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Racism in Germany - how bad is it?

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I just read a story on Spiegel online which shocked me: According to a new study, more than 14% of German teenagers can be considered as "anti-foreigners", while more than 5% fall into the category of the righ extreme with Nazi-tendencies.

Surprisingly, the bad reputation of foreigners seems to be higher in those regions with little foreigners (so those regions where people don't even know what they talk about!!!).

The original article is here: http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,613844,00.h
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To me - this is just another example of human ignorance, but for a foreigners living in Germany, these numbers are pretty scary!

What are your opinions and personal experiences with the way Germans see foreigners?

Blizzy Everhard

  • Siirry Amit Khan:n profiiliin

    lähettäjä  in Saksa foorumi 

    Racism or racist activities do not arise due to an individual’s or a group of people’s mentality. I think it’s the society in general that has the power to increase or decrease racism toward visible minorities. I live in Canada and I am Indian. I live here since I was 10 years old, I have friends from all continents and it never bothered them or me. Everyone in Canada is treated with respect and is allowed to carry out their individual religious duties in peace. Christians attend EID festivals (Muslim festival) and Muslim attends Christmas parties.

    I think a lot has to do with employment rate. If everyone has job, then they will be too tired to blame others for their misfortune. Moreover, the government needs to intervene to reduce racism. Lot of good things can come from migrants, if you know how to use it right. For example, eastern America has a lot of Italian and Irish decedents, and they helped build cities and nation like no other (maybe ignorant from time to time but still they flourished in their own respect). The horrific racist activities are mostly carried out by locals who are unemployed and lack higher education.

    Mind you, I have faced racism here too but as soon as you protest the racist become quite defensive because you can take legal actions here (and they are taken quite seriously, someone can easily be fired over a racist comment).

    Once I faced a racist comment from a tourist from France. However, very respectfully (without swearing) I was able to make them understand that this is Canada, and such shit doesn’t work here and if they do not turn off their racist nature, they can get to some serious trouble either with other locals or authorities (she and her husband then both apologised). I was able to fight back because I belong to this community and culture, for someone who is new to a country would be quite hesitant to speak out and this allows racism to increase as there are no consequences.

    To conclude, it is up to the government to eradicate racism.

  • lähettäjä  in Saksa foorumi 

    please watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvpFeyoKbkg

    i believe it concludes the entire argument of this topic. the video clip is a 8min interview with a german journalist, Guenther Wallraff. i highly recommend you all to watch it (it's in german and sorry no subtitles available). my advice is to go learn some german :P (just kidding, i'm sure someone can summarise for you)

    i am not saying racism is exclusive to germany however, there is certainly a higher chance of being racially discriminated against just for the colour of your skin and that is what a lot of caucasians in general are oblivious to.

    the way i see it... there are a number of explanations for the racial discrimination:

    1. it's a taboo subject for native germans to deal with because of the nazi era so they don't like to discuss it.

    2. constantly voting for old fashioned government organisations (CDU, SPD) with douchebags such as Westerwelle and Sarrazin are not fixing the issue. got to love german bureaucracy ;)

    3. it feels like the german education system is not being changed to suit 21st century standards (well, they did introduce international university standards a few years ago but still requires reform).

    as a overall result, there are a lot of uneducated people roaming around the streets - hence the racial discrimination and high unemployment.

    btw, can someone tell me why NPD are allowed to form a government party? considering germany is a nanny state - i don't really understand why they allow this.

    sorry for any inaccuracies about german politics. i'm still trying to learn/understand it - and i think it's the main reason why migrants have shite experiences in germany.

  • Kostas Kotsialos

    lähettäjä  in Saksa foorumi 

    Hi to all,

    I've been in Germany many times as a tourist and right now i'm a considering of moving permanently.
    I've never experienced any kind of racism, though, i know that there is always a chance to experience it. As there is in every country.

    Try not to put racism and countries together. It's people that are racists,not countries. Narrow minded,ignorant little people! And you can find these people everywhere

    Cheers

  • Siirry T Y:n profiiliin

    lähettäjä  in Saksa foorumi 

    I have to say I agree with many of the comments made by visible minorities. If you are a Caucasian foreigner in Germany, you won't feel all the hatred as much.

    To the people saying there's discrimination everywhere, while I agree with that statement, I find it very prominent in Germany, especially in you aren't white.

