Posted in Germany forum
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?
Interesting...
posted by Morgan Dalton in Germany forum
Welp! I still don't know! i mean, I'd very much would like to go, but I don't want to be overwhelmed with a bunch of hate either. And I do give people chances.. In fact, I have a racist friend:D She doesn't like black people, but I got her to like me... So, maybe I can convince? Oh, goodness.
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posted by Deleted user in Germany forum
Valeria Saras,
it is sad to read your statements. In fact, i would agree to the facts you wrote.
There are too many facts no one can ignore in Germany:
- many foreigners were killed by german people only because of their ethnic source/nationality.
-German nationalists are overall of the german society as upper class, middle class people: estimately 60 percent of german society
- the german media produces continuisly news which should show that foreigners are responsible for the economical damages in Germany. The taxes which were paid by foreigners are always ignored by german media.
- Most of the german political groups use issues referring to foreigners as inflammatory articles
- foreigners are always distrusted by german people. german people make a distance to foreigners: there is no any real social communication and relationship between germans and foreigners
- foreigners are mobbed at employment by customers, colleagues
- foreigners are stared everywhere
- the foreigners policy is not showing any democracy
- institutional racism in the most official departments: these issue is always ignored by german politicians
etc.
- children of foreigners are systematically disadvantaged during educationThe foreigners in Germany are splitted and have no chance to feel well : the suspicion between germans and foreigners will never be destroyed.
Nowadays, racism is the biggest problem of Germany. But the german people are afraid of loosing their image and they never talk about this racist german policies and behaviours. Instead, they keep on ignoring their own racism and attacking humanity in politics, economy, social life.
Anyhow, the few foreigners who are left in Germany are the ones who can not immigrate because of the lack of money an education. Most of them are criminalised, poor and at the end of mind because of the german policies in education, institutions, media, verbal and physical attacks, lack of having human conditions to live, getting the opportunity to be employed, forced to be deported into slums etc.). This people are the foreigners which the racist german society has produced.
All steps which are made in Germany against racism by any officials and politicians are psuedo in order to
give evidence that german politics are democratic.
But the truth is that even german police is racist. Foreigners in Germany have to be protected by german society and german institutions. The conditions of prisoners from foreign countries are anything than human in Germany. Foreign languages are forbidden in Germany (for example during breaks at school between students from foreign countries).That is not democracy.
German people do not support any of our experiences because they only fear to lose image in world.
I do not want to be commented by any of them.Valeria, i wish you a good environment where you can live and work with human beings in a human way instead of in a way like robots.
Subtle racism
posted by Ron Saxena in Germany forum
As an Indian national, who has worked in UK and Germany, I can confirm that in UK, there is much higher chance of random racist abuse getting thrown at you on the streets. But race relation laws strictly protect minority against discrimination. Germans are extremely racist in a persistent but subtle way. )Technically you cannot accuse them.)
Few common experiences - Dirty looks from co passenger, when you walk up to occupy his next seat. Employees bring chocolates and cookies for colleagues at work, but politely refuse when I bring same stuffs.
Even in Uni, my German friends who sits with me in library or cafeteria, wants to associate with only other whites, once he is in a Club or some City center "see and be seen" Restaurants (where strangers judge him based on the company he keeps)
Germans are extremely conformist
posted by Valeria Saras in Germany forum
Also, during the second world war when Germny was allied with Italy (How could Italy ever make THAT huge mistake?) Germans would send out the Italian soldiers to the frontlines so that they would be killed rather than the German soldiers. Germans only stick to, protect or have solidarity with what they perceive to be "their own kind".
In addition, they are tribal, group people, only within his group does a German feel strong. Alone they are lost. They are not couragous, individual fighters like the French for example. Germans for the most part are extremely conformist and also extremely conventional.
Racism in Germany is BAD - but there is a lot of hypocrisy!
posted by Valeria Saras in Germany forum
Racism is VERY bad in Germany, VERY bad - but people have learned not to express it as directly as they used to do it in the 1930ies or even in the 1950ies. Germans have learned to become very hypocrite!
I'm a mulatto who was born in Germany and came out of the womb of a woman who was considered a "normal" German. I was never accepted as a full family member by most of the people in my mother's family. My grandfather was the only one who accepted me! Cultural and family affilation don't count to Germans, all they want is to keep their pale, blond and blueeyed race pure! I even knew people with two German parents but who were darkhaired and who were often perceived as gypsies or foreigners just because they slightly differed from the norm!Whenever there was a conflict of interests, argument or whatever of any sort (was, because luckily I don't live in Germany anymore) between a person that looked German to the majority of Germans ( in Germany more than any where else in the world a certain look is imposed as the condition for inofficial membership for something as huge as an entire nation) between somebody else and me other Germans would automaticaly be on the side of the other person no matter what the circumstances where.
Germans only defend their own kind! They usually only help "their own kind" also (if they help at all, which is rare because they tend to be quite cold!)I don't know how many times I had to meet a professional for the first time and as soon as this person sees me approaching from far away has his or her face going down. (microexpressions tell everything). It happens because they didn't expect a mulatto. I had no accent on the phone. It was a shock to them!
