I Do Not Stand With Ukraine
Ukrainians do not stand with those who look like me, and neither does my own country.
On February 24th, Russia began an invasion of Ukraine, the largest military conflict since World War II. As of March 18th, 900 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, including 64 children according to the UN’s Human Rights Office. Just over 3 million Ukrainian refugees are fleeing or have attempted to flee Ukraine, which brings me to the first reason that I do not stand with Ukraine.
The refugees from Ukraine that look like me (the African ones) are not being treated with the same compassion as those with less melanin (the white ones). According to the account of Somto Orah, a Nigerian student, white and non-white people were separated at the Ukraine-Poland boarder with the white side being shown priority.
If I was in Ukraine and needed to flee to safety, I know exactly which side I would be on and how I would be treated. I do not stand with Ukraine.
Secondly, this morning, I saw an article that said Hampton University, a private HBCU is offering free room, board and tuition to displaced students from the Ukraine for the summer semester. I just knew it had to be satire. It is not.
If I could offer Dr. Harvey, Hampton’s president some advice, I would tell him to look out his window. I’m sure there are 50–100 students in Hampton, Virginia that are in need of room, board and tuition for the summer. Extending compassion to a country you can’t point to on a map is a slap in the face to those in need in the community from which you come; especially when those in that country are not extending that same compassion to those who look like many of the students on Hampton’s campus.
One of my mentors told me, “Community service starts at home.”
Speaking of a slap in the face, the third and largest reason I do not stand with Ukraine is President Biden’s sign off on a $13.6 billion spending package, $800 million going to the military to aid Ukraine last week.
I want to stand with Ukraine, but I simply do not have the time. I am too busy standing up for myself and being disappointed by the people I elected to represent me. The reason I do not stand with Ukraine isn’t because of innocent Ukrainian civilians. I do not stand with Ukraine because of the not-so-innocent powers that be not taking care of home first.
If I do not have money for groceries, and my paycheck comes, I would not purchase groceries for my neighbor first. It is as simple as that. It is human nature to take care of yourself and your tribe first and I believe it is the first step to serving others. Americans would rather be heroes behind hashtags, than do anything before tragedy happens. We see this in ‘thoughts and prayers’ instead of gun control legislation and throwing paper towels after natural disaster instead of infrastructure to prevent displacement from severe weather.
Those of us screaming into the void about ways to prevent tragedy are exhausted, so, I do not stand with Ukraine.
As long as gas is nearly $5 a gallon (while the price of oil decreases), my right to vote and the right to my uterus is under attack, as long as my student loans haven’t been forgiven, reparations haven’t been paid, medical procedures and prescriptions aren’t covered by my insurance, as long as my neighborhood is being gentrified, billionaires get tax breaks on their way to space, as long as children are in cages in America, corporations are dictating public health policy, ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶C̶o̶l̶t̶o̶n̶’̶s̶ ̶b̶l̶o̶c̶k̶-̶h̶e̶a̶d̶ ̶a̶s̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶B̶a̶c̶h̶e̶l̶o̶r̶ to name a few…
Ukraine, you’re on your own.
