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Yelena Khanga
The revolution
of virtue
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Yelena Khanga - about the Black Lives Matter movement, everyday racism in the USSR and Russian fear of others
About racism in the USSR
Yelena, tell us about your childhood. How early did you feel attention to yourself because of the skin color? How did you get through this?

I was born in Moscow. As I say about myself, we are “cheremushkinsky”. And I always knew that I was not like the others. Everyone was paying attention to me, saying “Oh, what a baby!” or they asked stupid questions like “Why are you so black when everyone around you is white?” My mother told me how once in Pitsunda she was even offered to sell me. They really wanted such a doll. You still, they say, will have a baby for yourself, goo-goo gaa-gaa daa-daa . But most of all it was annoying when I was stroked on the head. I walked down the street, and everyone I met was trying to ruffle my hair. 

I remember well how I walked with my grandmother – my grandmother is a white woman - and spoke Russian very loudly to her. She speaks to me in English, and I speak to her in Russian. I wanted everyone to hear that I was an ordinary Russian child. Don't be fooled by the color of my skin - I live like everyone else, eat like everyone else, sleep like everyone else, and leave me alone with your absurd questions.

And later, at school were you under pressure?

All offensive things you can shout off behind the back - all this I heard. But only from some other people’s children, not at school. I played tennis, and there is a completely different atmosphere. When you do something professionally, after a while everyone stops seeing your skin color. If you play well, everyone wants to play with you. And if you are cheerful, they want to stay with you in the same hotel room.

In the district where I lived, my friend Sashka and I ourselves staged a terror. We beat up everyone who looked at me obliquely. In one day, Sashka could put together a gang and go to take revenge on my offender. I can still hit a tree with a penknife, and I knew how to handle a bottle very well - I took and made a “broken-off bottle”. And Sashka taught me to fight with fists, I still have a scar on my face after one of these fights, I was a fighting horse. The whole district was kept in fear. And I never went anywhere else – there was no such thing as someone picking me up and kicking me on the street.

«I walked down the street, and everyone I met was trying to ruffle my hair»
«I live like everyone else, eat like everyone else, sleep like everyone else, and leave me alone with your absurd questions»
How was it for your parents? After all, their generation faced the fact that blacks are perceived differently even earlier.

It’s easier now, there are a lot of Afro-Russians, you won’t surprise anyone with that. And in the 60s we could all be easily counted. Everyone knew each other, met on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and some other American holidays. And I don’t remember a single time we talked about this [racism] topic. About anything: school, sports, clothes ... It was not a taboo, it was just that this question was never raised. Now people are proud [of their origin], get together, solve common problems, but then there were so few of us that there could be no talk of any community. Perhaps, it was also explained by the fact that the official policy of our country was internationalism, and everyone should live in peace. All textbooks had photographs of pioneers: a Russian blonde, a boy with a Chinese appearance, and, as a rule, some Cuban. Therefore, even to talk about the fact that someone called you names, was offensive. Well, how was it, if all our posters said that they did not call names!

How has your sense of self changed as you get older?

The question of race arose when I began to look in the mirror and realized that I would never become like my idol - coach Anna Vladimirovna Dmitrieva, a very beautiful woman. Everybody around was white, but I was like this. Mom, to somehow fight my inferiority complex, asked me to bring magazines like Black is Beautiful, Ebony for me from America - they starred black models. She showed me and said: “Look, what beautiful black women! Here you are.” I still thought I was scary. But my mother reinforced this complex of the ugly duckling in me, saying somehow “You are more careful with the boys because they will meet with you only for the sake of one thing - to then say that, well, they tried [a black girl], well, looked, like this. “And it seemed like she said it in passing, but I remember it very well. And when the guys came to me with, perhaps, completely sincere intentions, I did not believe them and said “Yeah, I know what you want from me. You won’t wait!”

After that, you grew up, started building an independent life. Were there any racism problems during that period?

