First Black Elected Official Defies Racism In Russia : NPR

First Black Elected Official Defies Racism In Russia : NPR: Life in Russia, in many ways, is much like life in the United States. A day in Moscow feels very much like a day in any American big city. People rush to and from work in cars, or on the bus or subway. After work, it's home to the family, or a stop at the gym.

Still, there are differences. Because the police and justice system are riddled with corruption, there's a feeling that if something happens to you on the street, you have no place to turn.

I was especially worried about two gay friends who came to visit me in Moscow. The city has a history of harassment against openly gay men. And the same goes for blacks.

Even though for decades the Soviet Union recruited African students to come to universities and learn about communism, there are very few black faces in Russia today.

Skinheads are active in the capital and elsewhere, and blacks have been harassed on the street and beaten on trains and the subway.

So, this summer, when I heard that a black man had been elected councilman in Novozavidovo, a small town 60 miles north of Moscow, I knew I had to go meet him.