I did not want to comment directly on the so-called ‘march for Australia’ held in multiple locations across Australia on August 31, because there has already been a tsunami of commentary regarding these anti-immigrant, racist marches. There were sustained and numerous anti-racist counter protests, which was wonderful to see.

What I wanted to do in this article is address a frequently heard complaint by the Aussie-first MAGA-copycat crowd – that once in Australia, migrants should speak English and assimilate. Throughout my life, I have heard (and my late father heard) the highly intelligent admonition to ‘speak fucken English’ from an intelligent Anglo observer.

First, let’s clarify – my father, born in Egypt to Armenian parents, learned multiple languages in school. The usual practice in Egyptian schools at that time (1940s and 50s) was to teach students more than one language. Indeed, learning different languages is highly recommended by educators and teachers, making students better thinkers and global citizens. Embracing multilingualism is a key part of a child’s education.

Secondly, my father learned English (as well as Armenian, Arabic and French) not for the express purpose of emigration. He learned from textbooks written and published in England, and he listened to the BBC. In the early 1960s, he arrived in Australia – and he encountered an obstacle. The English he had learned in school was not the language spoken in Australia. He had to learn Australian English.

Australian English is a uniquely parochial product of the intermingling of English, Irish, Scottish and a smattering of Welsh – a melding of words and accents. Throw in the contributions of First Nations words – kookaburra, kangaroo, Burramattagal (which the convicts corrupted into Parramatta) and this unique admixture poses a passing resemblance to what my father learned in school.

So if the highly intelligent participants in the March for Australia feel so strongly about migrants speaking English, I invite them to become English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, so they can pass on their developed English language skills to incoming migrants.

There is the standard Aussie ‘Strayan accent, consisting of elongated vowels and liberally sprinkled with swearing. The late Steve Irwin had that accent, or the comedian Julia Morris does today. Then there is the cultivated accent, closer to the Received Pronunciation (what used to be called the Queen’s English). Malcolm Turnbull speaks with that accent. Cate Blanchett, while not strictly speaking with the Received Pronunciation, maintains a difference from the common Australian strine.

The Armenians do not need lessons in assimilation. We have been doing that for centuries. Wherever Armenians in the diaspora have landed, they have contributed to the new host nation, while also remaining true to heritage.

William Saroyan (1908 – 1981) was an Armenian-American short story writer, playwright and poet. Living most of his life in California, he wrote extensively about the experiences of diaspora life. His birthday was August 31; the 117th anniversary of his birth just passed without fanfare or publicity.

Stephen Fry wrote that Saroyan is an under-appreciated writer, who should take his place alongside Hemingway, Steinbeck and Faulkner.

Before you think that Saroyan refused to assimilate or was unconcerned about the lives of his fellow Americans, think again. His novels and stories display a deep concern about the social malaise, the difficulties and tribulations of the Great Depression. He did not isolate himself in an exclusionary and insular Armenian community, but did his utmost to engage with the social and economic issues of his times.

In February last year, French President Emmanuel Macron honoured French Armenian World War Two resistance fighter Missak Manouchian (1909 – 1944). Inducted into the Pantheon, the often overlooked Manouchian was a poet who arrived in France after surviving the 1915 genocide.

Taking up arms against the Nazi occupation forces, Manouchian bravely led resistance fighters against the fascist tyranny. He was caught and executed in 1944. He witnessed the same underlying genocidal logic of the Pan-Turkish state’s exclusivist ideology, and that of the white supremacist Nazis. Fighting and dying for one’s adopted homeland qualifies, I think, as a successful example of assimilation.

Before you shout at us to speak English, or the equally puerile ‘fit in or fuck off’, take a look at how Armenians have assimilated into, and contributed to, their adopted homelands for centuries.