February 12, 2016

Getting personal

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Many of us are aware that Europe’s largest internal refugee crisis since World War II is taking place in Ukraine today. Over 5 million civilians have experienced the trauma of war, the majority of whom are women, children and the elderly. According to The New York Times, 3.2 million Ukrainians are currently living amid destruction or are in dire need of humanitarian aid this winter. And according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, nearly 2 million citizens of Ukraine have been “forcibly displaced.” These numbers are staggering: 5 million people totals more than the combined population of six U.S. states, or 11 of the smallest European Union countries. More Ukrainians are living amid the ruin of war than live in the entire state of Iowa.

While these statistics affect our community beyond just the numbers, it has been a continuing source of frustration that a humanitarian disaster of such historic proportions has been effectively removed from public discussion both in the mass media as well as in our nation’s political conversation.

The people of Ukraine will require further assistance to overcome this deficit, so it would serve our community well to take a look at our daily lives and see if we’ve “shaken every branch” within our reach. Understandably, we’re about as likely to find a spare aircraft carrier to donate as we would be to win the lottery to clear out our debts. But if we were to look at this as a decades-long endeavor, and start amortizing this deficit, the individual contributions across this country could one day pay off in the long run.

So, let’s ask ourselves: How often do I address Ukraine – its culture, its people, its present state of war – with those I know? Have I shared Ukrainian movies or music with a non-Ukrainian in the past month? How often do I now put on a patriotic item of clothing since the revolution began? How often have I reached out to find fellow Ukrainians or communities that I previously hadn’t met before? When was the last time I brought up Ukraine in a conversation with someone?

That’s a good start on being pro-active, but what about our reactions: Do I write letters or e-mails in response to any knuckle-headed portrayal of Ukraine in the media? (I’m looking at you, “Madam Secretary.”) How do I react when Ukrainian history is labeled as Russian, either in our textbooks or media? Do I let things slide when Kyiv is repeatedly referred to as “Kiev,” or when a politician who should know better refers to Ukraine as a client of Russia?

Many of us have traveled to Ukraine and visited areas that are now bombed out shells or, worse yet, we know people who have died as a result of Russia’s invasion. Our friends, teachers and civic leaders need to be made aware that for us it isn’t a semantic argument. When they say “Crimea is lost. Forget about it” or, “the U.S. has done all that it can, let’s not start World War III,” they are referring to our ancestral homeland, which is literally being erased from the map. No matter what outdated textbooks they cite, or conventional wisdom they espouse, each of us has the right to ask that our culture be respected and that we as a people need not be diminished when confronted with Western privilege.

For the students in our community, there is a wealth of information on the Internet about how to confront school administrators if you feel your cultural heritage is being diminished because of your minority status. As a student, you should have every right to constantly remind a professor to mention Ukraine every time anything touches upon the territory of modern-day Ukraine. As Andrew Wilson writes in his “The Ukrainians: An Unexpected Nation:” “until the equation of Rus’ and Russia is no longer universal,” students will continue to find it difficult to engage with the political reality of an independent Ukrainian state.

Lastly, I can’t stress enough the importance of making sure that you engage in the political process this year. While politicians and political parties in the U.S. are forbidden from finding out who you voted for, they pay very close attention to the information that is available to them, namely, who is registered to vote and if those people sign-in to vote on Election Day. Political futures in this country have more often been swayed by the ability of communities to get themselves registered to vote in the first place, rather than the result at the ballot box. Many other communities have mobilized to get their names added to the voting rolls at the same time as they assail the media and public officials to recognize the plight of their community. The more we register and come out to vote, the more we’ll hear a response from elected officials and their media pool.

Finding out how to register is as simple as visiting USA.gov. And when you show up to vote, don’t be too shy to explain to the person across the desk from you why you’re wearing an embroidered shirt, or suggest that they check out “Winter on Fire” on Netflix, or tell them a story of a brave Ukrainian lieutenant that served in Iraq alongside U.S. troops now sitting in a Russian jail.

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