Germany forum < Racism in Germany - how bad is it?

  • Carsten Pfau

    Least racist country

    posted by  Carsten Pfau in Germany forum 

    Hi Blizzy,

    I am German - I have traveled to some 40 countries and I have lived abroad for more than 15 years. I am very confident to say that Germany is among the LEAST racist countries in the world. First of all - even a serious magazine such as Spiegel needs to sell - and bad news sell way better than good news, you know that. Statistics - well, as you probably know, you can prove almost anything through statistics, you just need to know how to ask the questions. So I wouldn´t think too much of those numbers. But even if you do believe them as they were printed (which you shouldn´t), then just compare Germany to other European countries. Try England, Spain or France - you´ll return happily to Germany. Or even the US. Sure, you´ll think of the US - and New York, LA or San Francisco come to mind. But what about southern US states, or the Bible Belt??? No racism or discrimination there??? And believe it or not, I have never experienced more racist comments and serious discrimination of black people than in Latin-America. Sounds weird, but it´s true. However, of course pointing to others doesn´t count as an excuse (though it underlines my point). I bet that no foreigner in Germany would seriously experience racism in cities such as Munich, Frankfurt or Hamburg. Maybe if you run into a group of drunk hooligans, but that can happen anywhere. And talking about sports - just look how many athletes from all over the world are cheered for in Germany. There are soccer teams that play with 60 or 70% foreigners. You may experience racist tendencies in East Germany, that is true. Why? Well, the region still has many, many problems, extreme unemployment and -considering German standards- serious poverty. People tend to look for a scape goat and for somebody to blame for their own problems. Not an excuse - but maybe an explanation. Whenever anti-foreign tendencies appear in Germany, they are highlighted in the press and the media - mainly because its Germany. The very same incidents in England, France or even the US - and no newspaper tries to sell copies with those stories. In other parts of the world (e.g., Latin-America, the Middle East) racism is widely accepted and not even seen as something bad. In conclusion - I really need to defend my country and my fellow Germans here!!! We are NOT a racist country, we do NOT oppose foreigners living among us and we do NOT close our borders to others. Not too many countries accept people from all over the world as Germany does, not too many countries help people from all over the world (here and abroad), not too many countries grant asylum to so many people as Germany does! So my plee would be, to just forget those few poornarrow-minded s.o.b.´s who really don´t know better - and focus on the large mayority of Germans who is open-minded and welcomes people regardless of their country of origin, their religion or their skin color. And returning to the Spiegel statistics: 95% of all Germans are NOT racist. I think that´s good news...

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