Question by 下载 华军…what does this mean?: How can someone who is not russian avoid racist people trying to kill minorities?
I want to live in Russia and I’m Ok with the hard conditions in Russia but the only problem I’m scared of in Russia is racism. I didn’t even know that Russia have their own version of KKKs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_National_Unity
Even the humanitarians are losing their lives due to this.So how do minorities live with these racist problems going around?
Answers and Views:
Answer by Galactic Senator at Hogeates
Why Russia, you can make borscht anywhere and buy vodka anywhere. Move to France instead.
Give your answer to this question below!
Lyudmila says
Before telling the fairy tales here, let you visit Russia ! And there you would see that you know nothing about this country. Russia has free very wide secondary education for every child ! Do you know that the first cosmonaut of the world was Yuriy Gagarin ? For Russians there are no any religious or cultural obstacle to get married,almost all the Russians are atheists or deists and they are used to live in the multiethnic country. The inter ethnic marriages are more the norm than the exception in the modern Russia (and in the ex USSR it was so too). So how a russian wife would be able to kill her not russian husband and her not russian children? Switch on your brain ! Also it is not easy at all to get a citizenship of Russia, Russia suffers from the immigrants too. If you tell about the mentally ill persons there are a lot of them in every country.
Mike says
First of all, if it happens – it happens. They decide if they will attack you or not. You have 0 control over what happens there. And that goes for every country in the world. There are parts of Africa where a white man wouldn't dare walk. My point is, if you have common sense and street smarts, you can neutralize the possibility of being attacked. But if you go to Russia with that mentality, always looking over your back thinking you're going to get rolled, don't live there – there is nothing worse than living in constant fear.
Arsan Lupin says
There is racism, ethnic conflict, and racial persecution almost everywhere in the world. In some places it's more acceptable than in others. (The KKK has been totally marginalized for several decades, so that's ancient history.) It's also more publicized in some places. Yes, racism is a problem in Russia …. especially against the darker-skinned ethnic groups from the former soviet republics in central Asia. These groups have become a sizable problem in terms of illegal immigration, refugee camps, depressing non-skilled wages, and poverty. The local unskilled laborers resent the illegal aliens for taking their jobs for a fraction of the wages. However, this isn't any reason to NOT visit Russia, in and of itself. The same basic precautions one should take in any large city would be enough to prevent most if not all potential problems.
It's not like some places elsewhere ….
"U.S Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs
Travel Warning – Philippines:
Travelers should exercise extreme caution if traveling in the central and western portions of the island of Mindanao, as well as in the islands of the Sulu Archipelago. Regional terrorist groups have carried out bombings resulting in injuries and death. Since August 2008, there have been sporadic clashes between lawless groups and the Philippine Armed Forces in the Mindanao provinces of North Cotabato, Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte, as well as the Sulu Archipelago. Kidnap-for-ransom gangs are active and have targeted foreigners. Some foreigners who reside in or visit Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago hire their own security."
I'd prefer Russia, if I had my 'druthers ….
As for wanting to live in Russia …. What do you really know about the “hard conditions” in Russia? How much time have you spent in-country – either in the Russian Federation or in other former soviet republics? Have you ever been there? Do you even own a passport? This topic alone is too complex to respond to in this venue. Suffice it to say: you have absolutely no idea what is required to live in Russia – residence visa, work permit, a place to live, finding a job without knowing the language, nor how to survive in a culture as alien to you as the surface of Mars. As is always the case, such seemingly simple questions have far from simple answers.
I think you need to examine your real reasons for wanting to live in Russia. What would you do there? What is the attraction to you? In what way do you think it might be superior overall to either your current country of residence (USA) or your homeland (The Philippines)? Why would you even consider going to a place with such well-publicized racial violence against people physically indistinguishable from yourself? Do you have a death wish? Or are you merely a troll looking to foment some flaming here on Y!A? I cannot tell for sure, but if your other answers had any truth in them, then your biggest hurdle (in the short run, at least) is neither your ethnicity nor your gargantuan lack of understanding of what you say you want to do.
