I
have been intrigued at the interest and concern that Black people
around me are expressing towards Ukraine. Not movement folks, the
usual suspects. I’m talking about people waiting in the grocery
line, at the gas pump, on class alumni calls. Intrigued, not because
I think we are don’t care about foreign affairs but because
working class Black folks are shouldering so much right now.
In
addition to showing compassion for those victims of Russian military
aggression, Black folks seem to be clear that Ukraine is between a
rock and a hard place. Russian is the rock and the United States is
the hard place. Two superpowers going at each other in ways you can’t
see unless you have special anti-imperialist glasses.
President
Biden and his hawkish colleagues are coolly playing their role. Out
of one side of the mouth are flowery declarations about democracy and
the support for Ukraine to be a sovereign country. On the other side
of his mouth, Biden talks tough about punishing Putin. Not by
fighting Russian directly but by using Ukraine to duke it out.
What
price will Vladimir Putin pay? Nothing Biden said stopped the largest
conventional military invasion in Europe since World War II. Russian
troops have bombed everything from civilian neighborhoods to water
supply stations to churches. Cities are being bombarded, religious
and cultural treasures destroyed. Biden’s threats have been
lost in the thunder of Russian shellings.
The
president knows the majority of this country does not have an
appetite for war. While Biden has not sent American troops to Ukraine
yet, he has continued funneling military aid and equipment. Over $650
million to be exact - the most ever given to Ukraine in one year,
according to the U.S. State Department. And more is coming. Congress
is being asked to allocate another $10 million of our tax dollars in
security, humanitarian and economic support to the country.
More
than 2 million Ukrainians have become refugees, fleeing their
homeland as cities come under siege. It’s generally women and
children who burden the toll of dislocation. The scenes of crying
children being separated from parents to be sent to foreign countries
is gut-wrenching.
Meanwhile
in the West, particularly in the U.S., people are rebelling against
safety measures that would put a deadly pandemic in check. When I
heard that 500+ semi-trucks and other vehicles were going across the
country headed to Washington D.C., it provoked an ominous image of
comparison. That of the 40-mile Russian military convoy of tanks,
armored vehicles and other weapons of mass destruction poised to
assault Ukraine. Angry truckers demanding freedom from mask mandates
while the Ukrainian people prepared to defend their country from a
bullying superpower seemed, well - seemed trivial. Petty.
The
citizens of Ukraine are putting up a good fight; they have a lot to
lose. The ending to this story is not clear but a military solution
imposed by a Russian dictator doesn’t bode well for the
self-determination of the Ukrainian people.
