It is typical for Moscow to see black guy speaking Russian. This is one of them near my office
Sure it's cool, we have many students in the country including black students. However, you do need to be carful, there are some crazy racist ppl of the new generation running around but they're usually kids and bother other Russian kids, for some strange reasons like wide pants lol and most likely would avoid an adult, no matter what color. If you go to Moscow you should be safe :), the smaller cities are usually the worst.
Russian was and still is considered "English of the East" (meaning the USSR and some post Eastern Bloc countries). Seeing/hearing Russian speaking non-Europeans esp students (Africans, Far Eastern Asians, Indians, South/Latin Americans etc) is just as customary as hearing English-speaking students in the West (not only English speaking countries but also Germany, Scandinavia etc).
What racism in Russia are you talking about? Eastern Europe (and often included in this group Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia etc) has/have never been involved in African slave trade, there was no segregation, exploitation or colonization of foreign lands. So-called "neo-nazi" you see on youtube and whatnot is a distorted and overhyped (by jWestern media) phenomenon. The guys don't beat everyone indiscriminately and definitely not because of someone's skin colour. A few stories I personally know (in St Pete) were actually about beating a rapist, murdering a drug dealer and drug courier (daughter of the dealer); all criminals were from Central Asian -stans. jWerstern media portrayed the latter as a race-based crime, which as you probably understand, is just a heinous lie to make Russia look bad, look worse than the West where true racism in encountered on a regular basis.
There are some jokes, notions etc in post-Soviet world that can be perceived as racist, but they're not charged with any negative/prejudiced connotation as their analogies in English. Their history is different. So when/if you hear a word similar to the English n word you better find out its connotation, origin etc It came to our language much earlier than Westies (of both races) turned it into a "politically incorrect" insult.
There are some culturally grounded perceptions, terms and so on, that can easily be misinterpreted and which sneaky media uses and distorts to slander Russia.
There are hollywood-imposed stereotypes etc some young Russians can parrot without thinking.
No need to perceive everything as "black & white". World is much more complex than that.
I have a Russian friend Who is always talking to me about This black American friend of his. He says he speaks perfect Russian.
A lot of blacks speak Russian. Lots of blacks live in Russia and have for centuries a few are very important. Study up....
Every African i ever met in Moscow (and fewer in SPB) spoke Russian, English and his native tongue, often French. (Belgium and France had a lot of colonies on the African continent). If you came to me and spoke Russian, i'd think that you were a medical student (or if you were older, a doctor). as many Africans come to Moscow to study medicine. You must be American, as Americans are the most "suspicious" and paranoid nation on earth.
I met a black guy who spoke fluent Russian. It's a difficult language. I say more power to anyone who manages to learn it, no matter colour their skin is.
It's depend what part of Russia that you are living.
foreigners tend appear more interesting where there is not a lot of foreigners there.
nothing. Surprisingly, we are not animals or Martians or who ever else you were told.
"would you think it's cool or be suspicious. " - I would think he is student from Africa (and he would be in 99% of cases). Nothing else.
Yeah..problem is money like everywhere and internet.
