Thread by @OPolianichev

One of the most resonant initiatives announced on the hills of the recent Russia-Africa Summit was the the construction of 30 settlements for African settlers across Russia. A closer look at the project, however, reveals its fundamental preoccupation with race and whiteness.🧵

Earlier in August, the village of Porech'e in the Tver province saw an unusual ceremony. Local authorities and some high-ranking African diplomats laid the cornerstone of what is meant to become "Afrovillage" – the first exclusively African settlement in Russia. 2/

Initiated by the African International Congress and its co-chair Konstantin Klimenko, the head of the Eurasian International University, the project was approved by Putin. The regional administration explains that the purpose is "to increase Russia's influence in Africa." 3/

If successful, the program will then expand beyond the Tver region. 3000 African settler families will establish at least 30 "African colonies" in different parts of the country. All this, as the source above claims, is being done in contrast to Western "colonial" policies. 4/

There's a nuance, however. Only white-skinned settlers will be able to move into their new homes in the "Afrovillage." As Klimenko explains, all incomers will be descendants of European settlers in South Africa. As his page on VKontakte reveals, "whiteness" is indeed the key. 5/

In his brief summary of the South African history, Klimenko explains that descendants of English, German, and French settlers who went to conquer Africa centuries ago do not feel comfortable these days because "times have changed" (one may assume, since the end of Apartheid). 6/

"Everything has become tolerant," he says with tongue in cheek. "And it is not comfortable, sometimes even dangerous, for the Boers to live with their neighbors." The "Afrovillage" initiative intends to save the Europeans from the Black population. 7/

They are skilled farmers and sharpshooters, Klimenko argues. He says, jokingly, that these settlers would be a good fit for his own private military company. No longer joking, he adds that they could be trained as a student militia in the fight club "White Patriot." 8/

As the head of the right-wing group "Rusichi" with the motto "Rusichi, it's time to unite! Together we are a mighty force!" he seems to mean it. 9/

What Klimenko doesn't tolerate is migrants who are, according to the Russian parlance, non-white. This is why he is quick to reassure his subscriber, anxious about the arrival of "tens of thousands of Africans in the Russian land," that they are actually Europeans. 10/

What bothers Klimenko himself is "50,000 of Tajiks who are becoming Russian citizens each year."

Behind the "Afrovillage" project is a heinous mix of racialist prejudices espoused by the person who spearheaded it. A Russia-style "anti-colonialism" indeed. end/