By Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher
The world is watching with great horror the genocide and destruction the Russians are inflicting on the nation of Ukraine and its people. We question how could soldiers execute innocent men, women and children, leaving their bodies in the streets, destroying their homes and communities with bombs and missiles and now bringing in mobile cremortories to dispose of bodies as if they were just trash. We see pictures of destroyed housing and infrastructure. The Russians clearly have decided that, “If we can’t conquer you, we will make your homeland so desolate you can’t return to it”.
Well, now that we have this mental picture, let us look at the Russians among us. Who are they? Those who engage in violence such as the hate crimes like the one recently committed in San Diego’s East County where a White family racially attacked a Black family, with the White teenage boy stabbing a 13 year old black girl while calling her and her family the “N” word. This was with the White father and mother present as the White teenage girl attempted to attack a Black family member with a pipe or rod. The Black family, following treatment of their stab wounds, has been placed in “Protective Custody” for fear of their lives.
Across the country, we are experiencing mass shootings, murder, and attempted murder. More gun violence. Question: How can we be so concerned about what the Russians are doing to the Ukraines as we send money, weapons and aid of all kinds, without being concerned about what we are doing to ourselves as a nation here at home? When those among us attack and seek to kill or destroy people here, just because they are different from us, what’s the difference between us and the Russians killing the people of the Ukraine?
When Members of Congress can go on recess while funding for food banks are running low as food lines are growing because of the high gas prices; while child care here at home is not a funding priority, but we react to the violence of children being killed in the Ukraine, are we missing something? When we still have the Extreme Right set on ignoring the legitimacy of our own democratic election while supposedly fighting for democracy in the rest of the world, there is something seriously wrong.
Yes, the Republicans, those committing hate crimes on our neighbors, and those engaging in the violence of shootings, stabbings and physical attacks on others; all these are the Russians among us. Let’s take a close look, now that we can see.
