It’s not just the gopniks who are withering away; so are racist skinheads. According to the SOVA Center – an NGO which is about as anti-Kremlin as it gets, so no point in speculating that it cooks the figures for PR purposes – racist attacks in Russia have plummeted from their peak levels in 2007-2008, back when newspapers carried headlines such as “Moscow foreign students told to stay in as racist attacks rise over Hitler’s birthday.” (h/t Maksim for pointing it out to me)
This is, of course, unquestionably a good thing. Obviously so for for non-White foreigners or immigrants, and likewise so for Russia in general. Whatever one’s views on the cost-to-benefit ratio of mass immigration, it’s hopefully clear to all that arbitrary violence shouldn’t be part of the discussion.
Of course even 18 racially motivated murders is a lot, as the annual average for the US is about 2 in recent years (the US has twice the population but half the background homicide rate). But it’s a lot better than the peak of 109 reached in 2008.
Good post, good point! The nature of modern media is such that failures in such instances are always highly publicized while successes are buried. For example, reading the news in Russia the other night there was a report about how the last terrorist suspect involved in the 2010 Moscow metro attacks had been liquidated. It occurred to me that it’s been a good two years since a major terrorist attack has happened in Moscow (knock on wood, spit over shoulder). Domodedovo was the last, if I remember correctly. Is it possible that the Kremlin is slowly stumbling onto the right formula of carrot and stick in the North Caucuses? Or is there another explanation, like the Jihadis moving onto, um, browner pastures in Syria?
Has the number of Muslim crime on Slavic and Christians decreased as well? I would guess not. Russian skinheads and nationalists are what prevent Russia from becoming an Africanized nation like England or France. It’s better whites running the streets or blacks your choice. Russia as a Eurasian empire has failed and the traditional nation state based on blood and soil is superior. Putin’s Eurasian Union will also flounder and never be as powerful as the CCCP or even former Tsarist Russia. Ukraine will NEVER join the Eurasion Union, the customs union, the Union State, or rejoin the Russian Federation in a Slavic unification to become a single state. Europe needs more skinheads and Nationalists because who else will fight blacks and brown people? Do you want Moscow and Leningrad to become like Paris London Chicago and New York with nonwhite criminal gangs running around?! In the long run its not worth it to let in the Caucasians and Central Asians because of future demographics. Putin should have never let them in. What, they wanted independence from Russia only…..to migrate to Russia?? Seriously WTF
Has the number of Muslim crime on Slavic and Christians decreased as well?
I don’t know. If you have statistics on this, I would love to see them.
Russian skinheads and nationalists are what prevent Russia from becoming an Africanized nation like England or France.
I doubt skinhead thugs going about beating up the occasional unfortunate is what keeps Russia from becoming Central Asianized, let alone “Africanized.” I would say that the ultimately fairly limited size of immigration inflows (300,000 per year… relative to about 600,000 per year in the UK, which has less than half Russia’s population) is what does that.
What, they wanted independence from Russia only…..to migrate to Russia?? Seriously WTF
The Baltics were the only republics where majorities didn’t want the Soviet Union to continue.
Its easy to get the stats on what the blacks and browns are doing in Sweden.
http://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/the-living-hell-for-swedish-women-5-muslims-commit-nearly-77-6-of-all-rape-crimes/
or any of the Nordic countries who have made the mistake of allowing non-whites to immigrate en masse.
What about the USA? Black males make up 6% of the US population and they commit over 50% of the violent crimes in the US. So you may continue pretending to be anti-racist and such, but you’re really just anti-white. Anti-racism is just a code-word for anti-white. The statistics are there for anyone to see. The problem is that mainstream media outlets conveniently ignore it and expect everyone else to do the same.
Normal white people despise blacks for their violent behavior. Liberals hate white people who notice that behavior.
“Its easy to get the stats on what the blacks and browns are doing in Sweden”. You are a nation of morons, you are so mixed just in name Russia is Wihtey (Honkey). You East-Europe ( peopel of the Iron Curtain) are the best in rioting or are you so stupid you can’t count how many hooligans and ritos you have in a year. Russia is a dumping ground. Hitler killed 25 million of you today, you worship Nazism, look at you how are you a nation on idiots. No one comes to Russia and you better stay there too, otherwise they will rape you for fun. .
who the fuck are you to call anyone stupid you shit-colored nigger? did you know niggers have to lowest IQs in the world? that’s why there’s no such thing as a black supremacist, there’s nothing superior about being born a lousy, faggot nigger except having “rhythim” to prance around like a flowery cock sucker. besides, blacks aren’t even in the same league as other races. you homo erectus moitherfuckers deserve to be exterminated just for being so fucking ugly.
