Racism in Eastern Europe

 

Photo from Euractiv

            According to the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, “Almost half of people of African descent in the EU face racism and discrimination in their daily life – a rise since 2016.” While living in Poland and Estonia, I found this to be true. There is a noticeable difference in the prevalence of racism between Eastern Europe and the United States of America, and it is pertinent that, as a society, we work towards reducing the frequency and normalcy of racism in Eastern Europe. Racism is prevalent in Eastern Europe due to the historical background and religious identity.

            The historical background of the region plays an important role. Most of Eastern Europe was greatly influenced by the Soviet Union, or the USSR, and World War II. Both Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany, and Joseph Stalin, a revolutionary in Soviet Russia who properly established the presence of the USSR in the political world, pushed racist ideas onto their people. The Holocaust Encyclopedia elaborates that Hitler viewed the Aryan race as the “master race,” deeming all others inferior, and made this one of his strongest beliefs while leading the Third Reich. Additionally, even though the Soviet Union pushed “anti-racist” rhetoric, as it was intended to be a classless state where everyone was equal, that was far from the truth. Many discriminatory policies were put into place, such as making entrance exams harder for Jewish students entering college, deportations of non-white Russians, and demonizing different ethnic groups in Russia. With these values deeply instilled into at least one Eastern European generation, with political socialization affecting the younger generations as well, it is difficult to undo the beliefs that were ingrained in entire countries. There has been intense progression in the region in the past 30 years, following the Solidarność movement in Poland and the fall of the USSR, but it is not enough to stop acts of racism from happening. Knowing this, it is easier to understand how racism can be prevalent in society still due to how recently such events happened.

Photo from Law & Liberty

            In addition to historical background, nationalism plays a large role. In many Eastern European countries, especially those affected by the occupation of the Soviet Union, nationalism is a strong part of the cultural identity. For example, in Poland, there is a strong sense of national identity, especially due to the German occupation in World War II. Poland lost all sovereignty during the occupation and following liberation, Polish pride became more and more widespread. Such nationalistic sentiments are still present today, and according to Adam Zamoyski, nationalism was once of “Poland’s greatest virtues,” and current political candidates utilize common aspects of Polish life, such as religion, cultural identity, and traditional values to appeal to the average Polish constituent. 

            Along with Poland, Russia is known for its nationalistic tendencies. Russia’s state ideology is referred to by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as solely nationalism, as every aspect of Russian life is somehow affected by it. Russian Orthodox Christianity is deeply connected to the Kremlin, as the Head Patriarch of the church is a right-hand man to Vladimir Putin, and as the majority of Russians identify as Orthodox, there is direct nationalistic influence via religious atmosphere. Additionally, state media constantly has pro-Russian propoganda playing on various channels, spanning from Soviet-era television to current news from the viewpoint of Russian politics. 

            Knowing that consistent influence of strong national identity is a part of daily life in Eastern Europe, it is understandable that one outside of the culture would not fit in as well. With such a pressure to support national identity, many East Europeans feel a sense of entitlement to approach someone who may not fit in and share their two cents on the foreigner’s presence in their country. Due to that, racism is more frequent in society there and the concept of not fitting in visually puts people of color in a minority, as it is uncommon to see non-white individuals in daily commutes. 

            Some may argue that it is just curiosity that is not expressed well due to linguistic barriers, but due to personal experiences, I am sure that it is not limited based on language. While living in Narva, Estonia, a town with 98% of the population being native Russian speakers, I witnessed racial discrimination against a friend. The cohort I was traveling with had full Russian speaking abilities, so we were not limited linguistically, and each of the students of color present faced at minimum one racist incident. I distinctly remember walking on the street with my friend and her being called the n-word in English by a passerby, just for being on the street. This was not an uncommon occurrence and for this to be faced in a small town in a small country, it was no surprise that my friends, who were people of color, in Poland also faced racial discrimination, such as Asian slurs targeted towards my friends from Asia, or incidents similar to the driveby n-word instance I witnessed.

             From both personal experience and research into the topic, it’s clear that due to deep-rooted problems, there is more prevalence of racism due to a variety of reasons, and we need to work to bring more awareness to the problem and move closer to a solution.