Russians/Ukranians in Sac (Sacramento, Citrus Heights: live, cost, law)

[derek01]

Any insight/info into the Ukranian community in Sacramento/Citrus Heights? Considering dating...any insights? Gals? Men?

[CaliforniaPatriot]

Originally Posted by derek01

Any insight/info into the Ukranian community in Sacramento/Citrus Heights? Considering dating...any insights? Gals? Men?

I'm half Russian and live here. Unlike me, most of the Russians and other Slavic people here are more recent immigrants. Most of the Slavic community is Christian with many Baptists and Pentecostals. They are known for their strong stand in support of traditional marriage. There are perhaps 100,000 to 200,000 Slavic people here, it is one of the largest communities outside of Eastern Europe in the world.

I don't speak Russian, and many of them do not speak English. I'd like to learn it because of our shared heritage. I was learning, but then got so busy I haven't worked on it for awhile. I'd love to speak fluent Russian some day!

If you want to experience some of Sacramento's Russian culture, Yarmarka (it's a big Russian festival) is coming up on May 9th. I went last year and it was awesome!
Check out their website:
Yarmarka - International Food and Music Festival in Sacramento

[Damnitjanet]

The Russian Ukrainian community in Sacramento is a minorty of minority. The orgins of the local community go back to before the end of the cold war when there was religious broadcasting via shortwave radio into the former Soviet Union from out of Bryte in West Sac. The early immigrants came to the US as religious freedom refugees who claimed persecution in the former Soviet Union. When the cold war ended, a lot of people sponsored family members to join them here.

Nationwide, the Russian and Ukrainian communities are not as religious as the immgrants from those areas to the Sacramento region.

In the Sacramento region, you are seeing a fair amount of Church shopping by the local Russian community. If you were interested in dating a Russian, I would look at attending one of the Churches they frequent. Arcade Baptist has a pretty sizable Russian community - you could try there. But I suspect if you aren't real religious yourself you might have some problems being accepted in the community.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaPatriot

There are perhaps 100,000 to 200,000 Slavic people here, it is one of the largest communities outside of Eastern Europe in the world.

Has it surpassed places like Chicago, etc.?

[Francois]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaPatriot

Most of the Slavic community is Christian with many Baptists and Pentecostals. They are known for their strong stand in support of traditional marriage. There are perhaps 100,000 to 200,000 Slavic people here, it is one of the largest communities outside of Eastern Europe in the world.

Aren't these communities known for their virulent homophobic attitudes and even (literal) gay-bashing?

[looking4home]

I don't know about having "homophobic" attitudes. I think that word is an often-used misnomer. A phobia is a fear, as in fear of heights, fear of insects, etc. Religious persons who have a strong aversion to homosexuals don't fear them, although the might fear their growing presence in a community or something like that. They just don't like them, and maybe even hate them because of their sexual orientation. If you disliked neo-nazis, and what they do and what they stand for, no one would say you are "naziphobic", would they? IMO, the homophobic tag is still widely used because it ascribes a psychological malady to those who dislike homosexuals, and therefore marginalizes them.

Sorry that I sort of hijacked the thread, but I thought it was appropriate to make that clarification.

[wburg]

You're right..."fear" isn't the right word, maybe a better one would be "intolerance, although you also mention "hate." And in some cases, that intolerance has cost people their lives:

www.satendar.com - Satendar Singh - victim of hate crime, July 1, 2007, Sacramento, California (http://www.outsacramento.com/Satendar_Singh.htm - broken link)

Moscow Through Brown Eyes: The Satender Singh Case

Disliking Nazis isn't quite the same--there is a difference between not liking what a person says or does and not liking what people are.

[Francois]

Originally Posted by looking4home

I don't know about having "homophobic" attitudes. I think that word is an often-used misnomer. A phobia is a fear, as in fear of heights, fear of insects, etc. Religious persons who have a strong aversion to homosexuals don't fear them, although the might fear their growing presence in a community or something like that. They just don't like them, and maybe even hate them because of their sexual orientation.

Sorry that I sort of hijacked the thread, but I thought it was appropriate to make that clarification.

Despite the fact that homophobia is not a "phobia" as you point out, the fact remains that in the English language, this is the word we use to define a certain attitude. Arguing the etymology of the word is like arguing that "Sept"ember is not the 7th month or that a pineapple is related to neither pines nor apples. Maybe so, but that's the word and it has a particular definition.

Some use the term "heterosexism" since homophobia is in fact more of an "ism" like racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, etc...but the word "homophobia" has a certain well-known meaning, it's too late to change it now, and those who want to go off on tangents arguing about the false etymology instead of addressing the issue aren't accomplishing anything, any more than arguing about the word "pineapple" would do.

[Phil Minor]

I invoke Godwin's Law, declare anyone who mentions nazis the loser in this debate and ask that this thread get shut down for needless trolling.

Godwin's law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[wburg]

While this is not the most egregious violation of Godwin's Law I have seen, I must agree that I can't see this thread ending well, and support Phil Minor's suggestion that it be shut down.