A Call to All Russians: STOP THE GODDAMN RACISM!

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A Call to All Russians: STOP THE GODDAMN RACISM!

Postby jethro » Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:16 pm

For the first time in quite awhile, I am taking up arms against the gravest sin of my countrymen. Savor it, as it is the only negative-Russia story I am likely to carry in a good long while, but this is a special case.

This was brought to the forefront of my mind yesterday evening, by unhappy chance. I was walking to the motel in Banja Luka where I was spending the week, and I came across a gang of three young guys mercilessly beating the living shit of some middle-aged Asian man. And don't think I am being hyperbolic, the man looked like at this point he wanted to lay down and die. Out of some sort of mindless altruism I yelled at them to explain what the fuck they were doing. They, thankfully, stopped beating the guy long enough to speak with me. Through a few awkward pleasantries I learned that two of them were Bosnian Serbs and the third was, sadly, a fellow Russian staying the summer in the RS with friends. When I pressed them on it they spouted a great deal of rambling nonsensical racist jibes, which were best culminated in one of the Serb's explanation, "We don't want this yellow shit on our streets," followed by a swift kick to the gut of the man semi-delirious on the ground. I implored them that they had already beaten this guy to near death already, and he was unlikely to stay on 'their streets' another day, which (probably helped by the fact that they were all at least partially drunk) got them to smirk to each other and leave. I tried to get the man to his feet and get some information out of him, but he spoke no Russian or French and considerably broken English, which was not bettered by his semi-conscious state. Not knowing what else to do I half-carried him to the nearest bus stop and saw him off at the closest hospital I could find. It was not a pleasant night.

I am well-aware that I possess an image as an ardent Russian nationalist, a position I personally self-identify with very much, which places me very much on the fringe of thought in the Particracy community. But, strangely enough, many of my views strike the general Russian nationalist community as being far too 'liberal' and 'moderate', and so I am on the fringes of that community as well. A few friends of mine in the Molodaya Gvardiya (Young Guards) just last year told me I was, "Too internationalist, frankly a little too Western," which might bring cock-eyed glances from many here, Molotov not excepted. I should still be clear, I still hold up Russia as an example for the world and Putin as the image of a world leader currently almost peerless. But there are no few things that he has continued to fail to act on, and in which shit my countrymen are steeped in. Least among these is the continued prevalence of organized crime and continued existence of the oligarchs, something I feel the central authority should have quashed some time ago regardless of cost, but that is a problem I can live with without much difficulty. Sexism in Russia also pisses me off gravely, and how deeply it is ingrained both in the judicial system and in the workforce drives me absolutely insane, and it is an ongoing atrocity that should be a stain on the honor of every thinking Russian, however I rank it below racism purely on the grounds that, insofar as I know, no woman has as yet been brutally murdered purely on sexist grounds. But racism is the biggest one, and is common not only to Russia but to the Slavic community as a whole (I group immigration into the racism issue because I am pretty sure the two are absolutely tied together in Russia's case, as very few people would credibly argue that Russia lacks space for more citizens. Strangely enough, I am considerably pro-immigration because I see Russia as an idea that all can and should aspire to rather than a cultural or ethnic identity, and feel that Russia could hardly be hurt by an influx of desperate manpower).

Racism in Russia has spun wildly out of control, and only seems to have intensified in recent years. I know the situation is identical in most of Eastern Europe, but I focus on Russia specifically because it is the one I am most acquainted with and care most about. It's gone all the way as to merit this level of international attention. I have always been deeply opposed to, and deeply offended by, the racism inherent in far too much of the native Russian population but it was the recent incident that brought it to mind. It is also something of a personal issue for me, because for the past 15 years my hometown of Vladivostok has been ripped apart by continuing mutual racist violence by the native Russian communities and Chinese immigrants.

All other banter aside, I am calling on all Slavs, Russians in particular, to take an individual stand against the racism we have all had drilled into us. Hell, I can admit I was frightened to death of black people until I was about 16, and probably to this day I suspect I still have some subconscious remnant of that left I am still trying to rationally eradicate. Images of skinheads beating the shit out of every nonwhite guy they can find could soon become the emblem of the country if something is not done soon. We cannot hold ourselves up as an example to the world until, at the very least, we stop this shit. For the love of Christ, it was Russia that defeated racism and mindless fascism almost 65 years ago, am I the only person who has not forgotten that?

