Russian people are not uniquely evil
In his column published May 16 in the Kitsap Sun, Ross K. Baker deplores Vladimir Putin’s vicious invasion of Ukraine. I agree. Where Baker errs is saying “the national character of Russia” produces a special brutality among its young males.
My long experience with Russian people tells me the evil is more in the leadership and not the common people. Hate Putin, yes, but understand what choices draft-age Russian men now face. If they even call the illegal war by its name, “an illegal war,” they can get 15 years in prison.
Eventually, a majority of Russians will see through their leader’s lies. But be not so quick to require from them a courage that few humans possess. When I took North Kitsap students to Russia in the 1990s, we met a man who was imprisoned and tortured for defying the KGB. Does Ross Baker have that kind of courage? Would he throw down a rifle and accept the label of “traitor”? Did he ever risk arrest protesting any U.S. invasion of another country?
The New York Times reports that across the rest of Europe, Russian-speaking children are bullied because of generalities like Mr. Baker’s. (New York Times, May 9, 2022, "In Europe’s Schoolyards, Putin’s War Hurts Russian-Speaking Children.)
Yes, Ross Baker, hate Putin and his invasion. But don’t push a racist theory that “Russian people” are uniquely evil. Children whose only crime is their Russian culture begin life as innocents. Russia’s is not the only army to commit atrocities.
Phil J. Davis, Bremerton
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Russian people are not uniquely evil