Are they only counting “racist attacks” as Russians attacking migrants? Most of the racist attacks I read about on the news are along the lines of Uzbeks and Tajiks killing each other, or something along those lines. In general, how do the define which attack is racially motivated? I’m pretty sure it’s not MVD statistics…
Are you sure that those attacks are about race and not money or influence? I wonder what could be the reason of racist conflicts between them. If you are sure those attacks are racist, maybe it is somehow connected to history? Armenians and Azerbaijanis have a conflict for sure, I know nothing about the others.
Are they only counting “racist attacks” as Russians attacking migrants?
Yes, I’m pretty sure it’s this.
I took a quick look through their news archive and it looks like they mix all sorts of things under “racism and radical nationalism”. It includes attacks on gays, on religious groups (including vandalism in Orthodox churches), on homeless, and even fighting between “skinheads” and “antifa”. (In fact, for 2013 most of the attacks reported are on gays.) In the vast majority of cases no evidence as to the motivation is presented at all. Based on this, it is possible to conclude that the reduction of crimes claimed to be racist is related more to the reduction of crimes in general, or to the fact that the “skinhead” and “antifa” trends are not in vogue anymore. It’s also possible to speculate that the seeming reduction in “racist” attacks is simply the result of Sova’s reduced funding, i.e. they don’t have the resources to monitor as much as they used to.
I still think that Putin should have made English an official language back in 2000. Discriminate in favor of migrants who can speak English rather than against those who can’t speak Russian. Economic pragmatism will take hold sooner or later anyway…the way things are going out there…probably sooner.
Fine, perhaps a decline in skinheads, but as a South Asian American I have never been treated with as much hostility as I have in Moscow, and even some regional cities too, even though I speak fluent Russian. And even when I meet Russians outside of Russia, they tend to be completely unfriendly.
You should hang out with Russians I know, they don’t care if you are from the Indian subcontinent.
Russians aren’t a very friendly people! Certainly they don’t like to talk nearly as much as you Indians, at least with people they don’t know well. 🙂
There’s a different between being introverted and being downright hostile. When I visited Finland, the people weren’t talkative, but they were helpful and polite. Definitely not the case with the Russians! No manners! Not to mention that most nightlife venues rarely let me in despite dressing better then the locals, plus the constant hostile expressions on the metro. You may say that Russians are less PC then those in the West with regard to race. But if they want any sort of respect in the world they have to treat people with basic decency even if they look different than them. What a miserable place. And before you say that I’m welcome to leave, believe me, I can’t wait! My company sent me here on an assignment for a few years and I’m eagerly waiting returning to the US where people don’t treat nonwhites as second class citizens. I’ve traveled extensively in Asia, Latin America, and Europe, and nowhere have I received the hostility like in Russia.
It’s a pity you haven’t found people who like you in Russia! I find it strange that you didn’t manage to make friends. Although some people are hostile to foreigners, many people are not. I really hope that you’ll get back to America soon… It’s a torture to be in a country where you like nobody and nobody likes you. It just didn’t work well for you personally. I know some non-European foreigners here who come for big business here, and they say that they meet hostility, but still it’s not impossible to live normally here for them. They have friends and they enjoy travelling in Russia. Maybe they are older and more experienced with people? (They aren’t really young).
And when I say leave – I really mean it. I have an experience with leaving a country I didn’t like. My life improved greatly. No depressions, I’m perfectly happy now. You’ll see that your life is full of opportunities, and argue with your boss if you manage. Refuse. Don’t stay with people you dislike. (But actually I returned to Russia)
So I complain about racism and all you say is leave Russia? So basically you’re conceding the point that Russians are xenophobes. Trust me, I can’t wait to leave, especially since when I am frank with Russians about my problems here, they simply shrug their shoulders. They don’t really care. Or, what I really suspect, is that they are secretly happy that nonwhites face hostility in Russia but are trying to pretend that it’s out of their control.
I have Russian friends here, but they tend heavily female – dudes are simply not interested in relating despite my invitations. This is different from other countries that I’ve lived in where I’ve had friends from many different countries.
My point isn’t that I can’t make friends – the point is that people are hostile on a day to day basis, more so than other countries. And that the hostility is increased for people that aren’t white, even if they are dressed well and it’s obvious they’re not some Tajik immigrant.
