Russian "Obama"

For the some 100,000 African immigrants in Russia, racism is part of daily life and, unlike in the US and many parts of Europe, there has never been a politician with black skin in the country – until now. Joakim Crima, who was born in Guinea-Bissau and now lives near the city of Volgograd in the country's southwest, will be taking part in the upcoming regional elections on October 11.

Crima came to Russia 20 years ago as a university student. Since that time he has gotten a Russian passport, and made his home in a poor provincial region in the southwest of Russia where most people have neither access to gas supply lines nor to water pipes.

Dissatisfaction with local politics there is is high.

A couple of months ago a political spin doctor associated with the local branch of the Kremlin-backed party United Russia got to know Crima, and decided to prop him up as an independent candidate. His mission: turn him into a "Russian Obama."

Crima was all for the idea, despite the fact that he knew Moscow was hoping that a black candidate running as an independent would attract protest votes for them.

The evolution of acceptance

The sellers hawking their wares at the vegetable market of the tiny town of Srednaya Ahtuba welcome Joakim Crima warmly. "Our new governor," one man greets him; others ask him about the progress of his election campaign.

The market on the side of the road feels like home for the 37-year-old man. He is the owner of one of the stands here, where his Armenian wife sells watermelons and onions.

But it wasn't always this way. Crima said that when he moved here, he noticed that people were crossing to the other side of the road once they saw him, which he took as a clear sign that they wanted to get away from him.

"Then I had an idea," he said. "I started going up to people and told them them not to be afraid of me; I am a good guy. And so people here slowly got used to me. And these days many people are crossing the road to my side only to say hello to me.

So despite starting out as merely someone to scare people into voting for the establishment, Crima has become a genuine candidate. His opinion poll ratings are going up, according to Andrey Serenko, a political journalist from Volgograd.

Serenko said that unlike the other candidates, who arrive in fancy cars when they come campaigning and then leave again, Crima is one of the regular people.

A solution for the solution

Crima's popularity is also increasing because part of his election strategy is to praise Russian Premier Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin-backed party “United Russia”. All this is giving the political establishment of the region – including those who helped to create Crima as a political phenomenon – even more reason to worry.

Now suddenly, a second dark-skinned candidate appeared on the scene – more than likely on orders from Moscow. The 34-year-old architect Fillip Kondratvev from Volgograd has a Russian mother and a father from Ghana and is heavily criticizing Crima for not being a real Russian.

According to Serenko, Kondratvev is merely there for damage control; a "new missile that is supposed to harm the first missile."

"He is supposed to knock out Joakim Crima. All these actions taken here show one thing: The people in power have gotten quite a fright from Crima.”

Joakim Crima himself is, so far, quite indifferent to all this. However, he is interested in pursuing a political career, maybe even in Moscow. And whatever the outcome of the elections in October, the widely reported candidacy of Joakim Crima might have helped open the way for dark-skinned people into Russian politics in the future.

Mareike Aden (mrm)
Editor: Jennifer Abramsohn