世界中で起きている重要な事件、事象についての忌憚なき批判、批評の場とします。


by shin-yamakami16

「ウクライナのお巡りは私が黒人だから拘束すると言う」—『ワシントン・ポスト』紙

 「ウクライナのお巡りは私が黒人だから拘束すると言う」—『ワシントン・ポスト』紙  _f0166919_9331080.jpg


       「18か月ウクライナ体験記」筆者・Terrell Jermaine Starr 氏


「ウクライナで黒人であることは、米国での人種差別悪の全てを教えてくれる」


                                  山上 真

 新年1月2日付の米国『ワシントン・ポスト』紙上に、フルブライト国際プログラムの研究者として、ウクライナに18か月に渉って滞在した* 'AlterNet’ 編集者・Terrell Jermaine Starr 氏の「体験手記」が掲載されていたので、ここにその大要を紹介したい。—<原文・参考資料>
 ウクライナと言えば、昨年キエフを中心とする政変で内戦に発展し、東部ドネツク・ロシア民族の「分離独立」問題を巡って、欧米・ロシア間の深刻な対立を招いた当事国であり、この国の実態を知ることは、今後の成り行きを見る上で大いに示唆を与えてくれると思われる。

‘A cop in Ukraine said he was detaining me because I was black. I appreciated it.’
—「 ウクライナのポリ公は私が黒人という理由で拘束すると言う。私は事情が直ぐに呑込めた」

 2009年の夏、私がキエフに降り立った途端、気づいていなかったことだが、居住差別の犠牲者として、私はすでにホームレスの境遇に置かれていた。
 私は二民族国家ウクライナの人々の暮し振りと、このスラブ国家がデトロイト出身の黒人である私の様な人間を生み出し得るのかどうかを探りたいという強い願いを抱いてこの国に渡って来た。

 何か月も前に、私の為に現地不動産代理店がアパートの一室を確保してくれていた筈なのだが、空港からタクシーで代理店に着くと、セルゲイは穏やかな微笑みを浮かべて、部屋を探してみたが見つからなかったと言い、
「貴方の皮膚の色が大変困ったことになった」
と付け加えるのだ。彼はそれまでに幾人もの家主に会って、米国市民であることが借家手続きを楽にしてくれると思い乍ら、貸し部屋を米国人が求めていることを話したが、相手は決まって人種を問い、借り主が黒人であることが分かると、直ぐに会話が途切れたという。

 その日、セルゲイと私は,何時間もキエフ中の部屋を探し続け,とっぷり日が暮れる頃、漸く一人の心優しい家主を見つけることが出来たのだった。

 東ヨーロッパでの人種差別主義の手ほどきは、私の場合、速やかに、しかも痛烈に齎された。その後のウクライナでの18か月の間、人種というものが私の日常生活とウクライナ人との交渉の場で、恒常的な障害となった。

 確かに合衆国でも黒い皮膚は障害を生む。米国では人種差別主義は、白人には全面的に与えられる自由をアフリカ系黒人が十分に享受することを、組織的に、しかし普通はこっそりと妨げる。ところが、ウクライナでの人種差別は、ずっと露骨で、常に面と向かっての、恥知らずの、明け透けなものだ。私は或る人物の言い方が人種差別的潜在感情を帯びているのかとか、一警官の「停止」合図が偏見に満ちたものかどうか、などということを推測さえしなかった。ウクライナ人は常に、善かれ悪しかれ私が置かれている立場を意識させ、私はそのことを呑込んでいた。

 「ウクライナのお巡りは私が黒人だから拘束すると言う」—『ワシントン・ポスト』紙  _f0166919_1024156.jpg


 「ウクライナのお巡りは私が黒人だから拘束すると言う」—『ワシントン・ポスト』紙  _f0166919_1025191.jpg


    2014年キエフ市内を行進する「ネオナチ」集団 ーブログ「世界の憂鬱」

 「東欧銘柄」人種差別主義への私の順応的態度は、直ぐに身に付いた訳ではない。最初の数週間を、最も極端な形の「反黒人」憎悪に唯慣れる為に過ごしていた。時折、私は黒シャツを着て、ドクターマーチン・ブーツを履いて、こちらに向かってナチス的挨拶をする若者たちに出会った。又ある時には、私の皮膚の色が明け透けの興味の的となり、有名人に間違われたかと思われる様な親切にも出くわした。