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I sincerely hope that everyone here, regardless of who the fuck you are, can side with me on this. Russians and other Slavs, not too much is required for the prevailing attitude to change. First, you must rationally conquer the prejudices you are imbued with. Secondly, talk with your friends and neighbors, make them come around to the rational way of thinking that should be the norm in my country. To use a completely inapplicable metaphor, the emblem sport of Russia is chess, and a truly comfortable chess player doesn't give a damn if he's playing black or white, to use a nicely convenient pun. I'll just close on what I started on: My fellow countrymen, whom I esteem above all others, STOP THE GODDAMN RACISM!
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Re: A Call to All Russians: STOP THE GODDAMN RACISM!

Postby GreekIdiot » Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:43 pm

jethro wrote:A few friends of mine in the Molodaya Gvardiya (Young Guards) just last year told me I was, "Too internationalist, frankly a little too Western," which might bring cock-eyed glances from many here, Molotov not excepted. I should still be clear, I still hold up Russia as an example for the world and Putin as the image of a world leader currently almost peerless.


Sure, but none of the real debaters are here. The ground is yours. And I also see Russia as a truly united nation, despite the West's awful criticism. Hell, my mom grew up in the Soviet Union and I have great respect for your lands and people, despite the corruption rumors, scandals and the like. And as you described the problems in Russia, I assume it's still a shithole. Capitalist or not, America and Russia don't differ much.

jethro wrote:For the love of Christ, it was Russia that defeated racism and mindless fascism almost 65 years ago, am I the only person who has not forgotten that?


I was having the same question running through my mind while I was reading your thoughts. I mean, the whole god damned place, Eastern Europe, Russia, even the fucking far east was under the same system and most of the people and cultures there were united beneath the cape of the Soviet Union. Were did this racism come from? Does its roots come from the far past? Because it's would be irrational to assume that these racist tendencies, such as the incident you encountered, sprung up and intensified in the last two decades.
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Re: A Call to All Russians: STOP THE GODDAMN RACISM!

Postby Opakidabar » Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:50 pm

George S.K wrote:I was having the same question running through my mind while I was reading your thoughts. I mean, the whole god damned place, Eastern Europe, Russia, even the fucking far east was under the same system and most of the people and cultures there were united beneath the cape of the Soviet Union. Were did this racism come from? Does its roots come from the far past? Because it's would be irrational to assume that these racist tendencies, such as the incident you encountered, sprung up and intensified in the last two decades.

When your life is shit and you see no hope you go and beat someone "guilty". In Soviet Union enemy was always outside - dirty wealthy capitalist pigs. In Russia some people (Nazi Bolsheviks, etc) decided to look for enemy inside. What really strikes me is that Kremlin does nothing to stop that. For nation to be strong enemy should be outside.
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Re: A Call to All Russians: STOP THE GODDAMN RACISM!

Postby GreekIdiot » Wed Apr 08, 2009 8:12 pm

I guess the media and therefore the propaganda people receive plays a major role in modern Russia. I just wonder what's the government's stance on racism, there, jehtro? (link does not work for me, so forgive me for asking if the answer lies in there)
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Re: A Call to All Russians: STOP THE GODDAMN RACISM!

Postby jethro » Wed Apr 08, 2009 8:37 pm

You could say that propaganda play a major role in shaping public opinion in Russia, but I don't think they are the cause of the racism problem. I disagree both because there is plenty of alternative in media in Russia besides that owned by the state, most prominently REN TV, which doesn't trail that far behind state-owned television such as Channel One or (my personal favorite) Russia TV. REN TV actually recently pulled past NTV in terms of viewers. You could argue that the media in Russia plays a role by almost never having non-white newscasters or actors in films, but realistically this is probably because Russia is overwhelmingly white, and we don't have the ridiculous affirmative action laws that so plague the guilt-ridden West. But the media, or 'propaganda' depending on your definition, simply doesn't talk about it, at all, it only discusses it whenever it seeks to point out some successful police crackdown to prove how the situation is improving.

