Macedonian Patriotic Organizations with an address to US Congress on who Macedonian Bulgarians are

Our American ancestors before 1945 were Macedonian and identified as “Macedonian Bulgarians” or “Bulgarian Macedonians” to distinguish themselves from the other ethnic groups in Macedonia. Before World War 2 “Macedonian” was not an ethnographic, it was a geographical term and the majority of Macedonians before 1945 identified as Macedonian Bulgarians, reads an address to the US Congress by the Macedonian Patriotic Organizations in USA.

The address comes in response to Skopje’s attempt to pass a resolution in Congress on celebrating the “Macedonian identity”, different from the Bulgarian identity. The document is signed by the member of the Macedonian Patriotic Organizations leadership Nick Stefanov, BGNES reports.

"I am writing to you on behalf of the Macedonian Patriotic Organization (MPO), an organization that was founded in 1922 by immigrants from Macedonia and continues to be supported by their descendants. The mission of the MPO is to advocate for all Macedonians worldwide, promote and preserve the ethnic traditions, customs and history of our people & promote and develop the cultural and social growth of our youth. Our members are also very proud Americans who are the embodiment of the national ethos of the United States—the American Dream, and its reverence for democracy, human rights, liberty, equality and freedom which includes the opportunity for prosperity, success and social mobility achieved through hard work and honest commitment!

As Macedonian Americans, we are happy to see a congressional resolution (House Resolution 741) proposing to make September 2022 Macedonian American Heritage Month. The idea of honoring Macedonian Americans is a good one since many past and present members of our Macedonian American diaspora have made “valuable contributions” enriching the quality of life in America.

However, there is a problem with the wording of the resolution, because it cites “celebrating the Macedonian language”. By citing “Macedonian language”, the resolution totally ignores the contributions made by Macedonian Americans who immigrated to America before World War Two and their present day American-born descendants, who identified and continue to identify as Bulgarian-speaking Macedonians. The “Macedonian language” is part of the more recent ethnic Macedonian identity that gained prominence after World War Two with the creation of an ethnic Macedonian state within the Yugoslav Federation.

Our pre-1945 American ancestors were Macedonian and usually simply called themselves ‘Macedonian’ but also at times used the label, ‘Macedono-Bulgarian’ or ‘Bulgarian Macedonian’, to distinguish themselves from the other ethnicities of Macedonia. Before World War Two, “Macedonian” was not an ethnographic term; it was geographic and the overwhelming majority of Macedonians before 1945 identified as Macedono-Bulgarians. Like the citizens of Switzerland, Macedonians consisted of a number of ethnic groups including Bulgarians, Turks, Greeks, Arumanians (Vlakhs), Albanians and Sephardic Jews and our people, the Bulgarian inhabitants of Macedonia, identified as Bulgarian Macedonians. The Macedonian part of their identity was almost a nationality and I say almost because it was not a country in the physical sense. However, the fact that they supported the Macedonian freedom movement, the MPO and the fight for a free and independent Macedonia suggested that they were Macedonian nationalists bent on forming an independent nation. To them, their independent Macedonia would be like America, consisting of many ethnicities that lived in harmony together!

So, when this current congressional resolution refers to the Macedonian language, it ignores the extreme majority of Bulgarian-speaking Macedonians who contributed to America’s greatness. This resolution only recognizes ethnic Macedonians of the past and present who really never were a factor until post-World War Two and Yugoslavia’s formation of today’s North Macedonia as a federal Yugoslav state, a state that strongly promoted, via it’s Yugoslav education system and ethnic cleansing practices, an ethnic Macedonian identity with its own ‘Macedonian’ language. .

In other words there are two Macedonian identities- Macedono-Bulgarian and ethnic Macedonian. The resolution only recognizes those who identify as ethnic Macedonians because it cites the ‘Macedonian’ language.

The wording of the resolution needs to be altered. Reference to the Macedonian language needs to be omitted or reference to two Macedonian identities needs to be added.

To members of the Macedonian Patriotic Organization who believe in their Bulgarian Macedonian or Macedono-Bulgarian identity, omitting the term ‘Macedonian language’, from the phrase that includes it, would be acceptable because Bulgarian Macedonians almost always simply referred to themselves as Macedonians. So I believe that one altered version of the above-mentioned phrase that both sides could accept is as follows: Expressing support for the designation of the month of September 2022 as “Macedonian American Heritage Month” and celebrating the history, customs and culture of Macedonian Americans who identify as either ethnic Macedonians or Macedono-Bulgarians and celebrating their incredible contributions to the United States.

Keeping the phrase as is represents a slap in the face to the overwhelming majority of our Macedonian ancestors and MPO founders and supporters who came to the United States before World War Two and who identified as Macedono-Bulgarians!

Please consider rephrasing the resolution so that September 2022 can truly be a Macedonian American Heritage Month for all Macedonian, regardless of their accepted identities!". /BGNES