Rassismus ist real. #metwo

Anzeige

Dear readers, we have to talk. This time it’s not about me though, I’d like to talk about our society. About a society I am increasingly worried about.

Mesut Özil’s resignation from the German national football team, purportedly due to racism, has sparked a debate which in my opinion was long overdue. Mesut Özil, a German citizen, born in Gelsenkirchen, found himself confronted with racism. I think we don’t need to establish that comments like “Turkish pig” and “goat-fucker” (the latter term was actually hurled at Özil by an SPD politician) are plain racist. In other words, whoever claims that Özil is just too thin-skinned has clearly not looked into the matter deeply enough.   Bild, the big German boulevard newspaper, has joined the ranks of agitators against the athlete. First the paper attempted to undermine his “German-ness” with the headline “He goes on a pilgrimage to Mecca and loves a Miss Turkey!”, and eventually expatriated him altogether after the World Cup. This quote from a Bild article serves as a case in point: “…good that you took off the jersey with the German eagle, we no longer go together.”   Both (SPD politician) Holzhauer and (Bild chef) Reichelt faced substantial criticism of their comments, but that did not really change much. The sad truth remains: Germany is racist..   As soon as Özil was stripped from his protective coat of being a successful athlete, even he, a highly awarded national player who won the World Cup with Germany, who was born and raised here and has paid millions of Euros in taxes is ostracized and suddenly fair game.   Please don’t misunderstand me: personally, I also think it was a mistake that Özil posed for a picture with Erdogan and never distanced himself from Turkish politics. After all, the athlete is a role model for scores of youngsters, and for that reason alone clear words would have been called for in my opinion. But no mistake justifies discrimination on racist grounds. NONE.   Racism, in all its many more or less obvious forms, is part of our social reality – to the point that even one of our country’s most successful athletes is not exempt from it.

“…so why don’t people accept that I’m German?” Mesut Özil

It is shocking how racism still – or once again – forms part of the daily reality of many people. It has become the norm again. “It’s just the way it is.”   Many accept the subliminal mobbing, the little stabs at work, or even laugh along at inappropriate jokes. We all have a desire to belong, after all, to fit in, not to stick out. It wasn’t so bad, was it? Well, and then suddenly Özil quit the team. The focus fell on a grand stage when the racism festering in the German national team, the nation’s pride and also its sore spot, became visible. WE were world champions, after all.   But Özil’s quitting the team caused more than a public outcry – it started a veritable protest movement. People everywhere started sharing their own experiences with racism using the hashtag #metwo. And all of us should really, really listen. Racism is indeed a virus that has infected our society – and it is spreading.   Let us look at the facts: Die Zeit (a renowned, traditionally liberal weekly newspaper) is openly asking the question whether it would be better to let refugee boats sink in the mediterranean. The openly racist AfD party holds at 12% (a current poll showed as much as 16% for the party – i.e. the support is still growing). Horst Seehofer celebrates 69 deportations on his 69th birthday, and, well, Mesut Özil faces open racism. Is anyone really going to tell me racism is not a big problem in Germany today?   The simple truth is that it is – and if you read through some tweets with the hashtag #metwo there cannot be much doubt. The stories I read affect me. What’s worst for me is to realise at how young an age many people are confronted with racism in their lives.   For many children it starts in school, where they often find themselves helpless targets of racist comments. I would go as far as accusing some teachers of emotional abuse. How incompetent some of the supposed educators in charge can be is beyond me. It is bad enough that children are often so brutal among each other – but how must it feel as a kid when the teacher chips in as well? How are you going to build trust in society when you’re excluded from the earliest developmental stages onwards?   The following tweets are just a few examples of a widely shared experience:

“My German teacher made fun of my for my incorrect usage of German articles and my pronunciation of the letter “r”. I am fluent in 5 languages, and he has not managed to pronounce my four letter name correctly one single time.” @seratonin   “When we were talking about job applications in school, and I told my teacher that I want to study, he told me ‘you’ll be long married by the time'” @navasgeht   “Here in Germany we use our real names and not pseudonyms! Maybe you didn’t know that.” “That’s my real name.” – I was talking to the dean of a uni in Leipzig. @WhoIsYade

