W.L. WHITE'S TRUTH AND BIAS ON RUSSIA
Fischer, Markoosha
W. L White's Truth And Bias On Russia REPORT ON THE RUSSIAN'S, by W. L. White. Harcourt, Brace. $2.50. Reviewed by markoosha fischer "EVERY writer who approaches even a minor theme is confronted...
...In this Mr...
...He writes well, he abhors suppression of freedom, and does not refuse, even in a dictatorship, to see the good...
...Naturally, since Mr...
...There is in it, so far, none of the rotten dead-wood of hereditary fortunes, piled up by useful men with vision but handed down through generations of weaklings who yet retain the privileges...
...His book would have gained a great deal had he solved this problem better than he did...
...White also writes: "The privileged class in Russia is full of the rich sap of hard work...
...White is an admirer of the free enterprise system...
...If we are willing to overlook some of White's conclusions—wrong because his background does not include sufficient knowledge of Russia...
...if we are willing to accept what he truthfully registers with his sensitive eye—and he registers especially well the numerous signs of lack of freedom...
...Have we reached the stage when we are willing to approach the subject "Russia" with the sanity of thinking and feeling with which we approach many other subjects...
...Instead of comparing the industry of war-ravaged Russia with pre-1917 Russian industry (during which period there was a gigantic step forward) he constantly makes comparisons with the wealthy United States whose industry thrives far away from the war fronts...
...For instance, he wonders what the revolution has brought to the villages over which he was flying at 5,000 feet...
...White does not mention any of its defects, capitalism wins greatly from this comparison and looks quite attractive...
...MR...
...But they are very short remarks and are lost among endless pages deploring the lack of vitamins, the poor clothes, and the bad looks of the Russians...
...White displays bad taste...
...Reviewed by markoosha fischer "EVERY writer who approaches even a minor theme is confronted first with the problem of selection of material, and secondly with the decisions as to which incidents shall be expanded and which he should merely chronicle," says W. L. White in his Report On The Russians...
...He does not see the schools, nurseries, and hospitals built there since the revolution...
...They would love to eat food rich in vitamins even as we do, but unfortunately just now they have hardly enough of any kind of food...
...if we are willing to take the book for what it is—a report by an excellent but prejudiced reporter,—then we will find in it a much truer picture of wartime Russia than in the books of uncritical Soviet apologists...
...we would do well to copy . . . the intelligently decent attitude towards minority races...
...It has the ingredients of an excellent report...
...One cannot condemn the Russians for their ragged clothes or vitamin-less diet any more than one could condemn the Greeks, Poles, or French for these things...
...He makes a few more remarks praising the good he finds...
...This Soviet racialcolonial policy . . . is infinitely better than our bungling and thoughtless treatment of the Negro...
...WHITE often lets his prejudices run away with him...
...Its author is a keen, experienced observer...
...He does not understand The significance of the huge, well-cultivated fields (though he praises Soviet farming in another connection) but from this height he does notice weeds on a path to the village church...
...He writes: "One of the admirable things about the Soviet regime is its uncompromising attitude toward any form of race prejudice which it holds down with a firm hand...
...However, he does not mix his ingredients in the proper proportions...
...He sees what he had decided to see before he crossed the Soviet border...
...They are helped without being patronized, and they have developed self-respect and an understandable gratitude...
Vol. 9 • April 1945 • No. 16