Most Germans are so ignorant they don't even know what a mulatto looks like and take us for all sorts of other stuff and just class us as foreigner and that's it anyway, the interest doesn't go beyond.
Also, how many Germans think that a mulatto or anybody else who doesn't fit their "standard look" shouldn't have Germanic names, even if they also have German ancestors! I feel that Germans particularly resent the president of the United States being a mulatto and whished they could change that!Germans just need to feel superior to everybody else! They might not even be aware of it but unconsiously they do! Only if they feel superior they can fell great about themselves. They are very competitive and measure everyone according to THEIR valuesystem. But as feelings of superiority and inferiority always fgo hand in hand - they have their insecurities, they definitively have and they try to compensate!
Germans cannot stand other people being better than them, they always want to be best in everything! This is the true reason for the Holocaust since the Jews tended to do quite well intellectually and were more quickminded. The German academics were getting desperate and in vain tried to restrict their access to universities and other institutions! By the way, there is still a lot of discrimination in German universities but nothing can be done about this since in Germany the existence of racism is usually denied!For me Germany never felt right, it wasn't even the racism experiences on a daily basis. I just don't like Germans and never really did. They tend to be pure head people with almost no heart. The center of their motiviation is in their heads, they are overly rational and miss out all the other dimensions o life. They love distance and always want distance. They have no real sense of family and friendship, they don't know how to enjoy life without alcool and going overboard. They are boring and heavy thinkers, not quickminded, most of them have no sense of humour, they are not passionate at all. Also they usually get on best with people who are just as boring as they are. Everything else is perceived as disturbing. Oh yes, and they love RULES! Rules are what really makes them tick! They just need them since they have no inner moral compass of their own! They are also very pessimistic and always find something to criticise in other countries! For some funny reason the average German, who is usually quite ignorant, that's true, also tends to associate other countries, especially countries which are southwards from Germany or southwestwards from Germany mainly with sex as well as lazyness while at the same time completely ignoring anything relevant about these countries or their cultures.
I'm happy because very young I made the decision to emigrate and leave Germany. I went back for short periods about 4 times and each and everytime regretted it more! I'm so glad I escaped! Outside Germany I can normally interact with people and people smile at me in the street. One can make negative experiences everywhere but in Germany for those who don't fit the german physical norm of being pale, blond and blueeyed these negative experiences dominate. Northrhine-Westfalia where I grew up used to be considered an open-minded region but I felt that with more immigration the situation got worse.
The problem is that the founding myth of the German state is based on race, but they simply do not understand that a nation is too big to make national identity dependent on race which is what most of them still so. Some German administrations even class everyone who had only ONE foreign ancestor after 1945 as foreigner, "migrant" is how they call it. Why 1945 one could ask, is it because those who were still left after 1945 can can be considered true Germans?
For me this country is crazy and I just had to rant because I met a German a couple of days ago who had the same stupid mindset most of them have. The problem is I always give every one I meet a chance thinking maybe this person is different, given that the person lives abroad, only to discover that most of them are alike and exceptions are rare.
It's everywhere
posted by Sumon Swagger in Germany forum
Racism exists in every part of the world, but it's most common in Europe.
I've been twice for holiday in Germany and I've met many people who insulted foreigners without any reason. I also have been insulted once (I was 12) for no reason while I was walking with my parents.
It's almost 12 year that I live in Italy and I can tell you also here exists so many racist as in Germany, but here it changes by zone to zone, the more you go to the north more racist you'll find (the north of Italy is governed by a racist party that hates even his people who lives in the south). There is less racism in big cities like Milan, turin, rome, because there are many foreigners and people have got used to it.
The only advice I can give is to ignore them, racists are ignorant and should be left in their places. But not generalized, because there are also many people not racist.
Curious!
posted by Morgan Dalton in Germany forum
Okay, sooooooo. I'm obviously African American and I'm reading alot about the racism and, to be honest, I don't know what to think of it. I read that Germany is the least racist but, then I read that it's vulgar and you shouldn't visit... I don't know what to do. Advice?
Why germans Can seem "racist"
posted by Jakob Weiss in Germany forum
I come from Germany and have lived here my whole life.
I think the reason why people think Germans are racist is because we don't treat foreigners who come here to work very good because there are some "rules" many German follows
-many Germans speak very poorly English (I have been in France once before where they made fun of my accent inside a shop)
-Germany is one of the leading countries in the world when talking about working overtime (we care a lot about our work)
-forefingers from outside EU (not Russia Serbia and Kenya) often discriminate hooliganism which is slowly becoming "religion"
3 advises if you are going to Germany
Ps. Sorry for my English
who leaves the Germans alone
posted by Ron Saxena in Germany forum
Germany is the most white normative society among all Industrialized nations. And the immigrants which Germany allows inside it's borders are overwhelmingly Caucasian(eg. Eastern European) or Caucasian with a tan (Eg. Turkish)
@Anne Sredzki
posted by Ron Saxena in Germany forum
How can Germans be racist towards you. Necessary condition for racism is the victim must be from a different race. Whereas, you are exactly same race as Germans. And probably no one gets to know you are Polish, unless you tell them.