With the idea of socialism becoming the official ideology of a state in the early 20th century, international relations and the global balance of power were completely altered. This was the most significant outcome of the immense Russian territories, stretching from Europe to Japan, succumbing to the Bolshevik Revolution amidst the chaos of World War I. In contrast to the West, which was experiencing a particularly brutal form of capitalism, a Socialist-Communist Eastern bloc rose, its beautiful words and promises concealing a foundation of lies.
One of the cornerstones of this Socialist-Communist East was propaganda. The Soviet Union diligently focused on this to establish and inevitably spread the Marxist-Leninist doctrine, and to find new allies. To strengthen its efforts, it seized every opportunity that arose. One such opportunity was the treatment of Black people, especially in the United States. A century after the abolition of slavery, the discrimination faced by people of a different skin color was exactly what the Soviets were looking for. The perception they wanted to pump out was simple yet impactful: "The capitalist world treats people based on their color. If you're Black, you're a second-class citizen... Socialism is great, come join us!"
Soviet Russia's approach to Black people and its use of them for propaganda began right after the revolution. Posters and flyers prominently featuring Black people were already seen in the 1920s. A useful anecdote to illustrate the propaganda clash between the Soviets and the U.S. is the following: when Americans tried to draw attention to human rights issues in the USSR in response to increasing Soviet propaganda, the Russians would reply, "And you are lynching Negroes!" This phrase was widely used, especially during the Stalin era.
Beyond American Black elites being influenced by Soviet propaganda, the Communist Party USA, founded in Chicago in 1919, became a sanctuary for African Americans. This was because the party took bold steps to protect the rights of Black workers, even though there were almost no Black members in the organization at its founding. Otto Huiswoud and Claude McKay, two of the most influential African American figures of the time, immediately went to Moscow for the 4th World Congress of the Communist International after the Bolshevik Revolution and stated they were deeply impressed by their visit. Even before this congress, the Bolshevik regime had allocated a budget of $300,000 for propaganda targeting Black people who were oppressed, particularly under the Jim Crow Laws.
The Great Depression, which hit the U.S. in 1929, was another opportunity for the Russians. The Soviet government invited Black people, who were even more oppressed in the economically struggling U.S., to live and work in their country. It is known that only a few hundred Black people accepted this invitation. Around the same time, Black artists were invited from the U.S. for a film project about racism and xenophobia. The film, titled “Black and White” (Chernoe i Beloe), was never completed despite great hopes. The famous poet Langston Hughes, a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance, was part of this project. In the later years of the Cold War, the Soviets continued to use every racist incident in America as a pretext for propaganda. One of the most notable was the long debated "Scottsboro Boys" case in 1931, involving nine Black boys who were sentenced to death after being falsely accused of raping two white women on a train.
After the initial Soviet campaign, a new wave of propaganda targeting Black people gained momentum in the late 1950s. This was the time when Western countries, which had been exploiting Africa's resources, were being expelled one by one. Under Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet Union saw this as another avenue for gain. In addition to providing arms to rebellious regions, young Africans were invited to Russia for education to experience socialism firsthand. Countries like Namibia, Congo, Angola, Algeria, Mozambique, and Egypt stood out in these relationships, and the young people who studied in Moscow later took on influential roles in their governments.
To strengthen and consolidate relations with Third World countries, the Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University of Russia was founded in Moscow in 1960. The university was originally named Peoples' Friendship University, but after Patrice Lumumba, a leader in the struggle for Congo's independence from Belgium, was assassinated in early 1961, it was renamed in his honor. The university's purpose was clear: to train young Africans in socialist ideology and place them in various leadership positions within their own countries during the height of the Cold War. Given that many high-ranking politicians from Africa and even Central America—including former presidents of the Central African Republic and Namibia—graduated from here, this objective was at least partially achieved. (The famously erratic Fidel Castro directly sent 300,000 soldiers to aid Africa, but that's a different matter.) The current President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, also studied at this university.
However, the lifespan of socialism was not long, and its battery ran out after 70 years. With its collapse, it became clear that the Russians were not truly fond of Black people and that their actions had been a forced state policy. Xenophobic attacks in Russia have increased since the 1990s, and research indicates they are on the rise in recent years. While a primary reason is the general increase in refugee flows, xenophobia has always been common among Russians. The Western sanctions have also clearly fueled nationalism. In this context, many Black students studying in various Russian cities report being careful to avoid isolated areas after dark. This suggests that the propaganda the Soviet government carried out was merely a facade and failed to find a deep-rooted acceptance among the general population.
