Dear Editor:
Paul R. Magocsi’s recent article with the catchy title “Anti-Semitism in Ukraine?” (October 6) turned out to be a plug for a 2016 book he co-authored on Jews and Ukrainians.
The piece concludes that Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s election as president of Ukraine demonstrated the “political maturity of Ukrainian society.” Really?
As a comedian, Mr. Zelenskyy made his living disparaging Ukraine and Ukrainians in vivid terms. Would a comedian using the “n” word in his or her routines and then running for president be electable in today’s America? Can Prof. Magocsi name at least one other democracy where the majority – as a sign of their political maturity – had elected a president who made a career out of derogating them?
The 2019 presidential elections made Ukraine into some sort of an oddity. Or, as the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy wrote of Mr. Zelenskyy last month, “An odd spectacle, to say the least.”
And, finally, when dealing with the multinational character of Ukraine, Prof. Magocsi neglected to mention the Carpatho-Rusyns. A strange oversight, as he is the driving force behind the movement that insists that they are almost a million strong and distinct from everyone around them, especially Ukrainians.
R. B. Worobec
Alexandria, Va.