The BBC has an interesting article in their site about the racism suffered by African students in Russia. Africans have been going to study in Russia since the time of the Soviet Union, when Russia thought it could increase its influence in Africa by educating its elite. But conditions for African students have become quite difficult in the last decade, as innate racism against them is enhanced by media images of black students as drug dealers. Many black students have been the victims of attacks by "hooligans", and several have even died - 3 Africans have been killed in St. Petesburg alone since September. The attackers are seldom punished "One thing democracy brought Russia was the freedom to insult and attack people and be sure of not being punished," said Gabriel Anicet Kotchofa, head of the Foreign Students' Association in Russia.
Posted by marga at February 25, 2006 3:21 PM | TrackBack