It was not so racism in the USSR, rather it was what the English called “ignorance” – an unawareness, a lack of cultural education, I would say so. I had a boyfriend from Voronezh and one day we went to meet his parents. Everything went very warmly, and in the morning I got out of the shower and saw his mother standing over the bed and looking for something there. She saw me and ran away. I asked: “Yur, what was she doing there?” And he answered so embarrassedly “You see, she has never seen black people. She thought that only the hands were black, and then everything was white, and in general, she wanted to know whether you got the bed dirty or not.” Well, this is not racism. I have never been offended by this. I had problems not because I was a [black] Russian woman, but because my grandparents were from America. Because of this, I was not wanted to hire. It was not a question of skin color, but of accepting me as a foreigner because of the color of my skin. Not many were interested in dad because he was from a friendly African country, but grandparents were Americans. And that’s all. That was the Cold War, that was the enemy, so it was very difficult.

«It was not so racism in the USSR, rather it was what the English called “ignorance” – an unawareness, a lack of cultural education,»
«It is not about skin color, but about culture, the values that have been instilled in you since childhood»
We know that you had an interesting story of meeting your husband. Can you tell us more?

I met my future husband in 1987 in the “Moscow News” newspaper. Then I was assigned an article on racism, and he was invited as a sociologist to conduct a survey among Russians and compare our feelings. We worked on this project together for a long time. The survey was not easy – the first question was “Are you a racist?”, to which everyone answered, “No, we are for the friendship of peoples.” The next question was, would you agree that your neighbors were [people of a different race]? And already 50% said: “Well, I don’t know, somehow not really.” And then there was the question “Would you marry off a daughter for an African?” And then - “Oh, are you crazy!” “Would you give your daughter for an African?” And then - “Oh, are you crazy!”. It turned out that there was racism. We brought this note to the editor-in-chief, Yegor Vladimirovich Yakovlev, I remember that moment very well. I went to him to ask him if the article will be published, and he stood smoking and said: “Len, what the hell did you write that we have racism in the country? I have lived in this country for 60 years, but have never faced racism.” Wonderful!

Have you ever thought about a question like: “How would my fate be if I had a different skin color?”

I never wondered how my fate would have been if I had a different skin color. But we used to think about something else - that we needed to go to a country where we would be just like everyone else. Where no one will reach for your head, will not ask absurd questions – whether I turn white in winter, for example. You will laugh, but I am really white - because I sunbathe in the summer, and in the winter I am the color I am. A set of these clichés was very nerve-racking. We thought that we should go to a place where the guys are the same color as you, and they understand your beauty. These dreams did not end well. Many people went to Africa and fled from there, because, as we now understand, it is not about skin color, but about culture, the values that have been instilled in you since childhood. And just the fact that you are of the same race does not mean anything. It's like saying that Australians and Russians are the same just because they are white. Even to find something in common between the Russian and the French, it is necessary to try very hard. And Russia and Africa are completely two different worlds. There were even stories when the [immigrants from the USSR] got married, and these marriages ended in litigation with children who were not released from Africa, and so on. In general, this myth that it is necessary to create a family according to the principle of the color of skin was destroyed.

«She urged Russian girls during the Sochi Olympics not to date black people, because they then give birth to black children who “no one needs”»
About xenophobia in Russia
You say that nowadays you won't surprise anyone with Afro-Russians, and this is true. But at the same time, racism has not gone away, do you agree?

I will tell you a story. There lives a woman in our place, who is responsible for the motherhood in some department of women’s health. She urged Russian girls during the Sochi Olympics not to date black people, because they then give birth to black children who “no one needs”. I stated the official position in my own words: “Black children who no one needs.” Can you imagine that in some countries the official says this and after remains in his place? Maybe he or she can say so, but at the same time, the chances that someone will vote for that person later are [negligible].

Do such moments concern you personally?

I’ve been still asked questions like, “Do you think you were offered a job in television because you are black? That is why you’ve been noticed?" And it was today - on Russia Today. It is clear if I was asked this question 20 years ago. I was unique in that sense then, yes. I even admit the idea that maybe this has attracted the attention of Parfenov or someone else. But you know, if you do not cope with your work , you’ll be kicked out after the first, second, fifth broadcast. And now there are a lot of Afro-Russians. There are Zaitsev, Siyatvinda, and athletes - wonderful guys. Why do they take them to the football or basketball team? Is it because they are dark or because they are good at throwing balls?

