racism against indigenous communities of the Caucasus as the core principle of CIS politics: erasure and, once again, WHY you should stop using the word “caucasian” in discussions about whiteness
tw // rape, war crimes, genocide, racism, death

a nice start to this discussion would be my first thread that provides basic background information about the oppression that caucasus peoples face in predominantly white regions: ethnic cleansings, genocides, wars and colonizational practices https://twitter.com/intrictae/status/1281691730417463297

an introduction to the caucasus location-wise. the region is situated between the middle east and central asia and is often erased from conversations due to the fact that 50% of it has been colonized by russia while the other 50% still suffers from past russification

most local interethnic conflicts have soviet and imperial policies as their root: viewed as “savages”, indigenous communities fell victim to the “divide and rule” principle which resulted in many ethnicities being grouped together bc of historically tense relationships

oppression against indigenous caucasians always has racist rationale bc our ethnic features and culture is viewed as neanderthal, cavemen, “monkey-like” bc we’re visibly “darker” than slavs and others and have a bone structure that differs even from canonically middle eastern one

there were events that triggered even more hostility towards caucasians and i’ll try to cover them in detail regardless of how triggering they are to many including me. i’ll mostly focus on north caucasian ones bc i know abt them first hand, but my transcaucasian oomfs can add

the one that had the biggest impact on me and many others were chechen wars. families had to escape the wars and live in poverty wherever they moved, but the general hostility towards caucasians didn’t help either. people were (and still are) denied housing bc of their background

trying to find an apartment for rent was hell bc ppl would straight up ask you whether you were of “slav appearance” and hang up if you said u were from the caucasus. those remarks, see below, are still popular in ads for cheaper and accessible housing

tw // rape , murder
budanov was released on parole after 9 years in prison for murder and rape of a teenager... the man who killed budanov got 15, FIFTEEN years in prison.
still, budanov is supported by many just because the girl he raped and murdered was chechen — see pics 3&4

another wave of racism started in 2010 after the murder of egor sviridov, a football fan, in moscow. the ones who killed him happened to be north caucasian, which was enough for mass riots to start — ultrantionalist football fans demanded another ethnic cleansing.

during that time almost everyone “caucasian-looking” was advised to stay at home because rioters attacked and assaulted everyone who seemed north caucasian. my own family didn’t let me leave the house with my elder sister because of white supremacist skinheads

i don’t know how many times i have to say that the use of “caucasian” as a substitute for white is extremely harmful for people to understand this concept bc every time i tweet abt this everyone but 7 mutuals pretend i do not exist and pay zero attention

i always talk about scientific reasoning for dropping the word in relation to whiteness, but this time i really ask you to consider the feelings of me, an indigenous caucasian, who seeks comfort in english-speaking media to get away from racism in CIS but faces complete erasure

from time to time i’ll update this thread with more information bc i meet new people who are ready to help out with providing accurate info abt the experiences of their ethnicity

the genocide of circassians affects the livelihood of the community to this very day, from being denied the historical autonomy on their territories to losing their culture and language in ME diaspora due to integrational policies and little recognition of their past and present https://twitter.com/cerkesdernegi/status/1262759104985968645