Posted on 11/20/2005 4:27:07 PM PST by REactor
For all the criticism that the Kremlin is reverting back to Soviet-era practices, the one thing the authorities are not doing is promoting “people’s friendship.” In Soviet times, authorities mocked racism in the West, and state television played up the inequality between blacks and whites in the United States. The state showcased racial and ethnic harmony, as seen in Moscow’s mammoth golden Fountain of People’s Friendship, and dark-skinned Russians got the roles of bumbling do-gooders in Soviet comedies.
These days, state television allows nationalist politicians to spew their hatred for nonethnic Russians and serves up reality crime shows in which nearly all the criminals are dark-skinned. President Vladimir Putin is preaching a message of tolerance, but at the same time the Kremlin is tapping into nationalism and, at least indirectly, inciting ethnic hate.
Rodina, by all indications a Kremlin brainchild, has run campaign ads likening people from the Caucasus to garbage and saying it’s time to clean up Moscow. The leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, an older nationalist party that also has served the Kremlin over the years, has suggested that Russian soccer fans — die-hard nationalists — be sent to France to put down the rioting by young people of African and Arab origin. It is also disturbing that city authorities allowed nationalist youth to march through the center of town earlier this month giving Nazi salutes and shouting anti-immigrant slogans.
Perhaps the Kremlin is only nurturing nationalism as a back-up plan to retain power after the 2007-08 elections. If the threat of fascism seems real enough, many people will vote for anyone they believe capable of keeping out the brown shirts, meaning anyone the Kremlin puts forward — or excuse Putin if he takes extraordinary measures to prevent a fascist takeover.
Whatever the possible motivation behind the surge in “Russia for Russians” sentiment, its consequences are already very real. Many Russians are openly showing their contempt for people from the North Caucasus, Central Asia and China, accusing them of stealing jobs, taking over outdoor markets and passing off inferior goods, and smuggling drugs to Russia.
Dark-skinned people are routinely harassed on the streets, and a growing number have been killed in racially motivated attacks. As things look now, ethnic hatred is only going to intensify.
For students from Africa and Latin America — who continue to come here to study as they did under Soviet-era programs that touted ethnic and racial equality — the threat to their safety is real. Until the Kremlin takes the lead in opposing racism, students should think seriously before coming to Russia to study. Tuition here may be cheap, but unfortunately their lives may be too.
No, no, NO. Russia is part of Europe, and racism doesn't exist in Europe. This is clearly a lie. < /1984 logic>
Probably is to cause a hybrid Nationalist/Communist government (NAZBOL), similar to Stalin's rule during WWII.
But somehow they will respect the Chinese outside their borders.
ping
Who told you Russia is a part of Europe? They are descendants of Ghenghis Khan - down-to-earth logic.
How many silent H's are in that guy's name, anyway?
It depends on how you pronounce it. There must be at least a trace of "h" in Khan. But I'm not a native speaker of either Mongolian or English so I'm not an expert. The spelling is OK at any rate.
Until the Kremlin takes the lead in opposing racism, students should think seriously before coming to Russia to study. Tuition here may be cheap, but unfortunately their lives may be too.
Thanks for posting this.
What better way to keep "dark skinned people" out of your country than by publishing an article saying how dangerous it is for them?
The guys at the St. Petersburg Times are such tools.
I don't think they really want to keep "blacks" out. Where would they find better scapegoats?
Exactly what Americans did in Vietnam.
That's because they are tired of CHECHENS blowing up their childen in schools and threatening them.
Really? That ancestor was really glorious.
Definitely, Kremlin is playing with fire when it tolerates real Nazis or other extremist youth groups. In some cases, Kremlin is behind these groups.
You likely heard about proKremlin Youth Group Nashi whose members suspected of attack on a number of oppositional figures. "Nashi" call themselves "AntiNazi" group, but in reality they are Kremlin/Putin youth.
However, I have a faith that Nazism will not be allowed to overtake Russia--after all Russia and the rest of fmr. USSR lost more than 27,000,000 souls due to Nazism and many more to Stalinism. I maybe a bit pessimistic in a short term, but in a long term I believe that decency, common sense and justice will take a root despite all the signs to the contrary.
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