Opinion: The response to the war in Ukraine tells us a lot about white supremacy in the west.
Before I go into this, I want to first say what is happening in the Ukraine is appalling. I stand with them in opposing nationalism and attacks on freedom. No child should know the horror of war. No adult should have to make the choice between life and country. No person should have to flee their home that is under attack.
My intention is not in any way to detract from the severity of what is happening, only to highlight what the response to it shows about casual white supremacy in the every day of the western world.
We stand with Ukraine.
And we condemn Russia. Air strikes and occupation of a place because of your misguided belief that you are entitled to it, war crimes that border on ethnic cleansing, it’s totally unacceptable.
….Unless it’s happening in Palestine. In which case we remain silent, or we sit on the fence, not picking a side. Or we help arm the aggressor (Up to 2020, the US had given Israel $146 billion in bilateral assistance and military aid). Or we deny the legitimacy of the oppressed. (Of the G20 nations Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, The UK and US have refused to recognise Palestine.)
What Russia is doing to the Ukraine, and what Israel have been and continue to do to Palestine, are broadly the same. They stand with the Ukraine against Russia, but they stand silent or actively against Palestine.
Refugees Welcome*
Just the Ukrainian ones though. But we don’t need to clarify that because whilst Ukrainian’s displaced by war are refugees, Syrian’s, Afghan’s, Iraqi’s doing the same were, and are still, migrants. And migrants aren’t welcome. Migrants get Hostile Environment Policy. Migrants get anti immigration protests. Migrants get closed borders. Only refugees get open arms.
Poland said Ukrainians could come, no ID necessary and even bring your pets. Poland also said “build a wall” after refugees from the Middle East tried to reach the country in 2021, but ended up left in Belarus. Hungary are letting Ukrainian’s in after previously calling refugees a “threat to their country.” Austria are letting Ukrainian’s in despite seeking to block refugees fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2021. Their chancellor said “It’s different in Ukraine than in countries like Afghanistan. We’re talking about neighbourhood help.”
Breaking News!
Multiple air strikes in Ukraine, Russia have invaded. It’s all over the news, it is the news, it’s all the news are showing.
A US air-strike in Somalia. 37 Saudi Arabian air strikes on Yemen residential areas with confirmed civilian casualties. Israeli air strikes in Syria, it’s 4th air strikes in the country in February alone. Thousands flee air strikes against rebel forces in Myanmar. These have all happened within the last week (Since February 21st 2022.) They’ve received no mainstream news coverage. And it’s not just because what’s happening in Ukraine is happening - the media rarely cover news about the every day impacts of war in the Middle East, Africa or Asia. Ethiopia’s government have been accused of targeting civilians in air strikes against rebel forces for the last 15 months. Since October 2021, the number of people killed is at least 202, and injured is at least 243. Do not all these people deserve empathy? Do not all the civilians who are impacted by war deserve media coverage and support, not silence? Or would humanising them make it harder to villanise them when they seek refuge?
Across the border to freedom.
As long as you’re nice and light and right and white. Black people are being left in an active war zone because even air strikes are not enough for Europe to put a pause on racism.
Black families report being ejected from buses, being told by the drivers and military officials it was a “No Blacks” policy. It is also being reported that access to trains leaving Kyiv is being offered on a hierarchy. Children first, white women, white men, Africans. According to first hand reports, the Polish border were allowing Ukrainian’s and other white people to cross first, then Indian’s, Arab’s and other ethnicities. But Black people were left stranded at the border. Others reported standing in queues for over 7 hours, only for officials to come and take them and other Black people to the back of the line, telling them “Ukrainian’s first.”
Nationalism and racism go hand in hand. Whilst we must condemn Russia’s nationalistic invasion, we must also condemn Eastern Europe’s racism and white nationalism.
An attack on civilisation.
On February 26th The Telegraph published a piece with the title “Vladimir Putin's monstrous invasion is an attackon civilisation itself” - it’s opening paragraph starts “They seem so like us. That is what makes it so shocking. Ukraine is a European country.” and it ends “War is no longer something visited upon impoverished and remote populations. It can happen to anyone.”
On Al Jazeera, commentary included this statement: “These [Ukrainian] refugees are prosperous middle class people. They are not refugees from the Middle East or North Africa. They look like any European family you would live next door to.“
On NBC News, Kelly Cobiella when asked why people in Poland are responding differently to these refugees, said: “To put it bluntly, these are not refugees from Syria, these are refugees from Ukraine... They're Christian, they're white, they're very similar to the people in Poland”
Being interviewed on BBC News, Ukraine’s Deputy Chief Prosecutor said: “It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes & blonde hair being killed.”
On CBS, a correspondent said: “This isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan that has seen conflict raging for decades. This is a relatively civilised, relatively European - I had to choose those words carefully too - city where you wouldn’t expect that or hope it’s going to happen.”
The casual racism, the casual dehumanising of brown lives, the casual implication that white lives being threatened is worse than black or brown lives, the casual white supremacy, the casual colonist stereotype that black and brown countries are and always have been impoverished and uncivilised, the ease with which they rewrite history - Europe has seen and brought about more war than any other continent in human history - this is how the media dehumanise people of colour, and normalise white supremacy.
The response from the west to what is happening in Ukraine has exposed just how ingrained white supremacy is in western thought. And now that they’re seeing white faces being impacted by the same acts they themselves have inflicted on the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, they’re not even trying to hide the fact they believe white lives to be superior and therefore should be immune from war. They are openly saying that it’s unbelievable this is happening to white people. They are openly referring to non-white countries impacted by war as “uncivilised.” They are openly prioritising saving white lives over black ones in Ukraine.
The West has a white supremacy problem. And you can’t treat it like it is separate from the Russian nationalism problem within Russian government that has led to this war. The belief that whiteness is a superior trait, a civilised trait, a trait that demands respect is clear in the reporting on this conflict.
Now swap the word “whiteness” in that for “Russian.” You’ll have a one sentence summary of why Putin invaded.