Comments on: Should People of Color Go To Russia?

By: HyderabadChick

HyderabadChick — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:35:39 +0000

If you’re still thinking of travelling to Russia, you might like to read this article too.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/russian-revolution-black-man-elected-to-office/127480-2.html?from=tn

By: HyderabadChick

HyderabadChick — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:43:07 +0000

Actually, most of the commentary here has been about who has the rightt to what opinion rather than about what it’s like to be black in Russia.

Here are some otherr blogs about black travel to Russia.

http://ru.promo.web.id/i-want-to-travel-to-russia-and-germany-but-im-very-scared-please-advice.com

http://blacktravels.com/Moscow_raschke.html

(Report comment)

By: adrian

adrian — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:14:37 +0000

Wow you guys I am British born black guy who has always had a real interest in Russian history ,its people and its culture I would love to visit

but whoa! some of your comments frighten me with regards to predudice ther etc Its strange I have traveled to many many countries including Ukraine and have never experianced any real problem

come on please tell me its not so bad in Russia??

(Report comment)

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 08:58:22 +0000

You do realize that “People of Color” refers to Latinos, Asians, Native Americans, etc. as well as African Americans, right? Just thought you might want to know.

(Report comment)

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 07:32:59 +0000

Carlo, I see what you’re saying. But this one anecdote is still really helpful to people of color considering visiting Russia. I am currently a college student and am planning to study abroad my senior year. I initially chose Russia because I wanted to go to a country where I could really immerse myself in another language after taking a few years’ worth of classes at my school. I had already taken years of Spanish, so I wanted to try a non-romance language. The only thing keeping me from choosing Arabic is the fact that I didn’t want to study abroad in a country where I might fear for my life. Thank goodness I found this article before I invested the next two years studying Russian only to arrive on the Moscow campus to realize that I might be targeted based on my skin color.

While you’re certainly correct that Moscow is “hardly ‘Russia,’” many study abroad programs are based in Moscow, including my school’s. (Now I understand why I didn’t see a single black person in any of the pictures from past quarters.) While I’m probably not going to base my decision of whether or not to study abroad in Russia solely on this article, I am certainly glad I found it. While racist assaults may not be “typical,” I don’t see any reason to put myself in unnecessary danger. And for the person who compared Russia to the American South, I’m from the South too, and I know better than to go down to rural areas of the deep south where racism and “dixie” flags abound. I prefer to stay around the much safer suburbs. Why shouldn’t I do the same abroad?

(Report comment)

By: mike

mike — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:35:59 +0000

let me just starting by saying that we have to look at statistics here and not just at a few people experiences, we all know people who have had great experinces in situations where others had terrible ones but if we are going to make conclusions that racist is being blown out of proportion here just because we know of one person of colour which had a different experience than the others that would just be wrong and please white people stop thinking that you understand us and what we feel cause you dont and will never until to go throough what we do
iam not saying all russia is racist understand this we are not saying its impossible to have great experiences in russia and the as long as you are a person of colour you will be attacked at any pplace at any time
we just want to bring awareness that one should be carefull

i know there is a need for white people to always come with a complete different insight about issues that they dont fully understand and make comments like “ts all up in the mind ” no matter how much you read how much you associate with black people you will never know how and what is to be black and go through the experiences we go through, thanks and mind your own business white people please thats all we ask

(Report comment)

By: wferreira

wferreira — Sun, 09 May 2010 10:01:35 +0000

just fixing my second sentence, lol

“I don’t do anything that would jeopardize my life voluntarily”.

Cheers.

(Report comment)

By: wferreira

wferreira — Sun, 09 May 2010 09:58:06 +0000

All my friends tell me I am a chicken. I do not that would jeopardize my life voluntarily. I know a plane can fall on my head right now, although I don’t live on any flight route.
I know I can suffer a heart attack this second, although I exercise and eat healthy.
And the list goes on.
But I repeat. I will not put my life in risk just for the sake of it.
I will not travel to Russia, anywhere, only seeing white people every photo I look at.
And I refuse to receive any advice from a white person, male, who thinks he knows it all about what it is being black.

I WILL NOT GO TO RUSSIA IN THIS PRESENT LIFE OF MINE!

(Report comment)

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:41:37 +0000

<<<<<>>>>>>

IF YOU ARE A PERSON OF COLOR…..
AND ARE NOT A DIPLOMAT WITH ARMED ESCORT…..

DO NOT TRAVEL TO RUSSIA.

I SHIT YOU NOT. YOU WILL BE RISKING YOUR LIFE.

NOT WORTH IT.

(Report comment)

By: JD

JD — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:56:25 +0000

I’m not going to argue with those who seem to know more than I do after living here for 7 years, I’ll just say go to the “WaytoRussia” forum and do a search for racism in Russia and you’ll find posts made by people of color who have lived here, also visit my blog and you’ll find a link to the blog of an African American woman who has been living here awhile. Read what they have to say because it is true what they say. This will be all I have to say about this since some here accused me of not knowing anything since I’m not a person of color, as if any people of color know anything about racism, but that’s all another matter, there are many people from Asia, India and Africa living, working and studying in Moscow, I work with some of them, well just look at WaytoRussia and the African American lady’s blog link on my blog and you’ll find the truth. Best of luck
JD

(Report comment)