• Carsten Pfau

    Hi

    posted by  Carsten Pfau in Germany forum 

    Hi Ken,

    as I can see, you posted a picture - I would say, people stare at you mostly in a positive way, you don´t look scary at all. Of course, I don´t want to underestimate racist tendencies and nationalistic behaviour in Germany. As far as I can see, Germany is among the countries that take this issue very serious and does a lot to fight racism. And, again, most people in Germany are not racists. That´s why it bothers me sometimes when Germany is put in such a negative light. I cannot say that there aren´t any racists in this country, because there are, but compared to so many other countries, it´s not that bad here. By the way - I was just thinking of me traveling to -let´s say- Kenia and let´s assume I was to travel to a remote area where no tourist ever goes - I am sure that people would stare at me too (probably because they don´t get to see a -slightely- overweight white person that often). I wouldn´t consider them racists...

    However, I know what you mean and I feel sad about the moments you experience when race is clearly an issue. Still, I believe that Germany is among the most welcoming countries in the world. By the way - I´m ignored in stores all the time, and if nobody wants to sit next to you on the train, then I envy you, I hate it when somebody squeezes in the seat next to me ;-)

    I really hope you get to a point where you consider Germany your home (at least, your second home) and I hope you get to know many Germans as true friends.

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