“Child in the daycare facility tells my daughter tells her she knows why my daughter has such brown skin. Her father had explained to her that particularly stupid babies are marked out by stewing them in a barrel of coals for a while.” @SoSumbu   I am preparing the seminar room. Student: “Are you almost done with cleaning? We’re about to start a class here.” @SelvetaB   “My brother was the best pupil in class, straight A’s. He gets a B on a test, compares his score with that of another pupil and discovers that he received a worse mark than the other pupil despite having a higher score. The teacher then tells him: ‘If I give you an A, what am I supposed to give the German pupils?” @Livenitup_DE

“My father works as capitain on a cargo ship. Court ruling in the eighties to deport us from Germany states the following reason: ‘the home of a sailor is the sea’ 8no kidding, I still have the document.” @HasnainKazim   “When neo-nazis threaten your mother and the state prosecutor tells her: ‘well, maybe your son should not be so outspoken in public.'” @ShahakShapira   “The emergency physician who refused to treat a family member before having them show him their passport despite acute respiratory distress syndrome.” @julyarabinowich

But not only schools, also the state and the judiciary system seem to fail many Germans instead of protecting them. Reading these comments (there are so many) I was overtaken by shame and anger. What really gets to me is the comment sections under those tweets. People share there experiences, but instead of simply listening, others feel personally offended, insult the posters and deny that there is any racism involved. Instead of offering support or at least an ounce of understanding, they add more humiliation and degradation to the pile. You really start asking yourself: What the hell is wrong with people?   I’d like to say at this point that I think it’s generally wrong to dispute someone’s personal perception of being marginalized. People in Germany that are not affected by racism have no right to define for others what is and what is not racism. Those unaffected are observers. And nope, “Almans” or “potatoes” is not an example for reverse racism here.   Those not affected are privileged to be able to say that aspects like their skin-color play no part in how they are perceived. For those targeted by racism, skin-color, religion and other superficial characteristics play an absolutely crucial part in how they are perceived in every-day life. They are rejected more often when applying for flats, are invited less often to job interviews, and are under much more general and constant pressure to justify themselves. A lot of discrimination happens subliminally, remains unquestioned between the lines.   There also seems to be widespread differentiation among Germans with immigration backgrounds: Asians are better Germans than Africans or Turks. And as far as Swedes and Americans are concerned, well those are not real immigrants after all. Even someone like me, who was not even born in Germany and grew up bi-lingually, but looks European and has a European name, has no problems. Meanwhile Merve, a third-generation German, born and raised in this country, faces discrimination on a daily basis.   It begs the question: What makes a German German? The skin-tone? The ancestry? The mentality? The place of birth? The nationality? The language?   Where does German-ness begin, and where does it end?   Divisions and arbitrary demarcation lines wherever we look. There is only one solution: we need to erase these lines.   It is not enough to wait and hope for the best. In order to break these invisible boundaries we have to step out of our roles as passive observers and become active. Just like our democracy should not be taken for granted, we also need to fight for a tolerant society. It requires courage, energy and spine, and challenges all of us to keep our eyes wide open, to not look away. The first step is to be reflective of ones own behaviors and patterns. The second is to stand up for someone else, to be active instead of passive.   We should all openly ask ourselves where and when we may have acted out some form of racism ourselves. Many people feel hurt and ostracized even when they are asked where they are from “originally”. If someone answers your question with “I’m from Hamburg”, accept it at face value. In a similar vein, not everyone will be open to talk about their experience of feeling excluded. We all need to develop our sensitivity, to look closely at our own behavior as well as that of our friends and families. This can be difficult, and certainly requires courage, but it is a step in the right direction. One of the central issues in this debate is that few people consider themselves racist – but many are without even being fully aware of it. Many do not consider their off-hand remarks to be racist, or withdraw to defending their own “opinions” (which, often enough are emotions rather than arguments).   To reflect for yourself whether such a pattern may apply to yourself, try asking yourself the following: how would I act and what would I say if skin-color, religion and name would not make any difference, if Murat sounded as German to me as Mark, if I’d register the differences in skin tone like I register the differences in eye color (no one is less German because their irises are brown), if I accepted Islam as a religion just as I accept Christianity? If I wipe out these dividing lines in my head – what am I left with? You’re suddenly confronting a human being. Not a label or a category.   I read some highly interesting thoughts HERE, and if you made it to this point in this text I recommend you take the time to check out the following article:   Now, after all that criticism, I also would like to acknowledge how long a way we have already come, how much more tolerant our generation is than the one before us was. It also helps to be aware how many of us are fighting for equal human rights. We are legion. While it often may not seem so in all the bullshit, a sense of courage, altruism and standing up for the other is found in many places and at many points in time. If we manage to bundle these energies, if we manage to work together towards a common goal, I see hope – for us Germans, Europeans, and for us as members of a global society.   Or, to say it with German band Die Ärzte:

