<p>I was wondering if you parents have experianced something similar perhaps in your daughter’s or son’s schools.</p>
<p>The Russian immigrants make fun of the blacks, asians, and middle eastern people in my school (I live in CA). I don’t know if it is the culture or what. I was talking with someone else and it turns out this happens not just in my community but in other areas too. I do not know why Russian immigrants are more racist (the culture) than other immigrants, including other immigrants from Europe, etc.</p>
<p>This is actually a huge problem in my high school, but the administrators refuse to acknowledge it. </p>
<p>I am wondering if this is the cuase of the breakdown of the soviet bloc or something–Russian seems to have a culture of racism and there are russian immigrants who are bringing that culture over to America. I am not trying to talk about russians being bad or something, I am trying to analyze why the culture is like that.</p>
<p>I am just so sad that these people are coming to america (which is fine, btw) and spreading racist ideas (not fine, btw). Unlike racists in america, they seem to be very overt with it too. </p>
<p>Sweethoney, I am Russian (Ukrainian actually, but this is all the same) and want to assure you BBC exaggerates, as most of foreign media do when they write about countries of former USSR.</p>
<p>First of all, how many Russian emigrants study in your school? Do you think it is possible to judge the whole nation based on the example of a few stupid teenagers?</p>
<p>Parents are to be blamed for racism of their children. However, it doesn’t have much to do with Russian culture in general. Most of this kids were born here or came to America when they were little; it was American culture that influenced them; they know close to nothing about culture of their fatherland.</p>
<p>The picture on the BBC’s website with swastika on the wall is a hackneyed way to make news out of nothing. Do you think we have gammadions on wall corner? Believe me we don’t. You know who draws it? 12-13 years old kids, who even don’t know what it is. </p>
<p>We do have radical racist organization like almost all countries in the world.
You know what is its name? It’s KuKLuKLan. Does it remind you something or you need a small excursus in history? </p>
<p>Shame on me, I’m not an ardent patriot of my country; it just freaks me out when people talk about things they don’t know. Let me guess what you think about Russian “they invented vodka and like to drink it…or yes, I forgot, they are all racists”. Believe me or not, but this is a not enough information to make any judgments.</p>
<p>“Is the claim of racism against Africans in Russia exaggerated?” - Yes, it is…the truth is that I saw not more than 5 black people alive before I came to America, so did most of Russian.</p>
<p>Having lived in eastern Europe and traveled extensively there including Russia – and now dealing with eastern Europeans, including Russians both professionally and socially – I think Russians DO have a problem with racism in their own country and here. I often overhear pretty bigoted comments made by Russians about blacks, Latinos and Asians – who say these things unaware SOME Americans understand what they’re saying.</p>
<p>I think that unfortunately there is racism in any country. It may be more or less overt, but it’s there. I believe that Russia is as racist a nation as is USA .</p>
<p>katliamom, I believe that SOME people make racist comments, but those, who do it usually lack either intellect or education; they do not speak for the whole nation. I lived in Ukraine my whole life, believe or not, I none of the people I know is racist and I definetely met more people then you. Parabella is absolutely right, each country has racism problems, there is no need to make big deal out this situation in Russia.</p>
<p>My husband has also traveled frequently to Eastern European countries and unfortunately, racism is not quite the myth that Klotto makes it out to be. It is never good to judge a community on the actions of some, but it doesn’t mean the actions are not worthy of timely discussion. </p>
<p>Personally, I think racism is another growing pain for former Soviet countries who are adjusting to an open society where there are more opportunities to be different and be around others who are different. And no country is perfect in this regard. But none of this matters when it comes to open racism on a public school campus. Administration is bound by law to remedy this.</p>
<p>klotto,
I am also a Ukrainian and unfortunately have met educated and smart people both in Ukraine and in this country who say racist things. They usually don’t have any interest in learning about compexities of the race relations in this country but pick up racial stereotypes very quickly. I agree though that you can’t judge the whole nation by what SOME people say or do.</p>
<p>ldmom, there is also a growing problem of illigal immigration Russia has to deal with. This doesn’t help racial and ethnic relations at all.</p>
<p>parabella - I agree illegal immigration is a cause for tension for many…we are certainly keenly aware of this in the United States. But racism is not an acceptable way to express dissatisfaction with an immigration policy. Nor is it an acceptable reason for opposing legitimate immigration. It’s way too convenient for racists to cite immigration issues as a justification or cover for their aberrant attitude imho.</p>
<p>A lot of racism in Russia and eastern Europe is due to the fact they were shut off from the world for half a century. So they missed the whole movement that the United States and western Europe went through to acknowledge, fight and redress racism and racist policies. They are almost all-white societies, the Soviet Union’s ethnic minorities generally lived outside of current Russia, so there is no recent history of ethinic minorities living, and getting along (or trying to) with the white majority.</p>
<p>Theory that every single foreigner meets at least one racist during business trip is quite interesting. But in any case, let every country deal with its own problems. Americans are not world police. Moreover, I doubt that anyone on this forum (including me) qualifies as an expert of social situation in Russia. What we see or think is not enough to make any statements.</p>
<p>Isn’t this a case of the pot calling the kettle black? (I know poor pun)</p>
<p>Racism isn’t restricted to ANY nationality, it is an individual virus that effects every race. </p>
<p>I mean right now, we’re building a fence to keep those damn Canadians out aren’t we? I mean how dare they enter our country illegally to practice law, provide healthcare and take our programing jobs.</p>
