Black Americans And Ukrainians Have Much In Common

I had the pleasure of talking to

Danielle Moodie

today about Ukraine and why Black people much be engaged in foreign affairs discussions.

We spent an hour breaking down why Trump’s white supremacist policies in the U.S. are in line with far-right leaders in Europe and, particularly, Putin. When Europeans move to the U.S., they are usually shielded from the racism that targets people of color.

But, as Trump has shown, his hatred has no limits. That is why he has threatened to discontinue visa programs that allow Ukrainian refugees to stay in the U.S. to uphold his xenophobic America First policy.

I also talk about my reporting at the very start of the war in which Africans raced racism leaving and I delved into the very complex issues behind why that was. Most of the media coverage suggested that Ukrainians singularly racist towards Africans, but it the reality on the ground was far more complex than that.

Of course, that makes a lot of Black folks ask, “Why should I care about them if they don’t care about us?” That’s a legit question. I address that in my conversation with Danielle, in addition to how Trump’s treatment of Ukraine should concern Black Americans as well.

I tied all of these events together to illustrate why, at the end of the day, Black people still need to care about what is happening here because our destinies are very much connected with Ukrainians—whether we realise it or not.

Thank you

P. J. Schuster

,

Natasha K.

,

KB

,

Melinda

,

Frank Johnson

, and many others for tuning into my live video with

Danielle Moodie

! Join me for my next live video in the app.