“It’s not your fault that the world is as it is. But it’s your fault if it stays that way.”

A postscript: All my friends advised me against publishing this post. For understandable reasons. The main argument runs along the lines that I should not write about racism as someone who is not affected. They are right in that respect. But does it really help a society if its members always keep quiet for fear of rubbing someone up the wrong way? I am aware that some readers may disagree with me on the points outlined above, others may reject my perspective altogether. Maybe some readers will agree with many of my friends and believe I have no right to criticize an aspect of society I perceive only as observer. But I do believe, from the bottom of my heart, that this is a crucial issue, and feel a responsibility to express my opinion about it on this platform.

Schreibe einen Kommentar

Deine E-Mail-Adresse wird nicht veröffentlicht.

17 Kommentare

  1. Dear Masha, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I do not think you should have refrained from sharing your ideas/perspective. I rather agree with you that a society in change needs a debate. However, a debate needs to be open and fair. It is certainly has not helped categorizing and labelling certain points of view as racist just because some people do not agree with the speaker. What kind of a debate is that? Not refering to Bild though.)

    That’s being said and coming from a family of Germans that had to settle in Western Germany after WWII and having to face questions questions my heritage because of my non-German last name not everything is racist what people utter. It is pure thoughtlessness and ignorance.

    Which is just as annoying. A society is based on certain values that it shares which is the constitution and its limits. The rest should be based on an open debate. eg. does it make me feel uncomfortable having migrants from North Africa sitting in our park, approaching me when I walk my dog. You betcha. Does it make me feel uncomfortable walking in front of a group of people amongst whom the women’s faces are veiled while I am wearing shorts and a tank? You betcha. It is like walking into a sauna with most of the people wearing bathing suits.

    I am pretty sure you got lots of readers from Berlin who are quick to label me racist and patronize me although they do not have that right to.

    I agree with you that racism exists and so does sexism. Having lived in a foreign country for a couple of years I certainly know what it feels like missing your native country.

    And to answer your question about the German-ness: it definitely helps a lot to have a good grasp of the language.

    As always, well put dear Masha. Sending love to Berlin from Frankfurt. Sabina

  2. Ich find den Text auch hammergut geschrieben und ja, heikles Thema, aber sich dem entziehen wäre ebenfalls nicht gut… also danke für den wertvollen Beitrag.

    (Nur ganz kurz am Rande… der hashtag sollte doch übersetzt “ichauch” heißen, oder? dann wäre das ja #metoo und nicht #metwo. Oder hab ich da jetzt nen fetten Denkfehler?)

    Liebste Grüße
    Judith

  3. It’s very really great information for becoming a better Blog.You become a idol for me.You always change my the Way of thinking . your way thinking is Really amazing.Thank you so much.

