Discussing racial attacks with students

Thu Jul 27 16:52:03 UTC 2006

As a footnote to Sunnie’s post, can I share the experience of our undergraduate programme’s response to the real dangers of racist attacks on foreign students.

We sent a cohort of 30-odd students to Russia this summer. One of them was a British Asian Muslim (you can reorder this classification if it offends you) and very ‘visible’ because of her dress and colour. We spent a significant amount of time discussing with the host institution in Russia ways they could reduce the risk of her suffering from the threat of racism during her stay. Once we had raised the issue they were willing to go to great lengths including finding a host-family close to the institute and having a kind of buddy system with Russian students (to accompany some of the English students in the evenings). They also vetted the host-family and found a source of halal food. All this in a very provincial part of Russia.

Before departure to Russia we discussed with the student (with all students) possible dangers and annoyances that she might encounter. Point ‘c’ of the previous post is the key, but it has to be done in a sensitive way, otherwise students will get completely the wrong, ‘CIA world fact book’, impression. We broached the race issue within the context of general personal safety.

I am pleased to say that the student had a great time and as far as I am aware encountered no problems connected with intolerance during her stay.

My point is that in travelling anywhere it is possible to prepare oneself and, more importantly in the context of undergraduate students’ trips, one’s hosts. Racist attacks and bigotry are a problem in Russia perhaps more visibly than in other countries, but when sending students, practical steps can be taken. Of course, for individual visitors things are different.

As a footnote to this footnote, I have witnessed two racist attacks in Russia in the last 8 years. Nobody, including myself, did anything to intervene. And for good reason: we didn’t want to get stabbed. A lot of this is gangs of youths, attacking opportunistically (anyone, but especially a person that stands out for some reason), and I would challenge anyone to say they would be willing to be the first person to intervene in their own country when faced by a group of a dozen people intent of violence. In the UK such a situation is usually known as ‘a Friday or Saturday night from 11pm onwards’. 

Dr Jeremy Morris
Lecturer in Russian
Room 147
Centre for Russian and East European Studies
European Research Institute Building
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Tel: +44-(0)121-414-6455 (direct line)
       +44-(0)121-414-6347 (CREES office)
E-mail: j.b.morris at bham.ac.uk

-----Original Message-----
From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list [mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] On Behalf Of sunnie rucker
Sent: 27 July 2006 15:04
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Discussing racial attacks with students

Hello everyone, 

I appreciate everyone's stories--good and bad--about their experiences in Russia, but it must be stressed that the world becomes a bit different if you are a person of color travelling, not just in Russia, but in other parts of Eastern Europe as well. The issues of safety become more than worrying about being robbed or being ripped off; you wonder what lies beyond dark corners and which bald headed person  is actually a skin head who might attack you.  Perhaps feeling unsafe in any big city is not particular to race, but having someone look at you with hatred and attack you for no other reason is.  With this being said, though our students of color are few, they need to be aware of the racial climate in the countries to which they are travelling. That is the only way that they can make an informed decision about studying abroad in Russia or anywhere else. 

I have already shared my ideas with Amanda off list, but I would like to offer some suggestions to other SEELANGers on how to handle the problem of discussing the racial climate in Russia, or other Eastern European countries, with our students, and especially those of color: 

 a) Inform them of the problems, and suggest that they get on to the BBC news website and see what stories there are about the African students in Russia. They have done a pretty good job of explaining the problems that they have. 

b) Propose the possibility of studying abroad in or, at least visiting, a Central Asian republic. My husband believes Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, at least, to be relatively more racially tolerant and in the capitals, at least three years ago, Russian was widely spoken. In the same vein, you can suggest that they travel to a smaller city. Here at Ohio State we have a program in Tomsk, for example.

c)Educate them about what skinheads are and what they look like so that they can try to avoid them once they are in Russia. This may sound silly, but many of our students know nothing about skinheads, and some of us found out about them the hard way. 

d) Though extreme, if you know that your students may be unable to handle constant stares, seemingly incessant passport checks, and possible verbal and/or physical attacks, suggest that they not go (to Russia). I have an Asian-American friend who was told not to travel to Russia by her sponsoring study abroad group, and yet continued to take Russian. If they need or love the language our students will not drop it because they cannot travel there. 

I apologize for the length of this response, but it is important that we understand that  in the same way that some students learn differently than others, our students of color, who are travelling abroad, may have different needs than our students who are not of color.  Thank you for your time. 

Best, 
 Sunnie Rucker-Chang,
 PhD Candidate, Russian literature
 Member, Slavic department Diversity Committee
 The Ohio State University,
 Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures
  1775 College Rd
 400 Hagerty Hall
 Columbus, OH 43201
 (614) 292-6733 

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