Racism is, as I've said before, one Putin's and his government's greatest faults. The problem is not that the government is racist or that it is even subliminally racist, because I'm quite certain it isn't. It simply refuses to acknowledge that racism exists. Usually it downplays racist attacks as 'hooliganism' and deliberately refuses to see the larger problem involved. Whenever he is forced to address the issue, Putin has explicitly made it clear that racism is not a Russian trait and not one that the government will condone. The problem is he has addressed this twice, maybe three times in the nine years he has ruled Russia, he goes well out of his way to avoid saying anything about it. To the extent that the government has a policy, it seems to be to duck and avoid the issue as much as possible. Why? Because a great deal of those same racists are of the nationalistic type whose support and votes Putin needs. It would be similar to asking why the American government is so terrified of addressing the rampant gun violence occurring in the United States, as the seven or so mass shootings in the past two weeks has graphically demonstrated.

There has been some improvement in recent times in the government's and police's attitude. They have begun cracking down on some of the more violent and brutal gangs. I have to say I was shocked when the government began a massive crackdown on the Mad Crowd, basically erasing it from existence in little over a week. Borovikov met a fitting end when the police shot him dead. But there are still a great many equally vile and equally violent racist gangs operating in Russia with what is almost total impunity, such as the Slavyansky Soyuz or Belyaev's Party of Freedom. Why they enjoy what almost amounts to police protection while others such as the Mad Crowd are being ruthlessly flushed out from their holes I cannot explain.
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Re: A Call to All Russians: STOP THE GODDAMN RACISM!

Postby Captain-Socialist » Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:34 pm

Much like the French approach, then, though in France this causes ethnic minority unrest rather than French violence towards ethnic minorities.

The fact is that Russia didn't go through the racial revolution caused in the west by the New Left, while capitalist racist societies such as Britain left old principles behind and let in thousands of coloured workers to help in the bankrupt post-war period, Russia blew it's anti-racist horn and let in about 50 black visitors. While the Soviet propaganda machine extolled Martin Luther King and the South African liberation movement, the Russian people had no political freedom and hence no true anti-racism movement. Russian nationalists also enjoy an odd place in Russian politics, the neo-nazi RNUP took part in the "Black October Uprising" against Yeltsin's anti-democratic regime and therefor enjoy an unwelcome place in Russian political history as defenders of democracy. Not to mention the great historical confusion which results in MPs in the Duma being able to admire both Hitler and Stalin and still get elected.
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Re: A Call to All Russians: STOP THE GODDAMN RACISM!

Postby AdJeCtIv3 » Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:36 pm

jethro wrote:...came across a gang of three young guys mercilessly beating the living shit of some middle-aged Asian man. ..Not knowing what else to do I half-carried him to the nearest bus stop and saw him off at the closest hospital I could find.


Kudos for personally intervening, at obvious physical risk to yourself. Maybe what Russia needs is more actions like this, rather than a 'top-down' approach to eliminating the problem that is never going to come.
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Re: A Call to All Russians: STOP THE GODDAMN RACISM!

Postby Xanathos » Thu Apr 09, 2009 6:26 am

Kudos for personally intervening, at obvious physical risk to yourself.


Indeed, kudos.
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Re: A Call to All Russians: STOP THE GODDAMN RACISM!

Postby Weswammy » Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:54 pm

Jethro:
Here in America, the black man had to confront racism himself. Sure, a white guy broke slavery, but did that stop racism? If anything it made it worse. It wasn't until the civil rights movement culminated with blacks themselves standing up for themselves in a generally peaceful show of political power. Not to say the majority can't lend a hand, but the oppressed need to go out there and help themselves.

Maybe America's problem was too different for Russia to learn from it, and America surely isn't free of racism. Although it is a lot less violent than in the developing world, and less prevelant.

The world isn't perfect jethro, whether Russia, Australia, Zimbabwe, or the United States. And you'll find the problems are all the same and no amount of proud nationalism or logical thinking will change it totally. As far as I know some sort of prejudice or stereotype will always be around.

I do agree with you, screw racism. Whether Russian or otherwise.
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Re: A Call to All Russians: STOP THE GODDAMN RACISM!

Postby Captain-Socialist » Fri Apr 10, 2009 10:14 pm

Sure, a white guy broke slavery, but did that stop racism?


Of course not, Linlcon was a racist. Lucky for his historical image he got killed when he did, otherwise the US would have live with the embarrassment of a President who broke the constitution to end slavery, and then introduced legislation to have them all blacks removed by boat (about the most cliché racist scheme in history).
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