FACES AND PLACES: Does Ukraine need more Russian speakers? (10/15/06)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

In his Washington Post commentary of October 5, Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych affirmed Ukraine's commitment to Europe. Well duh!

Ukraine is in Europe, Mr. Prime Minister, and needs no affirmation from the leader of the Party of the Regions, especially one who, despite past actions, wants us to believe that supporting Russian as Ukraine's second language doesn't mean that his party is pro-Russian. Really? You could have fooled me!

Mr. Yanukovych's analogy of Spanish-speaking individuals in America's two political parties not being pro-Spanish prompted a response from University of Toronto Research Fellow Stephen Velychenko, who wrote that "his (Yanukovych's) analogy between Spanish-speaking Americans and Russian-speaking Ukrainians is ... superficial and far-fetched. The United States was never ruled by Spain or Mexico for 200 years, and there never have been nor could there have been, among Spanish speakers, a minority advocating restoration of the U.S. to the Spanish Empire."

"The problem of restoration," continued Dr. Velychenko, "is a problem today for Ukraine, which was part of the Russian Empire for 200 years. The point is that a vociferous Russian-speaking minority advocating renewed Russian rule over Ukraine compromises and discredits the majority of Ukraine's Russian-speakers who support their country's newly won independence."

Dr. Velychenko is absolutely right when it comes to Russian dominance of Ukraine. He is partially right when it comes to the U.S. Although the entire U.S. was never part of the Spanish Empire, certain territories - now Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California - were ruled by Spain, later, Mexico. And there is today a vociferous Spanish-speaking minority in America (La Raza comes to mind) that wants to return these sections to their "rightful owner," namely Mexico.

It all began with the hijacking of multiculturalism by America's radical Left during the late 1980s. The idea that we're all "Americans first" was replaced with the concept that Western Civilization (as exemplified by America) was imperialist, tyrannical and the source of the world's ills.

In his 2004 book "Who Are We? The Challenges to America's National Identity," Samuel P. Huntington described the "new multiculturalism" as "basically an anti-Western ideology" that advances "several propositions":

"First, America is composed of many different ethnic and racial groups. Second, each of these groups has its own distinctive culture. Third, the white Anglo elite dominant in American society has suppressed these cultures and compelled or induced those belonging to other ethnic or racial groups to accept the elite's Anglo-Protestant culture. Fourth, justice, equality and the rights of minorities demand that these suppressed cultures be liberated and that governments and private institutions encourage and support their revitalization."

I enthusiastically endorse the first two propositions. I vehemently oppose the last two propositions which, in my opinion, are based on a divisive, Marxist-Leninist approach that divides the world into oppressors and the oppressed. Multiculturalism today is all about the "oppressed," i.e., blacks, Hispanics, women and whoever else our academic elite elect.

As I wrote in my 1991 book, "The Ukrainian Americans: Roots and Aspirations," as well as in my 2006 book, "The Ukrainians of Chicagoland," our early immigrants arrived in the United States believing they were Rusyns, Russians, Poles, Austrians - everything but Ukrainians. Thanks to the work of early Ukrainian religious and fraternal leaders, it was here that some 40 percent of them discovered (or reconstructed) their national identity and became "Ukrainians." There was little U.S. pressure toward structural Anglo-conformity. Most European-born Ukrainians remained Ukrainian. Their children either assimilated freely and totally, or became bicultural Ukrainian Americans, Americanized members of an ethnic group, benefiting from the best of two cultures.

This is not happening with Hispanics today. Most, according to Prof. Huntington, remain mono-cultural. They have no need to Americanize because the current multiculturalist establishment deems it oppressive. Call a company or a government office and what do you get? "Dial 1 if you want English, dial 2 if you want Ukrainian?" In your dreams!

School textbooks have changed so that diverse racial, ethnic and social-class groups can experience "equality" as demonstrated by less Americanism and more ethnic profiling in textbooks. In practice, this means more Hispanic, Native-American and Afro-American stories, and fewer white ethnic stories. Ukrainians, again, need not apply.

Despite countless surveys showing that most Hispanic parents want their children fluent in English, the bilingual lobby in American education insists that proficiency in Spanish must precede mastery of English.

Prof. Huntington believes that it is the dominance among mostly Mexican immigrants of a single non-English language (a phenomenon without precedent in American history) that is leading to "the transformation of America into a bilingual, bicultural society."

The new multiculturalists have been joined by what Prof. Huntington calls "transnational" intellectuals, America-hating academics who condemn the "evil of a shared national identity" and who urge allegiance to the "worldwide community of human beings." A recent content analysis by Paul Vitz of 22 readers for third and sixth graders in California and Texas demonstrated that only five out of 670 stories and articles had a patriotic American theme.

Finally, there is dual citizenship. In his book, "The 50 Percent American: Immigration and National Identity in an Age of Terror, Stanley R. Renshone writes that some 151 countries recognize dual citizenship with the U.S. When push comes to shove, where will their loyalties lie?

America's national culture will survive because it is strong and pervasive. Ukraine's culture is fragile. After hundreds of years of foreign rule, Ukrainians need an ambitious Ukrainianization policy. A dual-language approach undermines such an effort. Ukraine's emerging national ethos is still a work in progress. It needs careful nurturing. During Soviet times, Russia's eventual dominance of Ukrainian culture began slowly, incrementally, and for most, imperceptibly. It could happen again if Mr. Yanukovych has his way.

Myron Kuropas's e-mail address is [email protected].

| Home Page |