On Nationalism and Politics in Latvia

October 2, 2010 is the day when the new parliament is going to be elected in Latvia. As you might know, only 60% of Latvia's population are ethnic Latvians. The other part is composed of ethnic Russians (27%), Belorussians, Ukrainians, Poles, Lithuanians, Jewish, etc. I have very international ancestry that defines me as non-Latvian (even though my grandmother comes from Mitava/Jelgava), and I am very upset to see the internet full of nationalistic calls from ethnic Latvians.

Dear Latvian nationalists, please acknowledge that there are 40% of non-Latvians living in Latvia. If you really want "Latvia for Latvians", please do something about them, because trying to ignore them proved to be an ineffective approach. Yes, I know the history. Independent Latvia was forced to self-annex to the USSR under the threat of war in 1940, and most of these 40% of non-Latvians came from other USSR territories after 1940. Some of these 40% have now even the right to vote, and they vote for their "Russian" parties who promise them more rights, such as making Russian a 2nd state language.