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?
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!