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

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    posted by  Brandon Hayes in Germany forum 

    here is a time magazine web article on the subj. on the documentary

    http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1940290,00.htm
    l

    here is an excrpt

    "But Black on White is not being met with the same level of enthusiasm. Some feel the reason may be that racism remains a touchy subject in Germany. The country's black population, which numbers between 300,000 and half a million, is mainly made up of African immigrants and the descendants of children born to black American and French soldiers and German women at the end of World War II. And even though their numbers are rising and there has been talk lately about Germany becoming a multicultural society, many minorities say they still feel like outsiders because they do not look typically German. Yet most Germans don't think their country has a problem with racism, seeing it as an issue confined to the U.S.

    "What strikes you first of all about the way Germany treats black people and racism is the avoidance of the subject," says Marina Jones, a doctoral fellow in the history of African Americans and Germans at the German Historical Institute in Washington. "As an Afro-German, you are often confronted with the situation that you look 'different' and people react differently, but then [people] also treat you with something like willful color blindness. You are often deemed a foreigner, so you are alien in your own country."

    Black Germans say they've been speaking out about racism in their country for years, with little progress to show for it. In 2007, the black German actress and director Mo Asumang released a film called Roots Germania about her search for her family's descendants. And the latest album and book by the popular Hamburg rapper Samy Deluxe, That's Where I'm From, released earlier this year, deals extensively with his feelings about being black in Germany. Wallraff's film is seen as a dated contribution to what is already a lively discussion. Some consider it little more than a stunt — or a "carnival," as Sow put it. (See the 25 most important films on race.)

    Wallraff rejects the criticism. He says a black person could not have made the same film because the transformation of his identity from a white German to a black German is an integral part of the story and resonates more powerfully with white audiences. "Germany is a developing country as far as racism is concerned," he says. "There is something close-minded and ill-at-ease about it. Germany is harboring more prejudices than it is ready to accept."

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