And regarding your friends, older people will likely receive better treatment as they are seen as more established and wealthier, etc. However, with speaking English in an American accent it should be clear to any baseline educated Russian that I’m not a hoodlum, but it seems they have an inability to look beyond someone’s skin color.
“So I complain about racism and all you say is leave Russia?”
What else can I say? I can’t change anything. I used to live abroad, and going home helped me improve my life.
“So basically you’re conceding the point that Russians are xenophobes.”
Actually no. I said some people… But don’t exaggerate. Most of people I know are not xenophobes.
” Trust me, I can’t wait to leave, especially since when I am frank with Russians about my problems here, they simply shrug their shoulders. They don’t really care”
I don’t really see how Russians can help you.
“I have Russian friends here, but they tend heavily female – dudes are simply not interested in relating despite my invitations.”
I think it’s normal in Russia. Other guys can only envy you. Maybe it’s one of the reasons they avoid you. First, Russian guys are quite less talkative than South Asian guys, they might feel uneasy with a guy who talks too much. Second, I don’t think that guys really like to go somewhere with a guy who receives a lot of female attention – at least because it reduces their chances.
“This is different from other countries that I’ve lived in where I’ve had friends from many different countries. ”
I’m not sure that Russian people make friends easily. It’s pretty difficult to get close with somebody here. Really. Not even for foreigners. It has always been difficult for me too, particularly after I returned from abroad. I think that mere communication is not enough to get friends here. One needs something more – maybe to overcome difficulties together, to be a part of your friend’s life.
“My point isn’t that I can’t make friends – the point is that people are hostile on a day to day basis, more so than other countries. And that the hostility is increased for people that aren’t white, even if they are dressed well and it’s obvious they’re not some Tajik immigrant.”
I can’t really comment on it because I’ve never been in such a situation. There can be a lot of reasons for that. It might be even personal. With immigrants it IS often personal – when someone is too noisy or speaks too much or is overly friendly (the last one can be really bad because some people may become somewhat hostile just to make you less friendly because too much friendliness can be perceived as invasion of personal space).
“And regarding your friends, older people will likely receive better treatment as they are seen as more established and wealthier, etc. However, with speaking English in an American accent it should be clear to any baseline educated Russian that I’m not a hoodlum, but it seems they have an inability to look beyond someone’s skin color.”
It contradicts my personal experience. People who are at least a bit successful won’t mistreat successful people because if their skin colour.
And most of xenophobes are working class uneducated people or some subcultures, so normally I would say that you should communicate with other people… Maybe the clubs where you wanted to go were actually working class or something like that?
Personally, when I lived abroad I didn’t have any serious conflicts with people but most of my friends there were immigrants, and not natives. Usually from countries that are not really friendly with Russia – Romania and the USA (one of them was Asian American too, by the way) + some other places such as Madagascar and China that are not really our enemies. I had friends, but still there were a lot of things that just didn’t work for me abroad, although I wasn’t nostalgic… And a lot of things didn’t work for my friends. They are still there and they don’t go home, although they are unhappy. I am happy and I am at home. Go home, be like me, don’t be like them! And one of them has been living there for more than 5 years, and now she just has no place where she could return. I hope it won’t happen with you.
One needs something more – maybe to overcome difficulties together, to be a part of your friend’s life.
I think he means a zapoi.
India is the home of the caste system. Inter-caste romance regularly provokes violence there. Caste is everything, the individual is nothing. Outside of his group, the individual is irrelevant and meaningless in India. And it’s not just Hinduism. I’ve known Christian Indians from Guyana – same mentality. The individual is first and foremost judged as a member of some group. When judging non-Indians they use race first, social class second, financial status third. OK, everyone does that to some extent, but not like Indians. They are world record holders in that particular event. In many cultures people feel ashamed for judging others in this way. I haven’t noticed any such reticence among Indians.
There’s pot calling the kettle black, and then there are Indians accusing other peoples of being too clannish. The proverbial pot and kettle would blush when confronted with THAT much hypocrisy.
Not that I think that clannishness is always bad. But the issue of its virtues and drawbacks is separate from the issue of hypocrisy.
Where do you stay in russia? What city?
I actually find Russians more friendly than people from other nationalities, but in a specific context – from a Russian friend you can borrow money, which is something of a taboo with wetsren friends, at leats in my experience.
Bloody rooskies have killed all the migrants — that’s why the plunge in the homicide rate!
@arvind
the guys maybe dicks but who cares….least the woman are friendly to south asian guys