Ukraine/The Ukraine

[Jennifer L. Wilson]

Hi everyone,

First off, I'd like to thank those who have responded both on list and off with words of support and understanding.  I recognize that the insensitivity that appeared on the list today represents a minority of voices within the field, though I shudder to think that such a minority exists within the ranks of university instructors.    

To Jules-- I must say I applaud your consistency.  I could not have dreamed of a more fitting response to a charge of racism than suggesting that the African-American in question did not possess the mental faculty to follow your argument.   Thank you for that gem.  

To the point of free speech, no one is suggesting that Jules be fined or thrown into jail for his comments.   That said, this is a listserv for people working in a profession that is student facing, and our universities have thankfully become far more diverse in the past decades.  I am concerned that there is not more dialogue about race and ethnicity within this field, and I worry about the effect that might have on how students of color are engaged and treated within Slavic Studies departments.   I am also concerned about the students of color who are on this listserv to learn more about this field (as I did when I was still an undergraduate).  Seeing such attitudes openly expressed and supported would have certainly discouraged me from continuing on in Slavic Studies, just as reports of racist violence in Russia almost made me reconsider traveling there. 

I want to add that I should have also taken Jules to task for denigrating Edyta Bojanowska's comment about gender neutral language.  If Jules or anyone else needs an example of what she meant, take a statement like "the next president of the United States, whoever HE may be." That phrasing normalizes male dominance in politics, and suggests that women in leadership are exceptions, and that men are the rule. Language absolutely matters.  

This all said, it's certainly easy for us to recognize Jules' comments as egregious and deeply offensive.  I worry, however, that by focusing too much on these sensational acts of racism, we ignore the more subtle forms of racism that plague academia and our field more specifically.  

Sincerely,

Jennifer Wilson 
________________________________________
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU] on behalf of Stanislav Chernyshov [extraclass at LEARNRUSSIAN.RU]
Sent: Sunday, June 22, 2014 2:46 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Ukraine/The Ukraine

You are right about the difference, Alina, that was exactly why I
referred to "oppression" and not "discrimination".

"Or do you think Russians suffered as much as Crimean Tartars in the
Soviet Union?" - I think that many Russians did, including my family.
Not because of their ethnicity, like Crimean Tartars, just because they
were wealthy peasants.

Didn't think talking about Russians being oppressed by the Soviet
regime would be any news in an American Slavists' discussion.

Stanislav

Alina Israeli писал 2014-06-22 22:15:
> One has to differentiate between oppression from a totalitarian
> government and the one from being a minority group which includes
> social day-to-day discrimination and state discrimination. Or do you
> think Russians suffered as much as Crimean Tartars in the Soviet
> Union?
>
> Alina
>
> On Jun 22, 2014, at 1:46 PM, Stanislav Chernyshov
> <extraclass at LEARNRUSSIAN.RU> wrote:
>
>> Dear Robert,
>>
>> Being Russian I was slightly surprised Russians haven't suffered
>> oppression. Reading some Solzhenitsyn (available in English) could
>> really change your view.
>> And precisely because we've suffered oppression, including
>> censorship and persecution for "thought crimes", I think many Russians
>> can understand Jules's just defending free speech and privacy ("home")
>> against political control of language usage.
>>
>> Jennifer, please, for sure nobody on this list supports slavery or
>> any sort of discrimination.
>>
>> And, "miru mir!"
>>
>> Stanislav
>>
>
>
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