By Clara Greenwood
Earlier in April, an avalanche of protests from Russia’s indigenous journalists, bloggers and activists descended on the Russian opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza for his quote of an unnamed colleague’s opinion about racist recruitment tactics of the Russian Defence Ministry. According to Kara-Murza, the Russian Defence Ministry allegedly believed that it was easier for non-Russians to kill Ukrainians.
Kara-Murza is one of the fiercest opponents of Russia’s president and one of the most fearless critics of the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. Yet, indigenous opposition activists were furious with him for his failure to distance himself unequivocally from racist views. Worse still, Kara-Murza made his offending remarks in French parliament. Repeating racist tropes to an international audience looked like adding insult to injury.
“The leading so-called liberal voices of Russian politics continue to reproduce racist narratives that dehumanize us”, wrote Indigenous of Russia Foundation in its open letter published by an independent newspaper “The Moscow Times”. “There is a widespread colonialist tradition in Russia of accusing representatives of Asian and Caucasian peoples – in fact, all non-white people – of being particularly cruel and bloodthirsty”.”
The above statement from Indigenous of Russia Foundation triggered more anger, this time, from the Caucasus: “We, people of the Caucasus, are called “non-white” in today’s statement against racism!” – was their outcry on social networks. Then, Indigenous of Russia Foundation qualified the term “non-white” with a longer description: “those who are not included in the group of Slavic peoples and are subject to xenophobia even though they are light-skinned”.
Ethnic origin, identity, race and racism in Russia remain taboo in the Russian media, and even the terminology cannot be agreed upon. Some activists object to being called “ethnic minority” or “non-Russian”. Others, as in the above-mentioned case, refuse to be called “non-white”.
No wonder Kara-Murza’s subsequent explanatory statement only made matters worse. The politician blamed an inaccurate translation from French into Russian. Worst of all, he called his critics “provocateurs, liars and useful idiots” and even banned some of them on his social networks. A second wave of furious comments followed.
“Kara-Murza is unwilling to listen to ethnic minorities,” says Leyla Latypova, The Moscow Times indigenous special correspondent. “His response did not surprise me, and it is typical of the mainstream Russian opposition. They really need to adjust their language, and their ideas, to the anti-colonialist agenda.”
Kara-Murza did not respond to our request for an interview.
The Cost of Ignoring Russia’s History of Colonialism
Why should the liberal Russian opposition pay attention to anti-colonialist voices inside Russia?
Alexandra Garmazhapova, head of the Free Buryatia Foundation, explains that Russia’s colonialist narratives drive the ideology behind its war in Ukraine:
“Tropes like: “some peoples have to be improved, to be more like Russians” are targeted at non-Russians inside Russia, as well abroad. To eliminate colonialist aggression, our opposition should condemn all colonialist narratives coming out of the Kremlin”.”
If Russia’s opposition does not embrace the anti-colonialist agenda, it risks repeating the mistakes of the current Kremlin regime, writes a Radio Liberty journalist Ramazan Alpaut.
For now, too many indigenous activists have lost hope of any meaningful dialogue with the liberal opposition, and prefer to pour out their frustration and their increasingly radical views on social networks.
What could Russia’s anti-colonial policies look like?
Earlier in April, a group of opposition representatives of the Indigenous Peoples of Russia’s North, Siberia and the Far East called for Russia’s future democracy to start a process of reconciliation with indigenous peoples, using Canadian, Norwegian and Australian models.
But for now, there is no sign that Russia’s opposition leaders in exile are interested in any such policies.
“They think they are the ones being blamed for colonialism” say Alexandra Garmazhapova. “Not true: Russian colonialism goes back in history. Yet, our opposition politicians believe if they personally are not racist, the issue has nothing to do with them.”
The Media Fails to Lead the Conversation on Systemic Racism
In today’s Russia, there are few independent indigenous journalists who can write about the highly charged topics of race and racism either in Russian, or in their own languages. Important issues in Russia’s regions are covered by reporters from Moscow – or not at all.
Leyla Latypova, an ethnic Tatar from Bashkortostan in the Volga region, hopes to plug the gap with her project, “From the Republics”. Staffed entirely by volunteers, this is the first independent indigenous media project.
Why are indigenous voices in the media so important?
“Indigenous reporters view events in their region through a local lens, says Latypova. They know local people to talk to. They can express an informed opinion on their stories.”
Early into her project, Latypova realised that funding for independent indigenous journalism is hard to find. Another problem is finding experienced professionals:
“Economic disparities mean that fewer indigenous people are able to receive high quality training and support themselves as journalists,” – she says. “– Those who do, usually reach the peak of their career in a local publication, most of which toe the Kremlin line. If they make it to a bigger independent outlet, they are unable to exert any influence on the editorial choices of their non-indigenous colleagues”.”
A lack of diversity in Russian newsrooms, including in the opposition media, stifle important public discussions, such as those around the controversial statement by Kara-Murza.
Outside Russia, Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe funded by the US Congress is the only media outlet with a regular, detailed coverage of Russia’s regions and its indigenous peoples.
The radio station also offers free online language learning courses and audiobooks in the most widely spoke indigenous languages, such as Tatar. The service is particularly important since the Russian government has cut funding for teaching indigenous languages at schools. However, relying on foreign-funded media is no longer an option. RL/RFE is under threat. The US government has cut its funding, and the case is currently unresolved.