It's your age – there is no way in hell Russia will grant any visa at all – let alone a resident visa – to an unaccompanied 16-year-old child.
I suggest you spend the next two years in an exhaustive study of Russian history, language, politics, culture, religion, and current events. Do this around your schoolwork – without a high school diploma, you might have trouble getting a tourist visa from Russia – let alone a residence visa. Once you are old enough to travel alone, I suggest you make a few visits to Russia to see – with your own eyes – what Russia is really like. Only then will you be capable of intelligently discussing living there.
Alejandro J says
I think there is too much sensationalism in the media and not all of it is properly directed.
I can tell you that I lived in Russia for many years and have only ever experienced 2 "problems" that would be of a racist nature, one was directed at some friends and the other was not. First off, I am an American, darker skinned and so everyone in the cities that I lived in always knew I was a foreigner. It would have made me an easy target for racist people but in all of my time there, I never experienced any type of racism directed at me. The only 2 incidents I ever saw were:
1. a Jewish graveyard had swastikas and some of the headstones destroyed by members of a neo-Nazi group. It made me upset because of my religious persuasion but that is something that happens no only in Russia but all over the world.
2. a studied with a group of black African students and many people in the city I lived in had never seen black people before so they would sometimes deal with bad looks or racial taunts but nothing ever dangerous.
The first and most important thing to do when going to Russia is to learn the language and the customs and culture as quick as you can. It goes without saying that if you were to live in Russia, a vital thing for you to have is the language and to be able to understand the Russian mentality. People who go to Russia and adapt to Russian life enjoy themselves and make friends quickly. Once you are able to communicate and people see the effort you make in learning about Russia, the more people respect you and the better you are viewed for it.
Secondly, it is very important that you don't go over there with an "American mentality" that you are going to be loud and annoying to people. If you work with an aid organization, be humble and be willing to learn all that you can about the people you are helping with. I knew many people who worked for aid organizations and they never experienced a single problem at all. Much of the "attacks" that are shown in the media are really isolated incidents that are blown out of proportion from the reality. I have lived in small and big cities in Russia and never experienced a problem once. Several times I heard things like "Yankee go home" and because I knew the language, I would give a smart retort to their ignorance and everything was fine.
A key is to make sure that you know where you are going within any city you live in, know the bus routes and so fourth in case you need to go anywhere. Some cities have bad areas (like every city in the world) and if you know your way around the city, you should be fine. Make friends and try and not go out too much at night by yourself. If you make friends, do things with them and make sure you can travel with a group to bus stops and so on. There is strength in numbers. Finally, get yourself a cell phone in case anything happens so that you can call people.
Again, not read too much into the sensationalizing of the media of some of the attacks. While they are bad, it isn't like every minority or foreigner is getting attacked and you will find that most Russians are warm and welcoming to others.
If you want to learn anything about it, feel free to drop me a line and I can tell you more about life in Russia.
NoRegrets says
I honestly don't believe in that. If you don't bother anyone, nobody will bother you. I would suggest though, if you do move, you should move to either Moscow or St. Petersburg. People there are more diverse and friendly due to the fact that the population is high and there's more work there, opposed to other places where some live in villages and don't interact with a lot of people. You musttt have a legal right to live and work there, and documents with you. It's better if you learn the language. My father isn't Russian, doesn't look russian, and doesn't act russian, and we lived there without problems. He had a really good job, some of his coworkers were african american, armenian and asian. There's worse countries out there, where racism is very visible. I don't look Russian either, and I was there few years ago, nobody bothered me or was racist towards me. Russian people can come off as mean sometimes, but don't take it to the heart, that's not them being racist that's just how they are. Not all though.
matias D Ripper says
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rrb says
Russia is not a free society. It's better now than 30 years ago, but people still disappear. Communism with corruption is still practiced by the government. Religious persecution, racism, cultural ignorance all continues without political correctness issues. Finding work will be challenging.