<p>my point is that I have seen more than once (not all, though) Russian immigrants who would be courteous to white people but not to people who aren’t–at least visibly. For instance, if that girl was white, the russian girl would probably have told her she dropped her wallet. Just from what I’ve seen.</p>
<p>I am sorry, but somehow the incident with the wallet doesn’t look racist to me. unless there were two girls, one white, another not, and they both dropped their wallets, and…well, you get the idea. 
The thing is, there are racist Russians, racist Americans, racist Asians( believe it or not, they exist too) . Racism is not a cultural treit of any particular nation though, that would be taking it too far.</p>
<p>I’m still trying to get my head wrapped around the idea that it’s OK to use the N word as long as you pronounce it “nyegr”. AT the very least, I would suggest to newly arrived Russian immigrants that is not a good idea to use that word here, whether or not it’s a <em>nice</em> word back home.</p>
<p>parabella–yes of course I know that racism is present in all cultures/ethnicities, I am not dumb, I am not saying that there are no racist Asians… </p>
<p>it’s just that in Russian culture it seems to be a common theme and whereas racism in America is more subtle, Russian immigrants sometimes take the racism to a whole new level by not being sublte at all. It seems racist people of other cultures will think something, but not act out/say it directly in front of a person, whereas people from Russia will outright say it, and outright act on it. (example: comingn to america and beating someone up)</p>
<p>Parabella-there is a difference between racist people who beat someone up and people who think but don’t act. I have seen that Russian immigrants are more likely to do the first, partly b/c of culture. btw, i do not live far from here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/259354.html[/url]”>http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/259354.html</a></p>
<p>"On Sunday, Singh was picnicking with friends of Fijian and Indian descent at a picnic area near Lake Natoma. According to friends of Singh who were there, a group of Russian-speaking men and women hassled them throughout the day.</p>
<p>That evening, about six men from the group picked a fight, Singh’s friends said. Singh was struck once, fell and hit his head.</p>
<p>No one else was injured.</p>
<p>Before the attack, the assailants had directed homophobic slurs at Singh and racial insults at his group, according to the friends."</p>
<p>I rarely see people other than russian immigrants act openly racist. Honestly, most racist people aren’t that open about it.</p>
<p>doubleplay,</p>
<p>I don’t think you understood me correctly. The N word exists in Russian language, it sounds exactly like the English word, everybody knows what the connotation is, immigrants or not. The word nyegr is a Russian word. It may be used only when speaking Russian, it is a legitimate word in that language, you can find it in the dictionary( unlike the N word) . Granted, the sound is too close for comfort and maybe it would be smart to stay away from it, I don’t know, but to call a person a racist just for using this word( if the person was speaking Russian) is premature in my opinion.</p>
<p>sweethoney,</p>
<p>do you remember that horrible case in Texas when an African-American man was dragged behind the truck? Or the Rodney King case, or Amadou Daiallo? No Russians were involved. Should I infer that all the Texans are racist, all the policemen are? Of course not. Same goes for the Russians. Trust me, it’s not that common in Russian culture to go and assault people of a different race. And the last thing, racist is a racist whether or not he is vocal or silent. One of my African-American friends told me once that she prefers to deal with overt racists, with them you know where you stand. She found it more upsetting to deal with the “subtle” ones.</p>
<p>Parabella:</p>
<p>Let me take a wild stab and guess that the Russian word we’re talking about is derived from French/English, and is historically exactly the same word as the English word, although perhaps it has different associations in Russian. But, honestly, if you go back 80 years and more, the English word was very commonly used, not always with racist connotations. (E.g., the Joseph Conrad novella that will never again be included in any high school’s curriculum, and, famously, Huckleberry Finn.) </p>
<p>The Yiddish word for “black” is sometimes used by Yiddish speakers to refer to, well, blacks. One could argue that in Yiddish it’s a neutral, factual, descriptive word, without racist connotations. However, in 50 years of hearing the word used from time to time, I’ve never heard it used as a neutral, factual, descriptive word without racist connotations. In America, it’s the moral equivalent of words no one should use, and everyone over the age of 4 understands that.</p>
<p>I don’t know why the mention of the existence of racism in the Russian society has caused such a overly sensitive reaction. No one has said ALL Russians are racist, so bringing into the discussion the Jasper case or the Rodney King case as some sort of defense regarding the indefensible actions of certain Russians in a specific location (the OPs school) doesn’t make sense to me. Of course, not ALL Texans, or Angelenos, or Russians are racist…but that is not the point. The point is racism is alive and well in Texas, in California…and in Russia. And a side point is there is a disconnect in what is considered acceptable language and attitude in both of our countries. </p>
<p>What I’d really like to know is why a rational discussion of this causes people to retreat into denial or defensiveness.</p>
<p>ldmom06,
I hear the same kind of reactions – denial AND defensiveness – when talk turns to Russian/Polish anti-Semitism. </p>
<p>Fact is, no one likes having their country being called racist (and I include anti-Semitism) but central Europeans are especially sensitive to such criticism. Much of this is due to decades of censorship & highly controlled media/education etc – we’re talking about a couple of generations of people who have very little clue about their real history.