 「ウクライナのお巡りは私が黒人だから拘束すると言う」—『ワシントン・ポスト』紙  _f0166919_9375011.jpg


        2001年ロシア・Svirstroyにて:ロシア人警官とStarr 氏

 ウクライナもその一部であった1960年代の旧ソ連時代には、夥しい数の黒人が脱植民地後のアフリカからやって来て、ソ連圏15共和国で、無償の大学教育を数千人のアフリカ人学生が受けることが出来た。ソ連は言わば、米国や「アパルトヘイト」南アよりも遥かに安全な環境を黒人たちに提供していた。

 ウクライナでは、人種差別は公然として、至る所で顔を出すものだ。その最も甚だしい出会いの一つは、私がロシア語教室に向かっている時だった。私が中央駅で乗車用硬貨を買っていたところ、若いポリ公がギラギラした目でこちらを睨んでいるのに直ぐさま気が付いた。黒人として、米国でもそうした事態には慣れ切っているので,この外国でも、警官の目の向け方に予期出来るものがあった。その警官は私に向かって来て、ソ連式軍隊の敬礼をするなり、パスポートを見せるように求めた。彼はそれをざっと見て、駅構内の派出所に私を連行した。そこで,私が何故拘束されたのか尋ねると、彼はロシア語で、「君はnigger だから, 我が国にドラッグを持ち込んでいるだろう」と言い、「どこにドラッグはあるのか?」と尋ねるのだ。

 別のポリ公も加勢して、私がウクラウナに居る本当の理由を聞き出そうとする。彼らは、私がドラッグを密輸するという「真の意図」を隠す為に学生の振りをしていると主張する。私がフルブライト奨学生の書類を見せても、しつこい訊問に苦しめられ、何とか連中が事情を理解して,私が解放されたのは約30分後のことだった。

 その経験は酷いものだが、あの若い警官の「率直さ」には、呑込めるものがあった。彼は、私に対する行動の動機が、「人種」以外の何物でもないということをはっきり言った。私が今住んでいるニューヨークでは、市警は人種差別が、たとえ潜在意識下でも、警官の振舞いの動機になり得るという示唆を即座に否定する。彼らは、同一犯罪の場合、白人容疑者よりも黒人容疑者の方が習慣的により厳しく処されることを示す研究調査をきっぱり退ける。

       ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

 Terrell Jermaine Starr 氏は最後に、全く無垢な気持で氏を「あなたはnigga ね?」と言う、黒人音楽好きのグルジア人女子学生の例を取り上げ、その表現の仕方が適切でないことを、黒人が辿った歴史と文化の観点から幾度も説明して理解させた体験を披露して、母国米国での「黒人解放」の未来への可能性を示唆している。

 同氏は、昨年起こった「ウクライナ危機」については関心を示し乍らも多くを言及していないが、現在、恐らく厳冬の為にキエフ政権・「東部共和国」双方は「休戦」状態を概ね保っているのに過ぎないだろう。キエフ・ポロシェンコ政権は「6年以内のEU加盟」を進めようとして必死であるが、主として東部での戦争に起因する「軍事費」重圧で、米・EU側の梃入れにも拘らず、国家財政は破綻寸前と言われている。この状態では、EU加盟は、たとえ有りうるとしても,相当遠い将来の「夢」としか言えないだろう。現今、ギリシャがEUの求める「緊縮財政」を守り切れず政権が倒れ,次期政権が大方の予測通りに「急進左派」に握られれば「EU脱退」の事態も想定される中、いよいよ欧州情勢は、「風雲急を告げる」成り行きだ。 (2015.01.08)

 「ウクライナのお巡りは私が黒人だから拘束すると言う」—『ワシントン・ポスト』紙  _f0166919_21521471.jpg

ー仏『リベラシオン』紙(1月11日付)

