An African-born farmer is making an improbable run for office in Russia, inspired by President Barack Obama and undaunted by racial attitudes that have changed little in decades.
Source: Gulf News
- Joaquim Crima, a 37-year-old native of Guinea Bissau who settled in southern Russia after earning a degree at a local university, is promising to battle corruption and bring development to his district on the Volga River. In Russia, a black man running for office is so unusual that Crima is being called "the Russian Obama."
- "I like Obama as a person and as a politician because he proved to the world what everyone thought was impossible. I think I can learn some things from him," Crima said, sitting on his shady verandah in this town of 11,000, where he lives with his wife Anait, their 10-year-old son and an extended clan of ethnic Armenian relatives.
- In truth, Crima's quest to become head of the Srednyaya Akhtuba district is highly unlikely, not least because he lacks the political capital and connections to make it happen. He faces the reality of being a black man in Russia, a country where racism and racial stereotypes are deeply ingrained.
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