  4. Liebe Masha,
    es ist ein schwieriges und ein sehr vielschichtiges Theman, dass man nicht nur in schwarz und weiß betrachten kann und deswegen finde ich es so wichtig darüber zu sprechen. Also vielen Dank für Deinen Artikel!
    Ich erwische mich immer mehr dabei, dass ich das Gefühl habe, in unserer Gesellschaft darf man sich nur über den alltäglichen Rassismus beklagen, wenn man selbst in deine bestimmte Gruppe fällt.
    Ich zum Beispiel habe keinen Migrationshintergrund, bin also “Biodeutsche” (und alleine diese Bezeichnung macht mich ärgerlich). Mein Nachname ist Niggemann. Und wirklich ständig wird diesem Namen ein nicht vorhandenes “R” angedichtet und ich heiße fortan nur noch “Nigger”.
    Auffällig dabei ist, dass das meistens von Menschen gemacht wird, die selbst einen Migrationshintergund habe. Und ich stelle mir immer wieder zwei Fragen.
    Ist das Rassismus? Und warum machen es Menschen, die sich selber so sehr darüber beschweren?
    Während meiner Schulzeit ist uns immer wieder erklärt worden, dass Rassismus etwas ist, dass “Ausländern” trifft, weil sie anders sind oder warum auch immer. Man hat uns einen ganz engen und seltsamen Begriff des Rassismus präsentiert, der heute schon lange nicht mehr passt. Rassismuss findet an jeder Ecke statt und ich bin mir sicher, es gibt niemanden, den er nicht trifft. Und ich habe die Befürchtung, dass es immer schlimmer wird. Und das macht Angst!

    1. Hallo Rebecca,

      auch wenn ich deine Befürchtungen verstehe, so finde ich deine Aussage sehr schwierig.
      Ich glaube zu einem bestimmten Zeitpunkt muss man einfach akzeptieren, dass man einfach nicht “wirklich” von diesem Problem betroffen ist. Ich will dir das nicht absprechen, aber in meinen Augen wäre es Rassismus, wenn du einen fremd klingenden Namen tragen würdest und aufgrund dessen von Obrigkeiten beispielsweise diskriminiert werden würdest. Wenn du also zB. eine Wohnung, einen Kredit o.ä. nicht bekommen würdest. Ich finde da sollte man klar unterscheiden!

  5. Well done, Masha.
    I agree with you on various point. Its true that there is a difference between people like you and me (born in other countries than Germany- but with an European appearance) and someone who lives in 3rd generation in Germany but with dark hair and different ethnicity. Where does this discrimination come from?
    I asked myself many times and always thought that people who make this kind of assumptions are ‘stupid’. That was the easiest explanation. But after years this explanation wasn’t good enough, anymore. I knew that the country where I my family is from people collectively agree that foreigners don’t belong to Poland. Wow. Thats is a big statement. Then I figured that if I assume that all these people are stupid I am doing the same as they do. I judge.
    So I moved to Poland in my mid 20′. It was the time of the refugee ‘crisis’. I was excited to hear what Polish have to say to be when I tell them that I was raised in Germany.
    Most of the times they felt pity for me. What wrong with living in Germany, I asked?
    – “Well, all the foreigners in your country destroy your culture”, was a sentence I heard very often.
    Example of a comment of a stranger I spoke to:
    “I saw all the videos on youtube of what the refugees are doing with you country. They are unthankful. They reject the food and drinks you give them because they don’t trust you and think you give them pork to eat. I saw a picture of a train where refugees were before. I left a pile of rubbish in the train and spilt out all the water they were given because they are unthankful.”
    I asked this gentleman to show me the picture of this particular train because his while story seemed very odd to me. When I matched this picture with google results I had to find out that this was a picture taken from a train that was left behind in this state before a football match.
    I heard to worst things about refugees during my time in Poland. People were so confident about what they were saying because as they said, media told them so. For me these statements were ridicules but they truly believed in what media told them.
    I was mad about that they were told in media. Loads of lies and exaggerations. But at the same time it made me understand that these people were not collectively stupid. -They were conditioned by society.

    The past years, I lived in various countries. Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, France.
    The difference in perception in regard to foreigners is huge.
    While Australians enjoys to meet people from all over the world, France in contrast is very careful or lets say quite distant to people who are different than them.

    In Australia you’re Australien when you grow up or consider yourself to be Australien. They have many citizens from Asia. However, these people are considered to be Australien if they say so. Nobody will ask them any further questions just because they look Asien. They are part of of the society like any other citizen. And the way everybody gets along is non-judgmental and harmonic. People do not have to know each other in order to be respectful and greet everyone with a big smile and a “g’day mate, how are ya today”. In 2 years I have never seen that anyone might have been treated than the other. Regardless their ethnicity, social status or gender.
    I found it very interesting that this als applies to all classes. No matter if you are a simple employee or the inventor of a company that is spread over 6 continents. These two people would treat each other with respect and might even go out for lunch together.

