’s sta te m e n t: “N ationalism is one of th e stro n g est forces in th e w orld.” Today we have an entirely dif fe ren t situatio n th a t th e P re- W ar I im m igrants did. W e m u st n ot fo rg et th a t th e p resen t w ay of life — th e urbanization, th e industrialization, th e trem en dous effect of m ass m edia — are facto rs w hich th e children of P re-W ar I im m igrants w ere not exposed to. In addition, “the m elting pot policy” w hich p re vailed in th is country until th e 1930’s w as not conducive (con tra ry to th e intentions of its creators) to assim ilation. The conditions m entioned above coupled w ith rapid social changes are th e very facto rs w hich h asten th e assim ilating process. Our society faces a tra n sition from th e fam ily u n it to a prevalance of economic in stitu tions. The fam ily has lost its control over th e bringing up of ch ild re n ; it is evident th a t th e fam ily role is now being taken over m ore and m ore by govern m ental, or oth er public and civic in stitu tio n s : nurseries, k inder g arten s, sum m er cam ps, a fte r school activities, recreational centers and such. It is a fact and not m erely an expression of p aren tal h y s te ria th a t “our children are drow ning in a foreign sea.” The p aren ts feel th a t th ey are obli g ated to save th e ir children from unnecessary assim ilation, or a t least to slow down its process. It should be rem em bered th a t we left our country in order to save ourselves and our children from physical destruction. W e do not expect our children to em i g ra te to U kraine, b u t we w ant them to be aw are of th e ir re sponsibility to our hom eland. We w ant to b rin g up our children in a sp irit of love fo r our en slaved country, our trad itio n s and our culture. W e also w ant th em to contribute to th e de velopm ent of U krainian culture. T here can be no U k rain ian cul tu re w ithout U krainian language and I believe th a t M rs. R iz nyk will not deny th is fact. How can a U krainian poet w rite TJkrainian poetry, an au th o r w rite a U krainian book; or a U krainian h isto rian stud y U k rain ian sources w ith o u t a sound knowledge of th e U krainian lan guage? How can one enjoy and appreciate U krainian lite ra tu re w ithout a knowledge of U k rain ian language? U krainian intelectuals under Com m unism are oppressed, th erefo re it is up to th e im m i g ra n ts to support and in stru ct th e young generation of free U k rain ian intellectuals in order th a t th ey will spread th e tru th about U kraine. F rom th e above m entioned facts it is obvious th a t our fear of assim ilation is ju stified , as our cause is. B eing aw are of th e environ m ental influences on our chil dren, we have a good reason to fe a r th a t “our children are drow ning in a foreign sea.” T heodosia S a w y ck a U tica, N. Y. IN G R E A T B R IT A IN The U krainian W om en’s Or ganization of G reat B ritain has become a m em ber of th e S tand ing C om m ittee of W om en’s O r ganizations in th a t country. S ix ty tw o wom en’s groups of v a ri ous types com prise th e m em ber ship of th e C om m ittee. C O N V E N T IO N COMMITTEE N E W S A U N W LA Convention C om m ittee was recently form ed in Chicago, 111., w ith M rs. L uba S h andra as its chairm an. O thers elected to th e C om m ittee a re: M rs. A nna W asylow ska, vice ch air m an ; M rs. Helen T urula, se c re ta ry ; M rs. M aria Juzefovych, tre a s u rer. The various Com m issions are headed by th e follow ing: M rs. M aria N av aryn sk a — o rg an izatio n al; M rs. Jaroslava F arion — fi n ancial; M esdam es U lana T erlecka and L ubom yra D enysiuk — press, M rs. O rysia H arasow ska — program , and M rs. D aria Men- cinska — exhibit. * * * The Convention Book will be p rin ted in Chicago. The book’s ap pearance will depend to a large degree on th e num ber of ads th a t are colected. UNW LA B ranches are strongly urged to help sell th e ads. Ad form s w ere sen t out to all B ranches. * * * A W om en’s C reativ ity E x h ib it will be presented in connection w ith th e Convention. The exhibit will include books and published articles by women au th o rs, em broideries, ceram ics, and E a ste r eggs. Scrapbooks of th e U N W LA Regional Councils and B ranches will also be exhibited. L . Shandra, C hairm an 16 НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ — СІЧЕНЬ, 1968 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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