Apologizing for One’s Family, One’s Ethnicity, One’s People

Among the extraordinary things that we saw this past week, this interview with Ruslan Tsarni, uncle of the Tsarnaev brothers, is among the most so. I can barely imagine being in his situation. The part at the end is particularly moving.

It’s not surprising for someone, even in a tribal culture, to be held responsible for the actions of someone in their family or clan.  In the stew pot of America, though, one may be held to account not only for one’s estranged nephews, but for one’s entire ethnicity (even religion) as well.  The media demanded that Ruslan Tsarni shoulder that responsibility yesterday.  His reaction was, in its way, as extraordinary as Carlos Arredondo’s — being thrust into the position of doing something that he could not imagine having to do that day.

Boston bombing - Uncle Ruslan Tsarni speaks

Anguished and eloquent, the uncle of the Tsarnaev brothers tries to deflect blame from the Chechnyan people while accepting familial shame.

What has this to do with Orange County?  Well, we’re one of the most gloriously polyethnic spots on the planet.  Often, those of us from minority ethnicities — Mexican, Vietnamese, Arab, Jewish, Filipino, Korean, Persian, Indian, and more — are asked in some way to answer for the actions of others of that ethnicity.  I suppose that in a sense that’s just natural — we’re presumed to have some special insight, I suppose — but to demand it, as seen here, is also bizarre.  I think that many of us in OC will have similar “there but for the grace of god” reactions to this video.

Sometimes, the demand that we “represent our people” that can even devolve into such teeth-grinding questions as “what do you feel about America?”  How does one answer a question like that?  Well, watch and see.


About Greg Diamond

Somewhat verbose attorney, semi-disabled and semi-retired, residing in northwest Brea. Occasionally ran for office against jerks who otherwise would have gonr unopposed. Got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012; Josh Newman then won the seat in 2016. In 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002; Todd Spitzer then won that seat in 2018. Every time he's run against some rotten incumbent, the *next* person to challenge them wins! He's OK with that. Corrupt party hacks hate him. He's OK with that too. He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.) His daughter is a professional campaign treasurer. He doesn't usually know whom she and her firm represent. Whether they do so never influences his endorsements or coverage. (He does have his own strong opinions.) But when he does check campaign finance forms, he is often happily surprised to learn that good candidates he respects often DO hire her firm. (Maybe bad ones are scared off by his relationship with her, but they needn't be.)