Race
When Skin Color Becomes a Passport
When the refugees are blonde-haired and blue-eyed, the reception is very, very different.
Like virtually every person in the free world, I’m pulling for the citizens of Ukraine. Their plight is the real-life embodiment of David versus Goliath — good versus evil. I find myself pulling for them, despite their ridiculously long odds.
What is especially compelling to observe is the evolution of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president. He has risen to the occasion, going from a politically inexperienced comedian to a hero of almost mythic status.
With a storyline like this, one would think that the narrative pretty much writes itself. Unfortunately, some in the media keep saying the quiet part out loud. The first few days of the conflict have seen one incident after another of reporters displaying their blatantly racist, bigoted, and colonialist points of view — on live television.
The overarching implication is that the more white and European the refugees, the more deserving they are of the world’s support and empathy.
