Ninth grade required reading provides context for protest in Iran

CHANEL NEAL

Contributing Writer a corrupted country. communist symbols on their laptops, I wonder if they would similarly celebrate the British empire or the US colonists. When I think of the USSR and Russia, I do not see the cute images or political ideals. think of their imperialistic policies, my family, my people and many other nations, whose history and culture was either stolen or ridiculed and who were subjected to endless poverty and persecutions by Moscow rulers. The challenge of recognizing Russian colonial imperialism is a direct result of the mostly West-centered view on the issue. In the more well-known examples of British or French Empires, colonization was rooted in racism, which was not always the case in Russia. Moreover, the conflict between Russia and the West caused many to associate the former with being an anti-West and, thus, anticolonial power. While the first assumption is not false, the second one is far from being true.

Recent protests that have struck in Iran relating to strict government mandates around restricting women’s dress and activity is contextualized in nineth grade required reading of “Persepolis.” The novel is about a young girl, Marjane, growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, which provides context for the injustices that still persist today. Since the Islamic Revolution in 1978, an authoritarian regime has taken over the Islamic Republic of Iran. More recently, in 2022, an Iranian woman named Mahsa Amini was detained and murdered by officials after going in public improperly observing hijab, some of her hair being visible, a direct violation of one of the regime’s laws.

In the early 20th century, when colonialism finally started to lose support in the West, Moscow began to broadcast an image of itself as an anti-colonial champion to international audiences. Lenin even famously named colonialism the final stage of capitalism. Putin in his recent speech about the illegal annexation of several Ukrainian regions called Russia’s actions “decolonization” and in 15 minutes mentioned the word “colonialism” 11 times. Despite such rhetoric, the Russian empire, the USSR and now Russia have continued to build typical colonial structures inside their borders.

The prominent feature of imperialism is the economical and social divide between the center (Russia/Moscow) and the periphery (Eastern Europe, Baltic States, Caucasus, and Central Asia). Such inequality is usually achieved through the centralized control and disregard for the needs of the colonized regions, economic and social oppression, and forcible assimilation, which leads to identity loss and cultural erasure.

For example, both the USSR and Russian Empire, have long imposed “the great” Russian language and culture on many indigenous and subjugated peoples forcing them to lose their cultural identity. The execution of a whole generation of Ukrainian writers known as “The Executed Renaissance,” the massive deportation of Ukrainians to isolated parts of the USSR, and the Ems Ukaz (edict) that prohibited publishing of literature in Ukrainian are just a few examples of Russia’s colonial policies against Ukraine. Similar examples can be found for any other nation subjugated by Moscow.

Colonial imperialism would have been impossible to sustain without the belief system it promoted. To justify the oppression of other countries, the empires such as the USSR or Russian Empire often reinforce the idea that their people are superior to other nations and, thus, have some inherent right to rule and oppress them. The propaganda of such ideas often elevates the colonizers’ culture and ridicules and simplifies to cliches the culture of the colonized people. For example, in Soviet and Russian media, the language of the oppressed countries has often been portrayed as stupid, aimed for the village or at most for the family dinners, while Russian language has been depicted as intelligent, the language of science and education. Such propaganda becomes so deeply ingrained in the minds of people who live in the empire that it is impossible to point out the media produced by the empire’s center that does not somehow support those stereotypes. Russian literature is no exception.

While recognizing the imperialist ideas in the works of many Western writers, most American and European readers prefer to ignore similarly dangerous ideas in the Russian literature. For example, many Western audience do not know that their beloved Dostoyevsky in his “Diary of a Writer,” celebrates Russia’s victory in Turkmenistan (another Russian colony) and expresses his hope for people “all the way to India” to “become convinced of the invincibility of the white tsar.” Tolstoy in his novel “War and Peace” disregards the perspective of Polish people and modifies the actual history of Vilnius meeting Tsar Alexander to further elevate the Russian army. Lermontov in his novel “A Hero of Our Time” repeatedly describes the indigenous people of Caucasus as uncivilized and tries to construct a sympathetic character out of the Russian officer Pechorin, who kidnaps and abuses a Circassian woman. Virtually all famous Russian writers helped to justify Russia’s imperialist policies, promoted Russian exceptionalism or excluded the voices of oppressed nations. For many years, this literature has shaped how the West viewed Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Baltic Countries and led many to neglect the actual history and culture of those regions.

Unlike in other known empires, in the USSR and the Russian empire, and now in Russia, no work has been done to recognize their imperialist past and present and counteract it. From the incredibly popular comedy TV series “My Fair Nanny” that ridicules Ukrainian culture to constantly using ethnic slurs for almost every single ethnicity, the imperialist mindset is alive and well in Rus sian culture. Such ideas are reflected in Russians’ attitude to their former colonies that they consider worthy of respect only if they cooperate with Russia.

Russia’s imperial ambitions towards its former colonies have already resulted in Russia’s wars in Chechnya and occupation of Ukrainian (in 2014) and Georgian territories (in the 1990s and 2008) and eventually has led to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine that started in 2022. The overwhelming support of Russians for the invasion comes from the prevalence of imperialist ideas such as that Ukrainian people (being “less educated”) need the help of Moscow to succeed. Being used to the caricatured image of stupid Ukrainians or the idea of “brotherly” relationship between Ukraine and Russia, Russians struggle to comprehend that their former colony can actually exercise its right of self-determination and not accept Rus sian “help” with open arms.

The West has turned a blind eye to Russian imperialist policies for centuries and now has to deal with the consequenc es. Without recognizing and counteracting the Russian imperialist mindset, we can not hope for the cultural revival of the subjugated nations within Russian borders or for political independence of Russia’s former colonies.