<注>
’AlterNet’:進歩的リベラル派の立場で環境・人権・市民的自由・社会正義・メディア・医療などのテーマについて市民行動と支持を鼓舞する使命を掲げる非営利独立メディア機関
a project of the non-profit Independent Media Institute, is a progressive/liberal activist news service.[2] Launched in 1998, AlterNet claims a readership of over 3 million visitors per month,[3] though the web ratings service Quantcast estimates that it receives 1.3 million.[4]
AlterNet publishes original content as well as journalism from a wide variety of other sources. AlterNet states that its mission is to "inspire citizen action and advocacy on the environment, human rights and civil liberties, social justice, media, and health care issues".
—Wikipedia

                    <追記>
1. 米国 'VT・VETERANS TODAY'、及びロシア 'pravda.ru.' の報道に依ると、米国の著名な映画監督 Oliver Stone 氏は、昨年初の「キエフ政変」を米国CIAに因る「クーデター」と看做して、その経過を克明に描いたドキュメンタリー映画を制作中であるという。その為に、前ウクライナ大統領・ヤヌコーヴィチ氏など関係者に会って、証言を求めている模様だ。  (2015.01.09)

 「ウクライナのお巡りは私が黒人だから拘束すると言う」—『ワシントン・ポスト』紙  _f0166919_6143541.jpg


His new film in production documents US-style regime change in Ukraine. He spent four hours interviewing ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. For an English language documentary produced by Ukrainians.
Saying it’s “clear that the so-called (Maidan) ‘shooters’ (killing police and civilians) were outside third party agitators. “(T)he truth is not being aired in the West.”
“Many witnesses, including Yanukovych and police officials, believe these foreign elements were introduced by pro-Western factions – with CIA fingerprints on it.”
ー'VT・VETERANS TODAY'

2. この1月6日、「ウクライナ財政危機救済の為の資金援助」を求めてドイツ・メルケル首相と会談したウクライナ首相・ヤツェニュク氏が、ドイツTV局'ARD' のインタヴューを受けて、「ソ連は第二次大戦中にウクライナとドイツを侵略した」という「トンデモ」発言を物して独・露両国で問題化している。これは、このウクライナ「首相」の、ナチス・ドイツや第二次世界大戦についての「幼稚かつ危険な歴史観」を暴露するもので、一国の政治を率いる人物としての資格を疑わせるに十分である。こうした発言は、「ネオナチ」分子・取締りに腐心しているドイツ総体にとって、迷惑極まりないものだ。言うまでもなく、ソ連の「西進」は、1945年2月の「ヤルタ会談」で、米・英などとの戦後処理・協議の際に取り決められたものだが、既に当時のウクライナでの「ナチス協力」も明るみになっていた。ヤツェニュクという人物は、どうもウクライナの底流に流れ、現代でも大手を振って表面に躍り出ている「親ナチ」要素を代弁する輩の様だ。これを米国代表などが国連の場などで弁護しているのは、現代での「世界戦略」を優先する余り、「歴史を忘れた」愚かさと言うしかなかろう。

Ukrainian PM Arseny Yatsenyuk blames Soviet Union for invading Germany
09.01.2015 | Source: Pravda.Ru

Moscow requested an explanation for the official position of Berlin regarding today's infamous remarks from Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk about "Russia's invasion of Germany and Ukraine," First Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Titov said, TASS reports.

On Thursday, January 8, Arseny Yatsenyuk, when visiting Germany, gave an interview to German TV channel ARD, in which he said: "Germany and the German Chancellor personally have done a lot to restore peace in Ukraine. To guarantee stability not only in Ukraine, but also in the whole of Europe." The current "Russian aggression in Ukraine is an attack on the world order and the order in Europe." "We still remember well the Soviet invasion of Ukraine and Germany. This should be avoided," Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said.

Several Russian politicians have reacted to Yatsenyuk's words. For example, the head of the State Duma Committee for Foreign Affairs, Alexei Pushkov, wrote on his Twitter that "Yatsenyuk has finally gone mad." The head of the same committee of the upper house of the Russian parliament, Konstantin Kosachev, said that the remarks from the Prime Minister of Ukraine were a shameful excuse to Hitlerism and an insult to the memory of heroes.

