‘The Great’ Debate About Black Russians
Was colorblind casting the right choice for the show?
In the third episode of Hulu’s satirical dramedy ‘The Great’ we’re shown an unusual statue of Peter the Great. As a nod to popular stereotypes, the first Russian Emperor is depicted triumphantly riding a bear. The reveal is, unfortunately, slightly ruined by the misspelled Cyrillic inscription adorning the otherwise impressive monument.
But it’s not mistakes like this that draw the ire of many Russian viewers. Nor is it the show’s deliberately fictionalized take on history. More often than not you’ll stumble upon someone arguing that “there were no Black people in Imperial Russia”.
‘The Great’ is a prime example of colorblind casting — a merit-based practice that allows actors to tackle any role, regardless of race. As a result, the miniseries boasts a much more diverse cast of characters than HBO’s ‘Catherine the Great’ or Russia’s own recent adaptations: Channel One’s ‘Catherine the Great’ and Russia-1’s ‘Ekaterina’. But while fans will site the latter two as the more historically accurate series, these shows, ironically, suffer from the exact opposite problem ‘The Great’ is often accused of. They’re too white.
Now, it’s true that the vast majority of 18th century Russians could go through life never encountering a single person of African descent. But things were quite different when it came to the Imperial court. Back then anyone with dark skin was referred to as an ‘Arap’, as well as ‘Arab’, no doubt due to the initial incorrect assumption that all Black people were Moors. At the same time, “arap” became the official title of one of the Imperial Court’s many positions.
Araps usually shared responsibilities with regular footmen: admitting visitors, waiting at table, and accompanying carriages, to name a few. But unlike most servants, they were meant to stand out while performing their duties. The job came with a hefty salary that was meant to attract foreigners to the country. Something that worked too well, considering the documented incidents of white Europeans trying to apply for the position while wearing blackface.
Of course, these incidents are hardly surprising, considering the implicit racism behind the existence of such a position in the first place. Despite many araps forming close interpersonal relationships with other members of the court and having successful careers outside the palace walls, the general public saw them as little more than extravagant curiosities, no different from the elephants and other novelties that could only be afforded by the Imperial Family.
This blatant exoticism heavily contributed to the ‘othering’ of Black Russians throughout history. Oftentimes second or third-generation araps were still treated as foreigners when many of them have never even set foot outside of Saint Petersburg. At the same time, araps were encouraged to settle down in Russia, raising their children in the palace, so that the kids could take over their parents’ responsibilities in the future.
According to historian Igor Zimin, the court of Catherine the Great employed up to 20 araps at a time. That number doesn’t account for the men’s wives and relatives, who often found themselves actively participating in the palace life as courtiers. American author Nancy Gardner Prince, whose husband, Nero Prince, worked as an arap for both Alexander I and Nicholas I, described starting a baby clothing business with direct support from Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Since Mrs. Prince hadn’t framed that patronage as something unusual or unheard of, we can assume similar relationships existing prior to her time in Saint Petersburg.
But while araps have been part of the Imperial Court for hundreds of years, if you mention that title to anyone in Russia, the first person they’ll name will probably be Abram Gannibal. Although he had many accomplishments to his name, he’s mostly remembered thanks to his great-grandson Alexander Pushkin. Russia’s most influential writer and poet wasn’t shy about his heritage, and at one point started working on a sadly unfinished historical novel about his ancestor titled ‘The Arap of Peter the Great’. And that’s where the confusion comes from. Gannibal never held this position at court. The word is simply used to indicate his race.
Beninese historian Dieudonné Gnammankou was able to establish that Abram and his brother were most likely born in an area that nowadays is part of Cameroon. The children were kidnapped by the Ottoman Turks and brought to Constantinople, only to be later gifted to the Russian Czar. Peter the Great, however, immediately took a liking to the boys. Instead of sending them to the servant quarters, he took them under his wing, becoming their godfather. Abram ended up getting his education in France, where he studied military engineering and even fought in the War of the Quadruple Alliance. Upon his return to Russia, he was put in charge of tutoring the Tsar’s private guard units in engineering and mathematics.
But Gannibal’s story didn’t end with the death of Peter the Great. Although he temporarily fell out of favor with some of Russia’s most influential families after the Emperor perished and thus was exiled to Siberia, he was invited back to Saint Petersburg by Empress Elizabeth and quickly became a prominent member of her court.
During Catherine the Great’s rise to power, an elderly Gannibal had already settled down in his estate in Pskov Oblast. Nevertheless, the young Empress occasionally wrote him letters, asking about his time with Peter the Great. She also entrusted him with various tasks. For example, Gannibal became the first person in Russia to grow potatoes on his estate. But when it came to court appearances, Catherine was most likely more used to seeing Abram’s heirs. He had 11 children, though only seven reached adulthood. His eldest son, Ivan, became a prominent military leader, reaching the rank of Général en Chef while serving in the famous Imperial Black Sea Fleet. Under Catherine’s orders, he also took part in the founding of the city of Kherson, which is now part of Ukraine.
All of this brings us back to Hulu’s ‘The Great’. To be fair, it’s hard to criticize the miniseries for ignoring existing historical figures, when most of its cast, with the exception of the Imperial family, are original characters. It also gave us the delightful Abraham Popoola as Count Rostov and the charming Bayo Gbadamosi as Peter’s confidant Arkady — roles that would usually go to white actors by default.
But these Black actors aren’t necessarily playing Black characters. And that makes it easy for viewers to wave off their presence as little more than a creative choice while continuing to ignore the existence of Black Russians throughout the country’s history. It certainly isn’t a comedy show’s responsibility to rectify the mistakes of dozens of previous biopics. But somebody needs to pick up the slack.