If the Slavic departments of American universities keep centering Russia at their course offerings and research, the culture and history of former Russian colonies will continue to be disregarded. If high school World History curriculum or college courses about colonialism continue avoiding the topic of imperialism in the Russian empire, the USSR, and modern Russia, Americans will keep falling to Russian propaganda and being “surprised” at Russian chauvinistic views.

Instead of idolizing Pushkin or Tolstoy, obsessing over Russian culture or praising Soviet leaders, Americans should educate themselves on Russian imperialism, critically analyze what they think they know about Russian history or culture, and amplify the voices of formerly subjugated nations. Only this way can they counteract imperialism around the world and help create the platform for all the nations colonized by Russia.

“Made in China”

China’s economy as its borders open

Her death led to a rise of protests throughout the nation, making Persepolis an even more relevant reading in our community. English teacher, Miriam Emery, said that the reading along with the revolts has been a complete coincidence. This reading has been taught alongside other memoirs such as Trevor Noah’s “Born a Crime”, meant to analyze how political events can shape the course of one’s upbringing. Emery said, “On the surface, someone who hadn’t heard of the graphic memoir, or of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, might think, ‘I don’t think I’m gonna like this. I’m not into politics, and know nothing about Iran and that part of the world.’ And by the end, almost every student did like the book and would see a lot of connections between themselves and the characters.” Ninth grade have been able to more effectively analyze the recent spark of protests in Iran because of Perspolis’ appeal to teen life as it relates to growing up in political turmoil. Chloe Mackay, freshman, who read the novel, said that it was a relatable story about “finding ourselves and coming to terms with who we are,” no matter how different those circumstances may seem. Mackay further explained that the novel debunked misconceptions that she and many of her peers may have had about the Islamic Revolution in terms of women’s role, religious implementation, and government regimes in general. She said, “It definitely gave me more context and it was easier to empathize with the character knowing that she was around my age. It could have so easily have been you,” Mackay said.

Persepolis is set during and after the Islamic Revolution, but the themes of the novel are present in Iran today. Emery’s neighbor, Nazanin Mahallati, is an Iranian woman now living in Hastings-on-Hudson, who spent 18 years of her life in the midst of post-Islamic Revolution Iran before moving to the United States, speaks to these similarities.

When it comes to the recent protests in Iran, Mahallati said that her experiences as a high school student involved being “punished for little things” that she and her peers should not have been, which makes the recent protests

(while at a larger scale) familiar. According to Mahallati, the required reading of Persepolis is a step in the right direction. She went on to say that spreading awareness on this issue can be done effectively through literature. Mahallati said, “Through introducing books that are written by Iranian young immigrant writers who have been in the country and experienced it, they can voice their experience through their literature and through their writings. Personal experience, either verbally or written, speaks better than other people talking about it who haven’t experienced that themselves.”

MAIA BARANTSEVITCH & ELLIE YANG

Editors-in-chief

Astudent walks into the Apple store in hopes of obtaining a new charger for their computer, but to their surprise, Apple is out of stock. This might have been the case for you last year, when Apple’s stock dropped as a result of decreased output from its factory in China under Covid-19 restrictions.

“Made in China.” This is the phrase we see on our clothes, computers, toys, jewelry and the list goes on. However, what is the economic market that is behind these three words? How has the pandemic and the recent reopening of Chinese borders influenced its production?

Since the start of the pandemic in 2019, many Chinese factories have stopped production, causing a decrease in China’s manufacturing output. In 2020, China’s annual GDP growth rate dropped to 2.2% compared to the previous six percent in 2019. This number increased in 2021 to 8.1% when the pandemic in China stabilized, and is predicted to drop back down to 3.3% in the upcoming 2022 data. Now, with the recent reopening of Chinese borders and an increase in international trade, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted a GDP growth of 5.9% for 2023. These predictions correlate with the increase in Chinese products in the international market as factories return to full capacity. For example, metal processing companies around the world are seeing the reopening of the Chinese economy and borders in a positive light. China’s non manufacturing PMI has increased from 41% in 2022, to most recently 54%, showing an increase in employment, inventories, and production. Senior Youri Lee, head of the economics club, said, “Iin terms of opening trades, it is definitely a positive for both China and the world. Especially in the United States, as China opens up the exports, it will decrease the price of the goods in America, which will help America’s objective to decrease its inflation rate.”

However, behind this positive trend of the moment, many western companies have begun to, and are shifting their factories to be located in southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia. This could be a result of many factors: including the pandemic, Chinese foreign policies, and the price of labor. Lee said, “Contrary to common knowledge, Chinese labor price is actually rapidly increasing at a point that the Vietnamese market is becoming more attractive.”

Politically, China’s international policies and stances have also prompted some companies to move out as fear of tense foreign relations arise. Sam Scheinbach, senior and student in the economics course, said, “China’s economy is likely to grow in the near future, but if they keep making the wrong moves with Taiwan and other foreign policies, then it will probably go downhill in the future.”

While the “Made in China”’ tags seem to push the prominent role the country plays in the global supply chain, the country’s high population and demand might also be an important factor upon its reopening. There have been concerns surrounding the pent-up demand in China after three years of pandemic restrictions. Many fear that global inflation might worsen as demand, in particular for energy and gasoline, rises since China holds the second largest consumer population in the world. From water bottles to keyboard circuits, China’s manufacturing power has continued to hold power over our country’s consistent consumerism. Looking forward, there are positive, negative, and mixed predictions for the future as China reopened its economy. But one thing is for certain, after the ups and downs of pandemic policies, “Made in China’’ stickers are coming back. Lee said, “As China opens their borders and increases manufacturing, it is almost certain that it can help the global economy in the near future.”