In the last book of Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn wrote about Stalin’s death, “This was the moment my friends and I had looked forward to even in our student days. The moment for which every zek in Gulag (except the orthodox Communists) had prayed! He’s dead, the Asiatic dictator is dead! The villain has curled up and died!”
I was curious about the term ‘Asiatic.’ I also just finished the book Fetishized, which talked about a lack of Asians in media. Was Stalin an example? He may not be a role model, but he gets plenty of coverage. Presumably you want accurate representation, not preferential. I looked up where Stalin was born: Gori, now part of Georgia. In the process I also learned that Stalin himself said
“I am not a European man, but an Asian, a Russified Georgian.”
I just finished researching the divide between Europe and Georgia. It seems that various people now and in the past have drawn the line differently. Georgia ends up considered as having land on both continents, like Turkey. The line within Georgia seems to put Gori in Asia, as south of the Caucasus Mountains.
Together, Stalin and Mao, also Asian, contributed to arguably the greatest atrocities in history. The Kims of North Korea haven’t affected as many people but have endured longer than most.
I always considered him European, like Hitler, but if European means born in Europe or of European descent, he doesn’t qualify.
What do I conclude, if anything? I don’t see anything to judge, but I find that many Americans criticize people they characterize as old white men for causing great historical problems. I don’t think identifying people by skin color helps, if implying it causes something about their behavior. I mention this finding in case it helps people drop the practice.
I think it’s tempting for Americans today to say he was really another white man who ruled another European country, but Russia isn’t only European either.
Other important historical figures who are Asian
Other important historical figures who are Asian include
- Jesus
- Abraham
- Muhammad
- Moses was born in Egypt, but to a family of Asian descent, making him in today’s hyphenation scheme Asian-African.
