After a seminar, a girl walks up to me:
"Are you Russian?" she asks with a strong Russian accent.
"No, I am Ukrainian," I try to answer calmly.
"Oh come on, it's the same thing!"
"My relatives who died trying to defend Ukraine from Russia and were shipped off to Siberia after the Soviet invasion beg to differ," I am sure the irritation is now showing in my voice. The girl back pedals by saying that this is not what she was taught in history lessons. We agree to recognize that it is possible (likely?) that one or both of us has been brainwashed about events way before our lifetimes, and continue a peaceful conversation.
It turns out, we grew up about 1,000 miles away from each other, I in Ukraine, and she in Russia. She's quite a bit younger than me, and was just a toddler during the fall of the Soviet Union, which I remember vividly. She's been raised to think that Ukraine is a "confused little sister" of Russia, which really should be a part of Russia. I have been raised to think that Russia is an oppressor that did everything in its power to silence and kill off those thinking and outspoken among Ukrainians in order to keep control of Ukraine. And even though we've both spent the last decade in the U.S. and appreciate democracy, we are not likely to agree on the issue. I guess it is just hard to let go of the things that were beaten into one's head as a child.
The perverse incentives of academia
6 years ago
7 comments:
Huh? "it's the same thing"? I sometimes say that jokingly about Norway and Sweden, but that's because I've lived there for so long and actually making fun of myself. I would never say that to someone else.
Wow... there's "I wasn't taught that in school" and then there's complete cultural ignorance. What an insensitive thing to say to you!
(from someone with maybe a slightly higher than average sense of guilt about the British empire)
Insensitive indeed. Do you think you'll talk to her again?
HG - I think it is one thing to say it about countries that are equals, and another to say that about an oppressor and oppressee...
Cath - I think it is a matter of propaganda rather than ignorance. Winners get to write the history, after all...
EGF - I see her occasionally, and we do talk. I have had many interactions of the same kind over the years, and almost always, after the people got to know me and where I am coming from, they realize that they have been subjected to a lifetime of propaganda or were plain ignorant. Alienation would give them no chance to learn any better.
wow, I am awed by your sensitivity and composure.
The same thing happens all over the world. Just ask the aboriginals.
SM - the same thing just happened to me again today! A totally random person I will never see again! WTF? I try to be an adult about it and not get too infuriated, but is it hard!
Well I am glad you maintained your composure and enlightened her.
I guess we have all have had to dispel misconceptions about ourselves to others (for me it is about being from the South and being educated. yay!) It really is amazing how limited some people's perception can be.
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