Why Black Americans are Neutral on Russia/Ukraine
Picking and choosing your battles is one of the most valuable lessons you can learn in life. Interjecting yourself in every conflict, trying to determine who is right and who is wrong can lead to dire circumstances. So when Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this week, I took note of it, but have no emotional involvement in the conflict whatsoever. And that is pretty much the sentiment of Black Americans. This ain’t our fight. Seeing that Kim Potter was sentenced to 16 months in prison for killing Daunte Wright and we had to deal with three white racists in Georgia hunting down and then murdering Ahmaud Arbery, you’ll have to forgive us for our lack of outrage concerning the Russian invasion. We’ve been invaded too many times ourselves right here in America: The Rosewood Massacre in Florida (1923), Tulsa Race Massacre (1921) Chicago Race Riot (1919), The Move Bombing in Philadelphia (1985) and the list goes on and on.
The Russia and Ukraine propaganda warfare is everywhere as both sides try to get their narrative out. I understand the climate right now and what is happening. My personal thoughts are for the most part, this is not my fight. No matter how much the U.S. media tries to explain why this affects you, it's not Black Americans’ fight… at least not yet. Yes we will pay more for gas, groceries and other things, but we are physically safe, so we will sit on the sidelines for this one until it directly affects our interests.
African nations are warring all the time and the world simply does not care. No aid is sent to them. No soldiers to protect innocent civilians, equipment, taking in of African refugees, nothing. The United Nations, one of the most useless organizations on the planet that is primarily funded by Americans, sits on their butts and watches as generations of Africans have been lost due to political fighting and corruption on the continent. The world just lets them fight and then dominant nations go in and take all the natural resources like diamonds, gold, etc. African coup d'etats are so common they don't even put them on the news anymore. There have been FIVE since 2020. You can read about them in a recent Reuters article. But if two European nations, or let’s be honest, two nations chock full of white people start fighting (Yugoslavia 1991), then the whole world has to get involved and start picking sides.
Do I feel bad for the human toll being lost in Ukraine? YES, I happen to be a human too. It sucks. But the FACTS are Ukraine is in bed with white supremacists from America and other parts of the world, who are making up part of their military. In fact, they put a call out for all hands on deck, which is a dog whistle for white supremacists to activate and come help them fight Russia. There have been countless media reports stating this over the past year. One of the more recent media reports was on National Geographic’s “Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller” in which she interviewed self-proclaimed racists in Ukraine and other parts of the world.
“I recently interviewed members of one such group, the Atomwaffen Division, now known as the National Socialist Order,” Van Zeller writes on thehill.com. “The organization seeks the collapse of the current social order so that a whites-only society may rise up in its place. The group has sent members to train in Ukraine, where neo-Nazi militias have recruited white supremacists from around the world to join their fight against Russia and advance racist ideology.”
That is as clear as one can make it and why Black Americans are not picking a side in this fight. We get Putin is a threat, but he hasn’t attacked Black Americans so we’re good. We’ve had white supremacists attack us, though, right here at home: Dylan Roof in Charleston; James Alex Fields Jr. plowing his car into protestors in Charlottesville, Virginia; James Harris Jackson, a U.S. military veteran who picked a random Blackman to murder in New York City.
“I met with American white supremacists around the world. Here's what I learned. The ‘lone wolf’ narrative couldn't be further from the truth,” Van Zeller wrote. “What I learned is that much of the white supremacist violence we see in America is the product of a global network of organizations whose goal is to incite a race war.”
TIME Magazine also recently ran a story about Ukraine welcoming right-wing extremists on their front lines. The article talks specifically about white supremacists traveling to Ukraine to receive training in war tactics so that they may return to their home countries and start a race war. So why isn’t this aspect of Ukraine being reported by the national media in its 24-hour coverage of the conflict in Ukraine? Our job as journalists is to report the entire truth, not just a part of it.
Russia is ruled by a crazy man who thinks he is Joseph Stalin. And America until 13 months ago, had a psychopath in the White House who is now on TV talking about the election was rigged and is siding with the madman in Russia. You see why I'm not jumping to anyone's side on this? They gotta work this out on their own. Me and the rest of Black America will get our popcorn and watch.