circumstances
and position in
life.  You  are
even forced  to
put yourself in
the  picture  as
you 
ask
q u e s t i o ns
about 
the
nature  of  man
in  the  world.
For  instance,
What is in one
that
man 
makes 
him
different  from
others?  Does
the 
face  of
others menace
you because of
own
your 
feelings 
of
inferiority  or pride? The Third  World
Resource  Centre  in  conjunction  with
the African-Russian  Link,  the  African
Community  Organization  of  Windsor
and the Iona College of the University
of  Windsor,  made  the  presentation  of
The  Bear's  Ugly Face  feasible  to the
international  audience.  Recent  events
in Chechnya makes the Bear ever uglier.

In the very educative documentary, we
realised  that  Black  presence  in  Russia
predated  the  communist  revolution.
Most  Blacks  then  were  sailors  who
later  settled  along  the  sea  coast  of
Abkhasia.  the  southern  part  of  the
Russian  Federation.  They  became  so
assimilated  that only  their skin  colour
differentiated  them.  The  initial  fifty
fami lies soon grew beyond five hundred
along the coast. Arab traders joined the
fray  in  the  16th  and  17th  centuries.
Many  people  however  migrated  to
Turkey  after  the  revolution.

On  the  other  hand,  when  royalties
exchanged  gifts  between  and  among
themselves, slaves were a commodity.
Ibrahim Hannibal was presented to Peter
the  Great  who,  on  sensing  the  Black
boy's  brilliance, sent  him to school  in
Russia  and  France. Then  the  Russian

62

St. Peterburg.

THE ONES THEY LEFT BEHIND
The audience sat in hushed silence.

AKINTAIWO

then 

and 

now 

But 
a
sigh. Then and again the shaking
of  the head. Not  because  it was  sunset
on  208  Sunset  Avenue  where  the
different  clans  gathered.  But  because
the video-show they have come to watch
was  provoking, 
indeed
provocative.

if  not 

The documentary titled The Ones  They
Left  Behind  is a first-hand  account  of
the  African  presence  in  Russia  by  Dr.
Charles Quist-Adade, a professor in the
Department  of  Sociology 
and
Anthropology  at  the  University  of
Windsor.  It  is a heart-chilling  story  of
the  children  of  African  fathers  and
Russian  mothers  after  the  collapse  of
Soviet-style communism  in the  former
U.S.S.R.  There  are  many  heads  in  the
groove  now,  but  who  shall  save  the
children?

What  can  we  do,  as  a  people  with
conscience,  to  mitigate  the  effect  of

they 

'Half-cast' 

racial  discrimination  against  our
children? 
are
pejoratively  called. But 'bi-racial'  they
are  correctly  indexed.  They  are  not
Black,  if  indeed  there  are  any  'black'
men on the face of the earth. Neither are
they  White,  if  anyone  is  ever  'white'.
Their colour lies within the continuum
of  brown  and  pink.  Children  of
circumstances,  now  victims  of
uninformed  prejudice. Could the world
ever be kind? Could the society ever be
humane?  Could  people  ever  be
reasonable,  if not  charitable?

You may not have tears in your eyes as
you follow the documentary. But, unless
you have a heart of stone, you can't  be
indifferent  to  the  contrasts  and  anti-
theses  of  your  own  existence.  As  the
author summarizes, it is 'a story of love
gone sour, goodwill  turned to hatred; a
tale of trust and betrayal, ignorance and
prejudice,  bigotry  and  racism.'  In  it
you're  forced  to  see  yourself,  the
pigmentation  of  your  skin,  your

aristocrats  spoke  French.  Hannibal
became the chief engineer and a general
in the Russian  army. He married  twice
and  one  of  his  grandsons,  Alexander
Pushkin - widely reputed to be Russia's
greatest poet - introduced and developed
the  Russian  literary  language.  Aira
Oldridje, 
an  African-American
introduced  the  dramatic  art  forms  to
Russian  and  later died  in  Poland.

