Black Man Elected In Russia

From Yahoo News:
"A Russian milestone: 1st black elected to office"

I am surprised that a black man was elected in Russia. No matter what the officials say Russia is very racist. The USSR was very racist too - although Communist propaganda tried to hide that fact. A Soviet Internal Passport had a person's nationality on line 5 (ie Russian, Uzbek, Jewish, etc) and that helped officials discriminate against non-Russians. The Russian Internal Passport no longer has a line 5 (since all of them are supposed to be Russian citizens.)I have seen the raise of Neo-Nazis in Russia and have seen news reports on foreigners - especially blacks and Asians - being beaten and killed. The fact that a town in Russia elected the first black official shows some change. I don't think racism will go away in Russia anytime soon. The country still has many internal problems that need to be addressed before people stop taking out their anger on foreigners. I should say that I never experienced any racism or anti-foreigner abuse. Of course I am white and from the West. In fact my time in Russia (especially in Yaroslavl) made me very popular among Russians. Strangers would even stop me in the street and invite me to their home so their relatives could meet me. When they saw I spoke Russian - although with a thick accent - they became even more friendly. I never went to their homes, but my experiences over there made me a mini-star. What a culture shock it was when I came back to the US and no one cared anymore.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100725/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_black_politician