    I don't like to single out the Germans, but they do know how to make foreigners of color unwelcome and very uncomfortable. They have to decide whether they want to have foreigners in Germany at all. Just because commonwealth countries have many immigrants, the Germans won't have to become a destination for foreigners. But they will have to make it very clear to the rest of the world.

    So Germans, stop kidding yourselves. Let us know when the Germans are ready to live with immigrants. Until then, just dont let any new immigrants in! Don't give foreigners a false hope. The same goes for the Spaniards.

  • lähettäjä  in Saksa foorumi 

    Dear A.D.,

    sorry to read about your negative experiences. However, I find it a bit premature of you to judge "the Germans" based on a selection of wacko Bavarians of one company. And another thing: did you, by any chance, ever happen to hear how French people or British people speak of other European countries?? Well, let me tell you that they don´t deserve any love-thy-neighbours-awards either.
    Please note that I do not intend to imply you are not telling the truth or something, but, well, I think you are a bit quick to judge us.
    I once had a very unpleasant encounter with a French cop who yelled at me and threatened me for no other reason than me asking him very politely for directions- and it didn´t make me write off all French people as racist, hatefilled idiots.

  • lähettäjä  in Saksa foorumi 

    Dear Blizzy,

    as much as I hate to admit it, yes, there are many Germans here who are hostile towards foreigners. As in other countries, these tend to be the stupid, the bigot and the ignorant, of which there is no shortage here. But keep in mind that 86% of German teenagers are not racist, according to the study - I´d say that this is a pretty decent result.
    I have been married to a woman from Poland for 10 years, my brother-in-law´s sister is married to a man from the Ivory Coast, so you can imagine my family´s attitude towards foreigners.I think racism in Germany is a problem of really backward areas, here in the Rhineland, we are comparatively open-minded and tolerant. As a teacher, I teach children from all corners of the world and try to learn about their cultures and mentalities and I am always fascinated about our similarities and differences, and I am not alone with that mindset.
    So, all in all, I think you should not be scared too much.
    Best Wishes,
    Daniel

  • lähettäjä  in Saksa foorumi 

    When the turkish-german comedian Kaya Yanar was awarded with an important german comedy award, he said in his speech:
    "First we take your jobs, then we take your women, and now we also take your comedy awards!"
    That was a brilliant parody of the fears some Germans have. And you are quite right about the important jobs. On top of that, did you know that very often qualifications and degrees from other countries are not valid in Germany? I once knew a russian professor of mathematics who could only work as a cleaning woman here.
    That was such a crying shame.

  • Siirry patrick eso:n profiiliin

    lähettäjä  in Saksa foorumi 

    You shouldn't boreder yourself about people who were born to believe that everything the do is perfect and you should always act and look correct. No room for mistake. Foreigners make mistakes while at work.I remember few years back while I was still living in germany .The chinaes sent their first space man in orbit ,many people I was working with at the time,simply said . This is a stolen techn. from Russia.I was only smilling and observing that some humans feels other people are inferio to knowledge.The only country some of them has respect for is the big brother. United states of America.why?.because the helped to lift the western Germany through the MARCHALL. PLAN. Also during the cold war the American government togerther with others pomped in a lots of money in the Economy to demonstrate their strenght .Through the history east and west Germany are all thesame before the last war. Anybody who want to know more should resarch far back during the 1700 untill present.Then you will understand their idealogy as well as old german way of thinking.why the feel proud and ignorant.In the past they have strange Laws which most European union members criticised which the have since changed.I am always looking in the past to understand the present situation. I have watched real films of Berlin during the early 1920's and life then after.I love to focus on the minds of the society in Question.

  • lähettäjä  in Saksa foorumi 

    Not only Germans should try to understand foreigners, but foreigners are the ones who need to understand Germany the most if they are planning to be there for a long time.

    As to foreigners stealing jobs...I am sorry, but what kind of important job could an African poor man steal? Or some Turkish guy from a village? I don´t think they will be what, doctors or something. In fact, there are quite a few immigrants that live off the state.

  • lähettäjä  in Saksa foorumi 

    How are those Turkish boys immigrants if they are born in Germany? Why should the Germans know other cultures?

    This whole "integration" thing is more about Germans adapting to foreign cultures than foreigners adapting to German culture, which should be the case.

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