I hate to be the depressing voice here, but I am 90% sure it was racism. As a white woman, so it has not been directed at me, I saw rampant racism all over Europe quite recently. Most blacks in Europe are African and the despicable things I heard directed toward them, sometimes to their faces, based on their race and assumed ethnicity made me ill. Sad to say, but racism is alive and well all over the globe (and I include the US in that sad evaluation, too)

You were probably charged a higher cover:

1) Because you're not in the 18-30 demographic of people that usually try to get into clubs. As such, they may have charged you more;

2) Becuase they figured you were an American Tourist and you could afford the $20.00 entrance fee;

and possibly because of racism. But I'd be more inclined towards 1 or 2. If it was Miami, they would have told you that you needed to buy a bottle to the tune of $500.00, and you either could have paid the extortion, or gone to Automatic Slim's like everyone else when they get the "Bottle or nothin'" line.

Yeah, I'm betting it was the american-tourist charge. Not just because he figured you could afford it - he probably thought you'd be so clueless, you wouldn't have noticed how much the people in front of you were paying.

Could be racism, but maybe it was because you think of Riga as a provincial city too far north for most Russians, when it is approximately the same latitude as Moscow and well south of St. Petersburg and hardly provincial at all.

But, most likely, it was racism or you were pegged as an American and thus charged higher. I would hope the latter, but fear it was the former.

I bet they tried to overcharge you because they could tell you were a tourist. This happened to my husband and I in Italy. We were occasionally charged higher prices than locals were for meals and snacks. I'm so glad you spoke up in Russian! Maybe he'll think twice about doing that in the future...

I do not necessarily think it was racism as much as it was that it was easy to tell that you are not native-Latvian. I know from my having lived in Holland that I was treated much differently once I became fluent in Dutch; I have almost been turned away when I was overheard speaking English with my American friends. On top of that, I have attempted to gain entrance to an exclusive club in Amsterdam with two of my male friends. We were told it was a "private party," which did not hold two hours later when we came with three women we met at a bar. In this case, we were let right in.

In London once, with a New Zealander and a local Londoner, we all approached the bouncer separately to inquire about cover. It was £15 if you had an American accent, £12 with a Kiwi accent, and £8 for locals. Go figure.

Unfortunately, there's no way to ever know. When I traveled throughout Eastern Europe in the early 90's (less than five years after the fall of the Iron Curtain) I was routinely charged more for goods and (particularly) services. And there was no subterfuge - I was American and I could afford to pay more, so why wouldn't they charge me more, was the attitude.

Your bouncer may have been following club policy regarding anyone who looked rich and/or Western and/or (unfortunately) black, or it may have been the bouncer himself who tried to make a little money on the side with naive looking people who looked rich and/or Western and/or black.

Amsterdam: We fit the 18-30 demographic, were dressed well (no sneakers or jeans), but were American. We approached the club in two separate groups. The bouncer found something wrong with the attire of one person in both groups. We were turned away, and happily regrouped and went elsewhere. There are rumors about The Vegas Lounge on P Street NW in DC that, 'in the old days' if you showed up white you got charged more. It happens everywhere. Move to the next club, enjoy your time elsewhere.

All of these "bouncer turnaways" are racist, classist, and counter to any and every American law on the books regarding equal treatment, equal access, and equal accomodation.

Any and every velvet-rope club needs to be sued by every trial lawyer in every state in the Union.

There is anti-black racism all over the world. There is also charge-American-tourists-morism all over the world. Speaking the language probably got you the local price not because you caught the doorman doing anything wrong, but because you showed respect for their culture. He assumed you were an academic doing research, or a foreign journalist on location.

Some European bars, clubs, hotels, and restaurants discriminate against American soldiers, based on their "high and tight" haircuts, no matter their race, civilian clothing styles, or linguistics.

Any European doorman could tell the difference in accent between an African and a black American, whether they were speaking English, French, or Russian. However, since so many American tourists are from our Northeast, Southerners get mistaken for English and/or Canadians. When my wife asked for tea in a restaurant, it almost always came with milk, instead of lemon.

My answer would be- don't sweat about the race. I 99% sure that my 35 year old, balding , gap wearing , American white male would have been quoted the $20 as well (assuming I was even given the option of getting in). Trying to get into a guy as a single, or with a bunch of guys is always a crapshoot in a hot club. They don't want the women to have outnumbered too much and have a terrible time. Being ripped off in Eastern Eurpean countries is part of the experience. Dont get me started on Greece !

oops --
* Trying to get into a CLUB as a single, or with a bunch of guys is always a crapshoot in a hot club.

Wait, are you serious? OK I'll spell it out for you.

1. You're in the most corrupt part of the world - Russia and the former soviet states don't know how to stop bribing, asking for bribes, faith healing, or swindling. The russian mafia does Putin's dirtywork, ok?

2. You're in line at a nightclub.

3. Your dealing with a doorman who likely makes less than the kid at your corner McDonalds.

4. He tried to snake the older square American guy (You DO know you're clearly identifiable as an American by anyone outside the US... right?) and you caught him at it. Then you got in.

You could be white with purple eyes and it still would have happened. The only way it wouldn't happen is if you didn't look like a square American. No, make that "if you looked 20 yrs old"

This is a perfect example of the different perceptions of travelers. I for one would never stand in line to pay anyone to get into a club, it's just silly to me. I would have much more fun in the town square or a regualar restaurant than a place that pretends to be "hip".

I spend about 2 weeks a month in Eastern Europe, all former Soviet locations. Throughout each of these countries there exists a locals price and a tourists price, typically aimed at Americans. I have been in more cabs than I can count where the meter rate doubles or triples during the ride when I get in. The majority of the pricing structure is to support the second economy from people who they think have extra money.

I travel to Russia a lot, and they do tend to use two different prices for foreginers and locals. Often the foreigner price is much higher. At museums these prices are listed where you buy tickets. At a club it is less obvious. But that part of the world is unfortunatly. also very racist, so I wouldn't doubt that either.

I am Asian American and I get the same treatment in the former Soviet Union. It's a common practice in those countries to charge foreigners and tourists much higher prices.

It's interesting that people in the former Soviet Union always think I am "Chinese", just like people in South America always think I am a "Chino". Sometimes I show my American passport to buy tickets, and they charge me higher prices than local people pay for the same ticket.