    Similar, my experience in south east Asia. Its doesn’t matter where you come from as long as you treat the significant other with respect and a smile. Some might argue that this due to to the tourism they live from. But you’re mistaken. I have been travelling in places where there are no tourists and I lived in a community with locals and of course I knew that I was different than the others. I had different food habits, I looked different than them and are maybe more privileged but at the end of the day we all cook our rice in the same kind of water (like a German would say). I never felt different from them because they didn’t treat me different… Which leads me to the next topic. France.

    First of all, I love France. But it has its flaws.
    Paris which is considered as example for failed integration shows us that its not right to separate immigrants from French. Once immigrants get the stamp as the others, they will also behave differently. During my psychology studies I learned a lot about this topic. Once you create an in-group and out-group, you will have bias towards the other one.
    What is happening is Paris is that there are many citizens with a background. Many of them from Africa, where their values are different. However, does it mean that they cannot adapt to the French values? My answer is no. They can -if the society gives them the opportunity to do so. These people must be treated as they are welcome and valuable to this country and part of the French culture. Like this they will be more probable to consider themselves to be French and are more eager to live in peace with their peers. No matter where from.
    But what happens when you develop an attitude towards them and make them feel that they are actually not the same as you?

    Would you still try to fit into their scheme after being rejected or treated differently your whole life?

    And this what happens when immigrants get treated differently than everyone else in the country. They behave differently, too. They will not try to fit into this society. Rather, they will either withdraw from society or even try to fight it.
    It won’t take long to find mates who are going to join a group of outcasts one to rebel against what society expects of you.

    Topic Mesut: He was considered as a good German while he performed like society expected him to do.
    When he failed, he became an outcast and he excluded himself from this society.
    This is happening every day but just not as visible as which the ‘Mesut example”.

    1. wow! thank you for your super long comment and your interesting point of view. It really shocked me to read what was happening in Poland and at the same time I’m not wondering at all. I guess media is part of the problem, but also media is a mirror of the society. They publish what the people want to read, so I guess the problem must be somewhere in between. Of course it’s easy to say that people are stupid, but I’d say it’s more that they are afraid. They are afraid to lose their position and they are afraid of feeling an outsider themselves.
      BTW I heard that asia can be rascist as well, but more against other asians. not sure, if this is true, but I guess it’s a neighbor thing just like here in europe.

      thank you for sharing your experience and your thoughts. I totally agree with you <3

  6. We really need more people (and influencers) in the world like you who are spreading awareness about issues that are so, so important in our world and society, but no one is taking a stance and talking about them! It still leaves me speechless how people can be so cruel to one another. I just want everyone to understand that we are all human, we are all mammals, we are all people. We all experience pain at one point in our lives, but some of it can be avoided, such as this topic! It’s crazy how we still live in a world where racism is present. Thank you again for talking about this issue and taking the time to write such a thorough and thoughtful post on it. I definitely agree, even if you are not personally affected by something, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t speak up against it!

    http://www.beingisabella.com

  7. Great post, I absolutely agree on every single point! And you’re totally right to speak out about it, even if you’re not affected personally. But spreading awareness is always a good idea!

  8. Danke das du dich mit solchen Themen befasst und ein Bewusstsein dafür schaffst.
    Schade, dass das in der Branche einfach viel zu oft zu kurz kommt!
    Ich verstehe warum deine Freunde dir davon abraten wollten und umso großartiger finde ich es, dass du trotzdem öffentlich dazu Stellung beziehst!
    Ganz nebenbei ist der Text auch unglaublich gut geschrieben

    1. Ich kann dem einfach nur zustimmen !
      Man darf die Augen nicht davor verschließen, egal ob in der Fußball-Branche oder eben in der Blogger-Branche.

      Du hast meinen größten Respekt verdient, dass du wirklich dich eben auch über solche Themen öffentlich äußerst.