«Do you think you were offered a job in television because you are black? That is why you’ve been noticed?»
«We are very intolerant of others - those who pray differently, look differently, speak a different language»
About Black Lives Matter
What do you think about recent events in the USA and the reaction to it in our country?

Surprisingly, if you look at the comments [about events in the USA] both in the press and on social networks, it seems that we have more intolerance than in America. This is what is striking. This is not our story, but we’re so worried, so involved. We shout like this: “And we would have killed them all! What is it! Yes, they are generally insolent!” Guys, this is not your story. I think we are projecting how we would [behave in this situation]. We have our own fears here, they are not interracial, but, let’s say, interethnic. Our intolerance towards representatives of other nationalities is well-known. I am not talking about anecdotes. You are in the company, and people allow themselves all kinds of statements about the representatives of our former southern republics. And we do not even consider that it is necessary to restrain a person. For example, I will not speak, I will get up and leave quietly, I will not give a slap in the face. But others will not respond at all. I think that what happens in America, we project on ourselves – on our fear. Fear of others. We are very intolerant of others - those who pray differently, look differently, speak a different language.

In general, how do you explain to yourself the reasons why things happen?

I think there are several reasons why this happened. First, there is no doubt that this is about police violence. Secondly, without a doubt, we are talking about the protection of civil rights, and of course, a lot is being done in America for this, to be sure. And the president was African American. But that doesn’t change the fact that there is social inequality. There are whole neighborhoods that are run down, where the guys are all African Americans or Latin Americans. Since these are poor districts, there are bad schools, because of bad schools, you can’t go to a good University, if you can’t go to a good University, you work in wretched jobs, you’re in poverty, it’s a vicious circle. And there are a lot of such places. You can’t say that all places are like that. At any university - Harvard, Yale, Columbia - there are always exclusive guys, the smartest. There are scholarships for African Americans, a lot is being done, but it is not enough. Unfortunately, the current president indulged in so many vile manifestations, which did not exist before him. In my opinion, it actually divided the country. And the last reason is, of course, the quarantine. If there wasn’t a quarantine, it wouldn’t have happened. Because people were sitting and sitting, and this spring was spinning and spinning, unemployment soared at times. And this whole negative energy gave such a result.

Well, but what is the point of such a reaction, in your opinion?

I look with enthusiasm and slight envy at these peaceful ones - I emphasize! - peaceful demonstrations that bring together people of different skin colors. Different. In our country, they always say "these are blacks." If you look, there only 5% of the population are black people, and people of different skin colors take to the streets. And England, France, Germany, Greece, and even Japan joined this movement. This is some kind of revolution of virtue. In the sense that it is interracial and the result of this will be a change in laws, I hope. Especially those regarding police impunity.

Yes, of course, looters, anarchists, and other marginals tried to intercept the agenda, it is clear. And they went out at night, and burned, and broke, and trampled, and all that stuff, and it’s terrible. But I will say it is going to pass. Insurance will be paid to all owners of shops, houses, cars - all that is damaged (again, this does not negate the fact that this is a disgrace). In the end, the laws will be changed - on the one hand, and on the other hand - people felt such unity, such a union, which they have not experienced for a long time. And this is a very positive phenomenon.

What is your attitude to the fact that many criticize the emerging cult of George Floyd, whose past, as it turned out, is connected with crime?

Regarding Floyd and his criminal past. My statement is very simple. We all remember the Nuremberg trials. There were perfect monsters, and yet, they had judges and lawyers. I would say even Chikatilo had a lawyer. Everyone has the right to a lawyer and defense. If convicted, they can imprison a person and in some countries even shoot. But they cannot just strangle him in the middle of the street for no reason. He is a person who does not actually resist. Therefore, it is not that he was made an idol. No one specifically worships him, they worship a movement that prohibits doing this, regardless of whether you are a recidivist, a criminal, or a musician. The fact that someone intercepted the agenda, who wants to cash in on this situation, is the next issue. And the first issue is that you can’t kill a person just like that.

«I look with enthusiasm and slight envy at these peaceful ones - I emphasize! - peaceful demonstrations that bring together people of different skin colors»
«In the end, the laws will be changed - on the one hand, and on the other hand - people felt such unity, such a union, which they have not experienced for a long time. And this is a very positive phenomenon»
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