Killing a Ukrainian, the very horror of it, opposed the swelling tide of support rushing to that country's side. This support was, in part, the play of realpolitik, but a greater part of it reflected race and racism, and most poignantly, the entwined fervor and force of the two. An integration whereby whiteness, in the way that only whiteness can, drives the political urgency and discursive solidarity delivered to Ukraine and its soldiers and refugees, politicians and president. Whiteness is the heroism and victimhood, innocence and freedom that saturated television and handheld screens following the invasion of Ukraine.

Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamopho…, loc. 1182