Thread by @terrelljstarr

Morning, Tymofiy. As a Black American reporter who has covered uprisings (“riots”) in the US and lives in Ukraine covering the war, I think I can help. We're supposed to meet in person (hope you can make time this week), but your tweet requires a thoughtful response, my friend🧵

https://twitter.com/Mylovanov/status/1675603456185311238

My response is less about you directly and more about the huge disconnect between Ukrainians who insist that we understand Russian colonialism yet exercise little intellectual curiosity about white supremacy against POC globally.

I say this as someone who is a cultural ambassador and has facilitated cross cultural sessions between Ukrainian orgs and POC groups for the purposes of coalition building. I've experience covering “riots” and working in Ukraine (I’m here now) with Ukrainians.

First, let’s not misframe what is happening in France. They aren’t riots. They are “uprisings.” “Riots” is white supremacist language that obscures generations of racial inequality and centuries of colonial conquest from which that boy killed by cops comes from.

It is one thing to ask why people riot. It is another to compare people in France, who have experienced centuries of racism, to white Ukrainians and Ukraine’s revolutions, suggesting “we are more civilized.” It is a myopic framing that should be avoided.

Dozens of scholars have researched this, but riot suggests lack of purpose and that people are inherently violent in their reactions. Uprisings seek justice, which is what is happening in France. We cannot discuss “riots” in France without discussing anti-Blackness.

U.S. Scholar Angela Flournoy told TIME that, “There’s an assumption that there’s a population that doesn’t know how to react reasonably to grievances, so this is what they do instead, which is, of course, racist,” she said referring to riots. time.com/5849163/why-de…

Also, are you aware of all of the peaceful protests that took place in France before this “riot” took place? To compare what is happening to France to the two Ukrainian revolutions is apples and bowling balls, for one. Also, it is not productive and very divisive.

Also, there is historical scholarship of riots in France that target minorities. Why don’t we discuss this?

SOURCE: jstor.org/stable/2650570

This tweet also implies that those people in France have a pathology problem and that we, “civilized, white Ukrainians know how to behave better than them.” You don’t mean that but the POC reading your tweet feel that way. They are not wrong.

Here is some context: the tweet critiques a group of people whose nations of heritage suffered under hundreds of years of French colonialism and have yet to get a dime in reparations.

Yet, France/European colonizers who've yet to financially repair the harm done to nations they colonized are spending billions to support Ukraine over a war they did not start. Europeans see oppression in Russian colonialism, yet cannot correct their own–especially France.

Your tweet, my friend, doesn’t consider the context behind why people “riot.” You may think I'm getting off topic but I’m not. Ukrainians are privileged when it comes to global media sympathy and financial support. There are talks of a Marshall Plan for Ukraine–which I support.

What about these people in France and their grievances? Many people are responding negatively to this tweet because it seems more concerned about property being destroyed than a kid having his brains blown out by cops.

Your tweet *suggests* this is a POC pathology and that white people are above destroying property. Which is not historically accurate. [SOURCE] nymag.com/intelligencer/…

Also, Ukrainians have been granted unprecedented refugee privileges POC refugees to Europe never get. I know because I am working on a special project that documents the differences. This is why many people are offended by these tweets.

Also, at the start of the war in Ukraine, Blacks and POC experienced many cases of racism and violence by Ukrainians when fleeing Ukraine. I have personally documented many of these cases, so this is no Kremlin propaganda.

I could take your logic about the “riots” in France and ask, “Why is it that when Ukrainians get stressed, they become racist?” There is plenty of material I personally could use to push that narrative but I don't. Because it would be wrong.

The mistake of your tweet is not the question about rioting. It is the framing that pits two groups of people against each other. Your tweet, in effect, is saying,” POC are uncivilized compared to white Ukrainians.”

The tweet sounds like typical white ignorance that we as Black people and people of color hear all the time. I am sure your POC students at your academic instruction in the states would have questions about why you frame your tweet the way you did.

Also, it is never a good idea to compare peoples’ oppression. The Ukrainian revolutions are, in fact, a battle against Russian supremacist geopolitical reach. Russian political doctrine essentially looks at Ukrainians like white trash.

I, a Black person, have studied Ukrainian history enough to know this and respect your culture (learning Ukrainian today) to understand this. The question is why can’t Ukrainians exercise the same respect for our historical suffering?

This tweet suggests that too many Ukrainians do not take the time to understand the oppression of other people. That is the grievance here. Ukrainians demand that the world should understand their suffering but it is believed most Ukrainians could care less about ours.

There is a reason for this: whiteness. In my experience with U.S-educated Ukrainians and E. Europeans in general, few of them know anything about POC oppression. ANYWHERE. Because they do not have to. They become as white as the people who oppress us.

They study at white institutions, work at white think tanks and spend most of their time with white American colleagues who, themselves, could care less about anti-blackness/POC.

Many (*not all*) U.S.-educated Ukrainians, in my experience, pick up the same racist thinking of their white peers about Black people/POC globally. I know this from PERSONAL experience.

Even as I've interviewed Ukrainians for stories that amplify THEIR voices, I've run into some Ukrainian who recalls some bad experience with *a* black person and generalize us in racist/tone deaf stereotypes. This happens to me ALL THE TIME!!!!!

When we meet in person, @Mylovanov, (that's where sincere dialogues take place), I'll explain the differences between Ukrainian revolutions and that of what is happening in France. This is too nuanced a convo to have on Twitter. Better to chat over tea, my friend. Pick the spot!

@Mylovanov Western-educated Ukrainians rightfully tell us not to fall for Kremlin talking points. No problem. Why, then, are Ukrainians who get masters and doctorates at the highest levels of Western education so tone deaf about how race works in the West?

@Mylovanov Is it because many (not all) Ukrainians want to join the E.U. and NATO, the host nations whose policies colonized us and continue to ignore racism against its minority populations? It's essentially joining the very whiteness that abuses us and say nothing about it.

@Mylovanov That is why so many African nations and even many Black people say, “fuck Ukraine.” I think there is room to work through this (I am part of that work now), but it is moments like the Paris uprisings that show us how ignorant many Ukrainians can be about racism in the West.

“Riots” have been part of U.S. and European history for hundreds of years. And white people, not people of color, are the ones who are the primary perpetrators of actual riots on both continents. The most devastating one was the insurrection against the U.S. government in 2021.

Most riots in the U.S. (have to check on Europe) have been carried out by WHITE PEOPLE. What is happening in France is a psychological trauma response to decades of white on black/POC oppression. There is a huge difference.

Again, centuries of global anti-Blackness and Ukrainian revolutions are vastly different subjects. It is not productive to ask, “Why are they rioting? We never do this.” It sounds very racist and I KNOW YOU ARE NOT. But I understand why people THINK your tweet is.

I could say a lot of things about why Ukraine is not in the EU and NATO compared to other Eastern European nations and dig deep into Ukrainian history to make a lot of claims about why corruption, racism, anti-semitism and other things keep Ukraine back. I do not.

As someone who loves this nation (even when I face racism here myself), I retain a sober mind and do not engage in myopic Russian Supremacist talking points. We only ask that Ukrainians show us the *same respect* and not pick up white supremacist talking points.

People often ask me why I come to Ukraine. I love it here and I love the people. Most people are very curious and I have lots of convos about race that I never post on here. Some convos are very difficult. But I still have them because they are worth it. It’s a calling.

I’ll close by saying that Ukraine has gotten love and support from France that boy of N. African heritage who was killed by their officers never will. I only ask that Ukrainians and non-POC ask why that is.