The dictionaries explain that the word "nationality"denotes the belonging of a certain group of people to a particular ethnic group. At the end of the nineteenth century, it was determined by the language spoken by the person and his religion. Those. the nationality "Russian" was indicated only for those people who spoke exclusively in Russian.
Soon the situation changed.In the USSR, a person had to choose a nationality that coincides with the nationality of one of the parents. So, at least, the Constitution demanded that time. However, in fact, funny cases also occurred.
Once a girl received a passport, whose father was an Ossetian and her mother an Ukrainian. By the way, the parents at the same time handed over the passports for an exchange. In the same passport office.
As it should be, their nationalities wereare fixed in passports. As it should be, the girl wrote "I ask to assign the father's nationality" in the statement. Passed the deadline, and the girl receives a passport, which says that she is Russian. The citizen in perplexity turns to the passport officer, whose answer was stunned. It sounded like this:
- And you do not care?
The girl did not care: in the USSR everyone was equal.But when the passports were received by her parents, the shock became even stronger. In the column "nationality" Russian was indicated in the father, Russian - in the mother. So this family was Russified. There was only one thing that appeased them: the mother, the girl's father, their relatives in the fourth generation were born and grew up in a completely Russian city, in the middle zone. And Ossetians and Ukrainians were recorded by their parents' nationality.
Today's Constitution of the Russian Federation directly indicates thata person has the right to determine his own nationality independently, and no one can prevent it. Sometimes there are funny cases. In one of the major cities in the eighties, a Russian wedding was held between a student from Cameroon and a black girl from South Africa. Now their grandson, charming dark-skinned, broad-haired and fluffy Luis NDJOGU Mwai, who is now around 30, in all questionnaires indicates: nationality is Russian. Reading his documents caused more than one smile from the officials.
But Louis, indeed, is Russian.For his incomplete 30 years, he was four times in Africa, has a residence permit in one very large Russian city, is fluent in Russian and four other languages, among which, alas, there are no dialects of his parents. And most importantly - his soul is Russian: kind, broad, sympathetic.
The concept of "Russian nationality" has becomemuch wider. We still share from the habit of Russians and Ukrainians, Byelorussians and Kazakhs. For Turkey, Egypt, Japan and many other countries for any representative of the territory, which used to be the USSR, there is only one nationality: Russian.
In this word there is a certain greatness, a greatpride, participation in history. After all, the Russians are a Russian national ballet that has been considered unsurpassed for more than a hundred years. The Russians are a victory over fascist Germany and the first flight into space.
Russian is a proud, strong and great word. You must always remember this. We should be proud of the fact that we are Russians.