But racism in Russia hasn't always been
so  obvious  or  manifest  until  now.
Afterall,  Russia  has been  an ally of the
Third  World, 
fighting  Western
subjugation and imperialism, providing
aids  and  support 
liberation
movements.By  1992 about half a million
students  mainly  from  Mozambique,
Angola,  Ethiopia,  Algeria,  Nigeria,
Cuba  and  Grenada  were  educated  on
scholarships.

for 

But all that was politics of the 'cold war"
and  of  convenience.  The  bias  soon
showed  in the perestroika  era.  Racism
became  the  other  side  of  paternalism.
The Patrick Lumumba University where
Third World  students  normally  studied
was  renamed  Moscow  Friendship
University  party apparatchiks  allowed
racism  to  find  its  own  level.  Even
university professors avoided Blacks as
much as fellow students abhorred them.
There were unimaginable racist attacks
as if to justify  the producer's  assertion

video documentary.

«r of the

that  'the  ethnocentric  blood  is  thicker
than the ideological water.' Many Black
students left,  somewhat  hurriedly  after
their studies, abandoning  their children
who they couldn't financially  take care
of.

As  attested 
to  by  Joseph  White
Erakpotobor,  a Soviet-trained  Nigerian
engineer, now residentin Detroit, U.S.A.,
some  fathers  left  their  wives  and  kids
with the promise of coming back later,
but  never  came. Many  Blacks  married
out of convenience to satisfy their 'bodily
longings',  just  as  some  Soviet  ladies
married  as  an  act  of  adventure  and  a
chance  to  leave  Russia.  At  any  rate,
Russian  officials  did  not  encourage
foreign  students  to  stay  on  after  their
studies.  It  is only  predictable  what  the
plights of the children, born as results of
these relationships, could be.

Paradoxically, many 'fathers' had indeed
married  'back  home'.  Some  feared  the
'loose characters' of their Soviet wives.
And some others who genuinely wanted
to leave with their wives were prevented
by official  state policies, like the denial
of  visas.  Many  kids  were  disallowed
from  following their fathers  'to  Africa',
only  to  be  left  in  orphanages.  Some
ladies  had  to  be  forced  to  abort,  or
seriously  threatened  to be dealt with, if
they have babies for  Africans.

Maria  Ferdinadova  Balige  was  born
while  her  father,  Rwechugura,  a
Tanzanian  was in the city. But because
Rwechugura overstayed his vacation in
Sweden he was expelled from school on
his  return.  He  broke  down  under
psychological  pressure  from  the  secret
police.  While  in  hospital  he  was
forcefully  removed,  roughly  bundled,
taken  to  the  airport  and  deported.  He
hasn't gone back since then.

Ten years later, Maria, his child became
a promising gymnast, coming second in
All-Leningrad Championship. But as she
said: 'They called me names, made jokes
about  me.  Sometimes  they  would  ask
where my father came from and whether

he was dark like charcoal.'

Others made uncomplimentary  remarks
about  Blacks;  they  said  things  like
'obeziana' 
(monkey),  'black  paint',
'chocolate', 'black sea.' Her mother was
forced to withdraw her from school. Yet
she's  one  of  the  thousands  of  African-
Soviets suffering  this plight.

In  1990  a  dozen  of  them  formed  the
Afro-Soviet  Association,  renamed
African-Russian  Society  of  St.
Petersburg  since  the  disintegration  of
the Soviet Union. The aim is to 'unite all
Soviets who have roots  in Africa.  It's a
delight for each of us to feel that we are
not  alone  in  this  world',  says  Joseph
Okum,  born  of  an  absentee  Ghanaian
father.  Mikhail  Zayaistky  whose  father
is  an  Ethiopian  hopes  that  they  could
attract  world  attention  to  'our  perilous
existence  before  we  disappear  like  the
dinosaurs.'

recounted 

Though  the  Russian  constitution  made
racial abuse punishable by law, offenders
are  hardly  ever  prosecuted.  Dr.  Quist-
Adade  who  could  be  called  'a  Black
Russian' 
a  personal
experience.  He  lived  in  Russia  for  ten
years, commuting between London and
Russia  as  a  correspondent  for  Gemini
News  Service  in  England.  He  was
severally  beaten  by the police and  state
thugs  before his room was finally set on
fire.  He  left  the country  for  Canada  in
May,  1992.  By  December  of  the  same
year  when  he  went  back  as  a  business
escort, two of his friends had been killed
by the neo-fascists. Are there civil rights
organizations  in  Russia  to  take  up  a
crusade for sanity? What happens to the
ones they left  behind?

The light came on in the cosy room  after
the forty-minute documentary, and there
was nosmiling face. God made the world
and  men  invented  borders.  God  made
men of colours, men  made races out of
them.  As  we  grow  and  go,  we  always
leave  people  behind,  can  we  not  make
the world  a better place for  them?

63