<p>I am also Ukrainian, and I think a lot of what klotto is saying is true. If you set out to show any country in the world is racist, you would find evidence to prove that point. No one can say that there are not racist groups in Russia, because of course there are, and there have been some problems with them, but they are in no way representative of how all Russians, or all people from former Soviet countries feel.</p>
<p>I am not sure it’s good to make cultural arguments. People point to things like the hangover from the ‘us and them’ Soviet times in the ‘Russia for Russians’ ideology but something like that is not unique to Russia, every country will put their own people ahead of foreigners, especially when times are hard, as they have been since the break up of the USSR. Certainly, you will find some people who look back on Soviet times and think that the answer is to return to that, when citizens were the favored first class group and everyone else was second class and lesser, because now they have no job and it is easy to say that foreigners have stolen the job that was meant for them, but again, this situation is not unique to Russia, you will find people saying exactly the same thing about immigrants in the US.</p>
<p>When it comes to the students that you know, I don’t know how much they will have been influenced by Russian culture in Russia, and I certainly don’t think you can judge all Russians by those few experiences. But supposing they have been, you have to understand that when a group of Russian people get together, they may speak in a way that can seem strange to American sensibilities. Words and phrases that seem to them to be harmless coming from their own language, do not have the same connotations in the US, and some people are slow to learn or careless when amongst other Russians. Of course, some people may just have racist attitudes, and certainly amongst Russians you will find this, just as you will amongst any national group.</p>
<p>katliamom, I agree the amount of racism we have is connected with the fact that majority of the population is white. It took America more then a century to get rid of prejudices against Africans and even now the problem is alive.</p>
<p>klotto, actually, I do qualify, a bit, as an expert. And certainly my colleague does, who looked at this thread and is surprised anyone is even arguing the concept of racism in Russia. </p>
<p>That said, Russia is certainly not the only place where xenofobia exists.</p>
<p>I have been to Russia twice and I have observed a number of things.
Most of the population is white.
Russia is very careful about who is allowed to come into their country.
The Russian people have a great deal of pride in their nation.
They are hard working people who get very little in the way of rewards for their efforts.
There is a great deal of poverty.
Outside of the big cities, the towns we visited were poor and rundown.</p>
<p>I have heard numerous times that the Gypsy population is looked down upon. I did not see one person of African heritage while I was there.</p>
<p>katliamom…how can I argue with experts? I just don’t understand why everyone cares more about racism in my country then anywhere else. There are about 20 threads about racism in colleges on this forum. </p>
<p>"Vanderbilt is in TN, and we can all agree that Nashville is not the most diverse city. How do Vandy students treat people of color, especially Asians? How are they treated throughout the campus and Nashville?</p>
<p>Please try to answer this as objectively as possible. My guidance counselor discouraged me from applying to Vanderbilt because of just how “white” Nashville is. My being Asian, she believed that the racism I will encounter on campus and during internship searches is not worth the emotional stress."</p>
<p>"When I told my (black) math teacher that I would be applying to Dartmouth, he grimaced and told me I should take a closer look at it.</p>
<p>He was accepted at Dartmouth when he was in high school but chose to go to the less name-y University of Illinois because he thought that the atmosphere at Dartmouth was too conservative, stuffy, and a bit racist."</p>
<p>“I know USC is a diverse school. I know that people aren’t openly racist there. But I’ve heard that at USC there’s little interaction between people of different races. A lot of this goes with the frat/sorority stereotypes of USC I’ve heard. So how true is it? Do people generally stick to their own race? Or is there little racial tension?”</p>
<p>Why not to get rid of it in your country and then care about others?</p>
<p>I think you’re going off the subject here. OP posted a BBC article about Russian racism and made a few observations based on anecdotal evidence witnessed in his community. No one here is debating whether or not there is racism in America.</p>
<p>Well, the first thread sounds like Russians are the only ones who give hard time to Asians and Africans in that school.</p>
<p>“The Russian immigrants make fun of the blacks, asians, and middle eastern people in my school (I live in CA). I don’t know if it is the culture or what.?”</p>
<p>Why Russians and not any other nationality in the world? Why not to write about it in general if it bothers you? I’m sure that Russian racists who study in that school are minority…so why to make such a big deal out of it?</p>
<p>“I am not trying to talk about russians being bad or something, I am trying to analyze why the culture is like that.”</p>
<p>Why not to try to analyze your own culture and history of struggle against racism in America? It will give answers to all questions.</p>
<p>In the past 25 years, US education institutions have systematically introduced Teaching Tolerance programs into primary and secondary schools. This has had a big impact on the under 25 generation and their families. As a result, in 2007 there is very little overt racism expressed in middle to upper class American society–unless Borat snookers them into it, LOL.</p>
<p>No other country has implemented such widespread education and as a result, overtly racist remarks are made with impunity–not just by Russians. If you want to diminish racism, support education, support the Teaching Tolerance programs developed by the Southern Poverty Law Center. <a href=“http://www.splcenter.org%5B/url%5D”>www.splcenter.org</a></p>
<p>I think the question about racism in Russia is an interesting one, if the OP wanted to analize it seriously, the history, politics, and so on. To give a yes/no answer to the OP’s question( "is it culture? ") is quiet impossible though. :)</p>