Culturally, they have a sense of historical martyrdom that doesn’t jive with an image of being an oppressor. And, finally, they have no culture of diversity. Even today, Africans and African-Americans traveling in Russia (anywhere outside of Moscow or St. Petersburg) report of being stared at and treated as circus freaks. (This is a direct quote, by the way.) Is this racism? I don’t know - I do know it’s a reaction of a sheltered & conservative people to anyone truly different.</p>
<p>The only reason I brought up the other cases was OP’s insistence that racism is a national treit of Russian people and bringing the newpaper article as an example. I was trying to make the ldmom’s point. Yes there are Russian racists, there is no denying it. No, it’s not a cultural thing, it’s not a part of an average persons upbringing to be a racist. </p>
<p>katliamom, my son was 3 when he saw a real person of another race for the first time, a student from Africa. S was fascinated, but it had nothing to do with racism. He sought the guy was amazing and wanted to know how he can aquire the guy’s looks( skin color especially) ASAP. </p>
<p>JHS, the Russian word is related to the word Negro and for better or for worth there was none other"legitimate" word for centuries. The word “black” was and is derogatory when applied to a person, the other word-not. There was and is also a “real” N word, if a person uses it, you know you are dealing with a racist.</p>
<p>Interesting insights katliamom and parabella. </p>
<p>Personally I find the issue of the Russian ‘n’ word vs. the English ‘n’ word a moot point. When someone says there are too many ‘n’s’ on their street…it’s not the ‘n’ word (be it Russian or English) that is offensive, it is the context and meaning of the statement that is offensive…‘that the street would be better if a certain group of people weren’t there’. THAT’s the racism.</p>
<p>sweethoney,</p>
<p>could you please provide us with several examples of Russian racism that you personally witnessed. </p>
<p>Otherwise you must understand that you made such a generalization blaming the whole nation in racism that this threat became very racist itself.</p>
<p>I cannot edit my post, so I just create a new one.</p>
<p>The major part of Russia is located in Asia. I would recommend sweethoney to find statistical information what percentage of Russian population is actually Asian, how many of them have Tatar, Japaneese, Korean, Buryat etc names.</p>
<p>This is Viktor Tsoy, one of Russian music icons from 80th. He looks very white, doesn’t he? 
I believe he was of Korean origin. It was underground music, not approved by USSR government, that’s why the location is so weird.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNOfirSsXac[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNOfirSsXac</a></p>
<p>the whole “n” word discussion started when one of the posters said that her teachers in Russia used the 'n" word freely in the classroom. I find it pretty unbelievable, having received my education in a Soviet school system. The horrors of aparteid, the plight of disenfranchised African-Americans, solidarity with every activist from Nelson Mandela to Angela Davis were the highlights. All sorts of things are differen now of course. Still, it would be outrageous( and hardly tolerated ) to be taught hate in the classroom.</p>
<p>I agree that racisim is more than the words. I think a lot of racism in the US (not all!) has lessened, because we as a society no longer tolerate the words.</p>
<p>Well, those people who wrote in this topic, how did they tolerate the whole discussion?</p>
<p>I am just curious…</p>
<p>Racism is more than the words… ;)</p>
<p>I was born in Kazakhstan.
I am 25% Asian.
My very best friend of 20 years is half Asian (half Tatar), and her children are 75% Asian (half Japanese).
And we are all Russians, products of interracial marriages that, according to some specialists of Russian culture here in the forum, DON’T EXIST…</p>
<p>Yaya…again, this is supposedly a rational discussion of racism in various parts of the world including Russia. Don’t be so extreme.</p>