Not to dispute that we, as a society, have a *long* way to go...before we are anywhere being the so-called mellow and together "post-racial" society that the pundits would have us all believe... But, you *must* concur, that....little by little we *are* getting there...in fits & starts.. A *PRIME EXAMPLE* of this has just occurred in, of all places, All-But-Fucked-Up RUSSIA (aplogies to fromrussiawithlove): http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=first-black-elected-to-office-in-russia-2010-07-26 Mind you, he DOES take the GRAVEST EXCEPTION to being 'pigeon-holed' and (in a way) stereotyped....however 'weel meaning' they *claim* to be.. And even though he holds a position of prestige...he still cannot walk the Moscow streets freely after sundown...and FORGET riding the Subway...at least not by himslef, anyway... Still & all, the closed minds of maybe THAT particular fiefdom just MIGHT have been opened considerably... And perhaps, just perhaps.....for the GOOD of ALL..:smt023 OpinionsCartoonStudios@Yahoo.Co.UK
Russia has long been known for its racist sub-culture. Russia has an estimated 40,000 Afro-Russians in the country today. These African immigrants face systemic racism and are often the victims of hate-crimes, which are rarely prosecuted in the Russian legal system. Russia has the highest rate of race motivated crimes in the world.
Cause Skinheads are active in Moscow and elsewhere, and Black Africans have been harassed on the street and beaten on trains and the subway. So yeah, he is worried about physical attacks. The Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy, an outreach group, surveyed about 200 Black Africans in Moscow and found that more than half had suffered physical attacks.