LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (03/28/99)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The diaspora's mission remains unchanged

Dear Editor:

It is no secret that Ukrainian national identity, language and culture were systematically and brutally oppressed and persecuted during 70 years of Communist rule. During that time Ukrainian national identity and culture were largely preserved through the efforts and sacrifices of the diaspora. With the dawn of Ukrainian independence it was assumed that the basic mission of the diaspora, that is, preservation of national identity and culture, was accomplished and could be passed on to Ukraine, now free and independent. With considerable fanfare, flags and symbols of national identity - including the legacy of Ukrainian National Republic (UNR) - have been transferred to "new Ukrainians" in the old country, while the diaspora was left in a search of a new mission.

Scanning the latest news on the pages of The Ukrainian Weekly it appears, however, that our hopes and expectations for independent Ukraine fell far short of the mark and our celebration of Ukrainian independence might have been a bit premature. Today's Ukraine of Lazarenko, Tkachenko, Vitrenko, Symonenko, criminal clans and the self-destructing anarchy ("otamanschyna") of the democratic bloc is not exactly what we had hoped for.

It appears that 70 years of Communist rule in Ukraine have indeed succeeded in creating Homo Sovieticus (Soviet man) and a class of ruling kleptocrats (thieves) lacking common decency, humanity or honesty who are prominently seen in the Verkhovna Rada. Homo Sovieticus is doing well and is prospering. These utterly corrupt elites in the guise of "new Ukrainians" have robbed the country of its wealth and well-being, including $30 billion that the government is looking for in foreign banks, while the population was left in dire economic distress and misery.

It wasn't supposed to happen that way. In 1991 most of the educated opinion in the West was that, of all the former Soviet republics, Ukraine had the best chance of succeeding in the global environment. Endowed with superb natural resources, including the best agricultural land in Europe, with a highly educated population, and the inheritor of an extensive infrastructure of a superpower, there appeared to be no limits to the political and economic potential of Ukraine.

Well, nobody took into account the legacy of Homo Sovieticus. Ethical culture was not a part of his Communist past, and it is absent today. Neither the wealth of natural resources nor a highly educated population can compensate for the lack of ethical culture.

So where does all this leave the diaspora? It is obvious that the road to a truly civilized and independent Ukraine will be long and torturous. This fact defines the mission of the diaspora for the year 2020 and beyond. Our mission remains very much the same as it was for the past half century: to preserve Ukrainian national identity and culture abroad, while assisting Ukraine at the grassroots level. We should re-examine our relationship with the ruling classes of Ukraine. It seems that the time for unqualified moral, political and financial support for the kleptocrats in the guise of "new Ukrainians" is over.

The time has come to direct our efforts at the grassroots, to promoting Ukrainian statehood by assisting in building a civil society, and raising levels of national consciousness and ethical culture, while continuing to preserve the Ukrainian national identity and culture abroad.

This will be a long and tedious process. However, tentative steps are already being made in that direction. The Weekly recently reported about direct and individual actions taken to help Ukrainian intellectuals, who are and always have been the backbone of the independence movement. This is a small step in the right direction. Hope for the future of Ukraine depends on such small steps.

Ihor Lysyj
Austin, Texas

Thanks for publishing article on embroidery

Dear Editor:

Please accept my thank you for publishing Orysia Tracz's articles. I would like to comment on her article on Ksenia Kolotylo. I stand behind her 100 percent on the subject of embroidery that is changed and adapted to personal use as Ukrainian embroidery. Except for very talented individuals who come up with fresh, new patterns, most embroideries are gifted hands-on people.

Had Ms. Kolotylo in her introduction clearly stated that her patterns were "based" on Ukrainian embroidery and titled it to show that, then it would have made a difference in how her two volumes were accepted, especially by those of us who believe in keeping the old embroidery patterns the way they were done in the past.

Now we see new patterns coming from Ukraine and that is the way it should be - folk art is created in the geographical area where it is located. And certainly if embroiderers are interested in copying the present patterns, coloring and embroidery method, it's very well and dandy, but do not change something that was done in the past - that is a part of history. Today ladies do not wear Victorian dresses just because there is interest in things Victorian.

I certainly believe that Ms. Kolotylo is a fabulous embroiderer - but her statements that she was retaining Ukrainian embroidery patterns for the future certainly do not wash with me. Collections of embroidery are certainly very good, but let's not attribute the changed or altered patterns to original Ukrainian embroidery!

Please continue to publish articles not only on politics, but also by authors who might have another viewpoint than that of the general reading public.

Dora Horbachevska
Philadelphia

Disappointed by column "Return of the Natives"

Dear Editor:

As a faithful and appreciative reader, and a subscriber of The Ukrainian Weekly for so many years, I am deeply disappointed by your publication of the tendentious, disparaging and ignoble article by Myron B. Kuropas titled "Return of the Natives" (January 24).

As Dr. Kuropas is a historian, I must ask: What happened to his historical objectivity? Where is the truth?

W. Sochaniwsky, M.D.
Toronto

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