Being Black in Russia

Emilia Tynes-Mensah grew up doing what other Soviet children did: she read the classics of Alexander Pushkin, listened to the symphonies of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and was fed the propaganda that life in the USSR was better than anywhere else. Inside her home, however, the atmosphere was different. There, she listened to American jazz, celebrated Thanksgiving, and heard stories of the racial struggles in America. Her father was among hundreds of Black Americans who traveled to the Soviet Union in the decades following the 1917 Russian Revolution. “My father didn’t know anything about this country; he didn’t know what to expect,” Tynes-Mensah recalled. She noted that music was a vital link to their roots: “Everybody who came to the Soviet Union from America would be told, ‘Please don’t forget to bring some records.’ He loved Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, and Paul Robeson.”

Most African Americans who moved to Russia seeking a better life—desperate to flee the hardships of Jim Crow-era America—were skilled professionals and laborers. The group included engineers, educators, entertainers, journalists, and lawyers. Figures like actor-activist Paul Robeson and poet Langston Hughes were among the travelers captivated by the communist promise. In an effort to showcase their system, the Soviets gave African Americans the "red-carpet treatment," including high paychecks, subsidized housing, and free vacations. For many who settled there, the experience was overwhelmingly positive. In turn, these immigrants made valuable contributions to Soviet society. “They had an impact disproportionate to their numbers,” Tynes-Mensah explained, “because the Soviet leadership was trying to use them as a symbol of the society they were trying to build.”

However, that era of specialized attention eventually faded. Today, the acceptance of Black people in Russia is significantly lower than what those pioneers experienced. The presence of Black Russians—often described as “Afro-Russians”—serves as a living reminder of a time when race was viewed through a more neutral lens. Yet, modern Russia now struggles with a reputation for racial tension that mirrors the very country those early settlers fled.