Armenian-American Advancement Network Condemns Anti-Armenian Hate Flyers Targeting Elementary School and Calls for Immediate Action
August 31, 2026
Contact: info@armenianactionnetwork.org
UNITED STATES– Armenian-American Advancement Network (AAAN) condemns in the strongest terms the recent hateful flyers targeting Armenians, particularly Armenian children, found near Glenoaks Elementary School. School officials and members of the public discovered flyers outside the school and on vehicles displaying the message: “Stupidans: This is America, Not Stupid Armenia.” The flyers were disguised as money to lure someone into picking them up and read the hateful message on the back side. Their placement around an elementary school, targeting children and in a deeply immigrant Armenian neighborhood, is especially disturbing.
These flyers are not an isolated incident. They are part of a deeply troubling pattern of escalating anti-Armenian hate, xenophobia, and anti-immigrant sentiment against the Armenian-American community and other marginalized communities that must be confronted.
As a civil rights, immigrant rights, and refugee rights organization, AAAN calls on elected officials, policymakers, educators, community leaders, institutions, and all people of conscience to unequivocally condemn this act of anti-Armenian hate, take meaningful steps to prevent intimidation and harassment, build active allyship and understanding, challenge escalating anti-Armenian narratives circulating in politics, media, and social media, and ensure that Armenian children, especially Armenian immigrant children, can go to school in a safe and affirming environment.
Over the past several years, Armenian communities across California have experienced escalating incidents of anti-Armenian racism, hate speech, intimidation, vandalism, and violence targeting our community and our community institutions. These include but are not limited to anti-Armenian flyers distributed in January 2023 calling for Armenia to be wiped off the map, flyers circulated in March 2023 denying the Armenian Genocide and calling for its completion, disturbing incidents of firebombing, arson, and vandalism targeting sacred community centers like St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church and the Krouzian-Zekaraian-Vasbouragan School, and attacks targeting Ferrahian Armenian High School and the AGBU Manoogian-Demirdjian School. It is also of note, that this most recent incident occurred just days after the school began its immersion Western Armenian dual-language program, which local officials described as the first of its kind in the United States and was a community win thanks to the organizing of the Armenian community.
We maintain that these acts of anti-Armenian hate and violence, particularly when directed at Armenian children, immigrants, and Armenian immigrant children are unacceptable. They harm our entire community and must be unequivocally condemned. They must also be taken seriously, investigated, and brought into public view rather than continue to be ignored and minimized.
In an increasingly hostile climate toward immigrant and marginalized communities, we refuse to remain silent. We demand action, allyship, accountability, and redress. The location and nature of this incident are especially alarming, as they were targeted at children and their immigrant families. As an organization engaged in ongoing community-based work, AAAN stands with marginalized Armenians, especially our youth.
AAAN will continue advocating for the civil rights of Armenians and for the rights of all marginalized communities in this country. We also call on the broader social justice, civil rights, immigrant rights, and human rights organizations to stand with us in condemning this incident and intervening in the larger pattern of anti-Armenian hate, narratives and policy, our community continues to face.
Today, we urge the following action:
1. Investigate this incident.
Public officials and law enforcement must take these incidents seriously, investigate them fully, and determine whether they constitute a hate crime or other violation of law.
2. Increase awareness of resources to combat hate and intimidation.
Help Armenian community members access the legal, educational, safety, and community resources necessary to respond to hate speech, harassment, intimidation, and violence.
3. Practice vocal allyship.
Bring visibility to the social-justice issues facing Armenian communities and help ensure that anti-Armenian hate is not ignored, minimized, or treated as an isolated incident.
4. Help build a strong community.
Support efforts to organize, protect, educate, and empower our community, particularly Armenian youth, immigrants, and others who may be especially vulnerable to discrimination and hate.
Our community has endured generations of attempts to erase, silence, and dehumanize us. We maintain that principled solidarity, love, dignity, and collective action are what make communities and countries strong. We call on all people in the United States to work together for a truly equitable society. At AAAN, we are committed to that fight for all people in the United States.
And to the children in our community:
You are welcome here. You belong here. You are loved. You deserve to go to school safely, to learn without fear, and to be celebrated for who you are and where you come from. Your Armenian identity is something to be proud of. We stand with you. And we will continue to fight for a future in which you are safe, respected, resourced, and free to thrive.
We will organize our community until every Armenian family knows that they belong and anti-Armenian incidents are met with the accountability and solidarity they deserve.
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Armenian-American Advancement Network forwards civil rights, immigrant rights, and refugee rights for Armenian and all communities in the United States.