student safety in St Petersburg

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Robert Chandler wrote:

> I wholeheartedly agree with EVERYTHING that Graham says here.

FWIW, when I visited Moscow 30 years ago, I was startled to experience 
several incidents where passersby decided I looked Jewish and had to be 
told off. I may be wrong, but I don't think I look especially Jewish 
(see the photo on my website), and the eyebrows are from my Irish father 
(cf. actor Peter Gallagher). Although I am technically Jewish (mother's 
mitochondria and all), I was not raised as a Jew and did not think of 
myself as one -- though of course anyone raised in the New York area 
will pick up elements of the language and culture. ;-)

Still, it was very disconcerting because these incidents occurred with 
no provocation and were far out of the norm of what I had experienced 
growing up. They were more like what I had heard about from Black and 
Hispanic friends, who are targeted for no apparent reason even today in 
this "modern" country. That's why we have terms like "DWB" ("driving 
while black"), a traffic offense that will get you pulled over and 
questioned.

On further reflection, I wonder whether "Jewish" is more of a code word 
for the Russian equivalent of "the man" -- an oppressive elite that 
keeps the regular folks down. Not that that's who I am, of course, or 
who the Jews are -- any offense given by me was entirely in these 
people's fevered imaginations.

As for the more obvious racial minorities, I cannot speak to their 
experience in Russia.

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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