In Germany, the online version of Spiegel magazine satirically wrote: "Indeed, since 1942, Soviet troops had been moving relentlessly to the West and were not afraid to pursue the army of the democratically elected chancellor Adolf Hitler even on the Ukrainian territory. (...) Finally, the Soviets transgressed the eastern border of Germany and invaded its territory, as we all remember, together with Mr. Yatsenyuk."

 「ウクライナのお巡りは私が黒人だから拘束すると言う」—『ワシントン・ポスト』紙  _f0166919_643227.jpg

    度々「親ナチ」発言を繰り返しているウクライナ「首相」ヤツェニュク

 「ウクライナのお巡りは私が黒人だから拘束すると言う」—『ワシントン・ポスト』紙  _f0166919_6453391.jpg

1945 年2月クリミア・「ヤルタ会談」:チャーチル・ルーズベルト・スターリンなど各国首脳

<写真> The Washington Post

                  <参考資料>
1.‘The Washington Post’ —「ウクライナのポリ公は私が黒人という理由で拘束すると言う。私は事情が直ぐに呑込めた」
A cop in Ukraine said he was detaining me because I was black. I appreciated it.
Being a black man in Ukraine showed me everything that's wrong with race in the U.S.
By Terrell Jermaine Starr January 2 at 8:39 AM

Follow @Russian_Starr
Terrell Jermaine Starr is a senior editor at AlterNet. He specializes in African diasporas in Europe.
Terrell Jermaine Starr discusses the 18 months he spent in Ukraine as a Fulbright scholar and what he learned about race relations. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post)

I was already homeless – unknowingly a victim of housing discrimination – when my plane touched down in Kiev, Ukraine in the summer of 2009. I was traveling on a Fulbright grant to research the lives of biracial Ukrainians, and was eager to explore how the Slavic country could produce native people who looked like me, a young black man from Detroit. A local real estate agent had promised several months earlier to secure an apartment for me before my arrival. I took a taxi from the airport to meet him. Wearing a warm, wide smile, Sergei extended his hand and welcomed me. Then he explained why his apartment search had failed: “Your skin color has been causing us a lot of problems.”
Sergei explained that he had called numerous landlords saying that an American wanted to lease a flat. He thought emphasizing my American citizenship would expedite the leasing process. But when a landlord asked if I was black, Sergei was forced to reveal my race – and the conversation would quickly end. We spent hours that day visiting flats throughout Kiev. Each time, the flat owner refused to rent to me – until we finally met one agreeable landlord just as the sun was setting.
My introduction to racism in Eastern Europe had come swiftly and severely. Over my next 18 months in Ukraine, race would remain a constant obstacle to normal life and interactions with Ukrainians.
Certainly, black skin creates hurdles in the United States, as well. Here, racism systemically – but usually covertly – obstructs African-Americans from fully enjoying all the freedoms afforded to white people. But racism in Ukraine was much more blunt – always in my face, unabashed and in plain view. I never had to guess whether a person’s remarks carried racist undertones or if an officer’s stop was fueled by prejudice. Ukrainians always let me know where I stood with them, good or bad. And I appreciated it.
My acclimation to Eastern Europe’s brand of racism didn’t come immediately. I spent my first six weeks in Ukraine simply getting used to the most extreme forms of anti-black hatred. Occasionally, I’d encounter young men dressed in black shirts and Doc Martins who would throw up the Nazi salute in my direction. Other times, my skin color would attract open curiosity and such overwhelming kindness that I would wonder if I had been mistaken for a celebrity. (And sometimes I was. While visiting Georgia, some residents thought I was Allen Iverson, and I was asked to pose for 80 photos over two days.)

