Whether There Is a BLM Movement in Russia
This BLM movement essay aims to consider existence and manifestation of Black Lives Matter social movement in Russia. Black Lives Matter (BLM) is an anti racism and discrimination movement that rose to prominence throughout the 2010s, gaining the most visibility and support during the 2020 BLM protests following the deaths of African Americans Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Taylor was fatally shot by police during a raid and Floyd was murdered by a police officer in uniform who kneeled on Floyd's neck for nine minutes while he pleaded for his life. Video evidence recorded him saying “I can't breathe” became a focal point of protests with demonstrators re-enacting the scene in order to push for police reform. On the whole, the international reception was supportive with BLM protests taking place in major cities in Europe and further afield.
However, in Russia, a country with a tiny black population, utilised BLM differently to many other countries. In 2020, the Kremlin led a limited response aside from a few public officials using their platform to denounce BLM protests in the US as well as to exemplify the protests as a symbol of American weakness. Russia, as a country with strict protesting and freedom of speech laws, it can be deduced that the statements of Russian officials were of two-pronged intent: deem the movement a result of a weak US government in turn elevating Russia and, more importantly, for the Kremlin to subtly reinforce the societal need for its own punitive legislation; prolonging state oppression and limiting rights. Such oppression has been evident more recently in major Russian cities against citizens who have protested against the “special military operation”, i.e., the war in Ukraine. However, this is not the only association that the Kremlin has had to BLM.
During the recent Presidential Election years in the United States, Russia has been accused of exploiting the BLM movement in order to manipulate the ballot and target African Americans with misinformation. Examples of this have been the creation of hundreds of fraudulent social media accounts with the aims to deceive voters, undermine the legitimacy of the federal voting system in the eyes of voters and in 2016, weaken Hilary Clintonâs presidential campaign in favour of Donald Trump. A proportion of the online accounts supported the BLM movement, vituperating police brutality, as well as voicing solidarity with other minorities in America. However, on the other hand, other accounts actively supported the police with a denunciation of BLM protests and the movement entirely. Furthermore, adverts surrounding the 2016 election and other social concerns were employed across social media websites, by Russian operatives, to further discombobulate American voters.
Another aspect to gauge BLM in Russia is from the youth response. Young people across the world championed BLM more than any other age group but again the response to not only BLM but questions surrounding race in general were entirely different.
At grassroots, having lived in Russia, the youth I met, displayed levels of indifference and ignorance, to sometimes blatant racism. In nightclubs, where European and American music was played, racial slurs and expletives were not dubbed out of songs and were sang without any concern or heed of the historical and cultural gravity. Indeed, when my friends and I witnessed this, having been raised and educated in a multi-cultural society like there were visual displays of shock and horror towards our Russian counterparts. Furthermore, during follow up conversations where BLM was raised, the answers from the Russians tended to be muted to 'that it something from your country, not here'. However, while this may seem outrageous, on reflection, I wasn't so shocked by my experiences. When my friend asked his new Russian girlfriend why she didn't have a problem with using racially based expletives, he found that she simply didn't understand the gravity of such terms. She had never been around the people that they would offend and didn't have any knowledge of the painful history they related to. This seems to be quite common. It is a country where many people do not speak English but are influenced by popular western culture, especially music. In conjunction the level of exposure to BLM related issues through education, this is extremely limited. These factors, of course, combine to cause situations that much of the rest of world would find offensive and dated.
In conclusion, Black Lives Matter, while having no tangible link to Russia, does have a presence. While Russia is often separatist from the rest of the world in various ways, its leaders are well aware of the value of the status quo internationally. Visually, the images from the 2020 protests were powerful, making headlines and promoting change across the world. The power of influence, while thousands of miles away, was clear to Russia and of value in terms of finding factors that it could use to influence a favourable result in forthcoming elections. In terms of the reception of BLM among the Russian population, knowledge of the movement is limited as well as a general understanding of the social, political, and economic reasoning behind the moment.