Terrell Jermaine Starr (right) poses with with a police officer in Svirstroy, Russia in the summer of 2001. (Photo courtesy of the author)
Of course, my arrival in Ukraine wasn’t the first time the country had welcomed a black person. The highest number of black people arrived there through the former Soviet Union during the 1960s, after the decolonization of Africa. Soviet leadership granted thousands of African students generous scholarships to attend university throughout the 15 republics. In some ways, the Soviet Union provided a much safer environment for black people than the United States or apartheid South Africa. But in just as many cases, black people were no better off than local, non-black Soviet citizens who were murdered during Stalin’s pogroms.
Racism was overt and ubiquitous. One of my most blatant encounters came when I was headed to Russian class. I was purchasing a token at the Central Train Stop, when I spotted a young cop glaring at me. As a black American, I’m all too familiar with the look police officers give just before stopping you, and immediately recognized the gaze even in this foreign country. The officer walked toward me, gave a Soviet-style military salute and demanded that I present my passport. He looked it over before telling me to follow him into a mini-police unit inside the station. Once there, I asked the cop why I was being held. In Russian, he responded, “You’re a nigger and I know you’re bringing drugs into our country,” he said. “Where are the drugs?”

Another cop soon joined him in interrogating me, demanding to know the real reason I was in Ukraine. They insisted I was posing as a student to mask my real intent: smuggling drugs. Even after showing them my Fulbright documents, they continued to harass me. Only after nearly 30 minutes of questioning did they realize I was clean and release me.
As bad as the experience sounds, I appreciated the young cops’ forwardness. He made it clear that his stop was motivated by race and nothing more. In New York City, where I now live, the NYPD immediately rejects any suggestion that racism can motivate officers’ behavior, even subconsciously. They categorically dismiss research that shows black people are habitually treated more severely than whites when suspected of the same crime. They swear that policing policies like “stop and frisk” and “broken windows” aren’t racially motivated, even though studies have repeatedly shown that they disproportionately target minorities. These knee-jerk denials breed distrust and allow tensions to fester. Conversations about race in the U.S. descend into vile name-calling and our fears of social and professional retribution hogtie desires to explore each other’s worlds in meaningful ways. Essentially, any cross-cultural breakthroughs we could have about race in America are, in large part, held captive by defensiveness and political correctness.

In Eastern Europe, on the other hand, I had many genuine conversations about race. One occurred while I was teaching English in Georgia during a Peace Corps tour in 2005. After one class, a student stayed behind and we began speaking, in English, about black-American culture. The conversation was innocent until the student began expressing how much she adored black people.
“Oh, I just love the Negro,” she said. “They’re so smart and can sing and dance so well. I just love niggers.”
I knew she used that word out of ignorance and meant no harm. So I calmly told her that she shouldn’t refer to black people that way.

“Why not?” she responded. “Don’t you all call each other that in your rap music?”
The familiar retort caused me to tense up instinctively. In the U.S., I had no interest in the combat that inevitably descended from debate over the “N-word.” But in this case, my student – who was 20 years old and previously had no exposure to black people – was staring at me with genuine bewilderment. Hers was an honest curiosity, a desire to better understand a group of people and a culture she had only witnessed through music. I tried to explain why some black people use “nigga” with each other and why the N-word was perceived pejoratively, especially if used by white people. The distinction, murky enough in the United States, was extremely difficult to explain to a person completely naïve to the historical and cultural nuances.
“So, you’re a nigga – right?” she questioned.
After 40 minutes, I simply said that she shouldn’t say either word because it would hurt black peoples’ feelings. “Oh, I don’t want to do that,” she said. Then we moved on to other topics.

While many of my African-American friends cringe at my stories about being black in Eastern Europe, I reflect on my time there fondly. That’s not to say that race relations in Europe are better than in the United States. As far as I am concerned, they are just as bad, if not worse, on average. Indeed, when I experienced racism in Eastern Europe, it was frequently harsh, even though I had the distinct advantage of being an American. Africans were treated far worse. But what I did enjoy about Eastern Europe, especially Ukraine, was that I was able to make many breakthroughs on race with locals that I have yet to experience in the United States. Instead of entrenching in their racial ignorance, Ukrainians were honest about their naiveté and open to learning about a different culture. In the midst of our own battles in the United States, we could afford to take a similar approach to achieve better racial understanding.
by shin-yamakami16 | 2015-01-08 09:42