anders deutsch

A company producing documentaries for TV has contacted the Indo-German Society. They want to present 'Indian', sorry Indian culture. And to this end they are looking for an:

Indian family, who is open-minded and friendly and who lives and cultivates their traditions and rituals.

Why don't they look for them in India?
What do they think 'Indian' families in Germany do?

Puja in front of gods and godesses?
Eating with fingers?
Exotic clothing?

At Easter we always searched for Easter eggs in the garden.
But maybe that is too open-minded.

Those who are unwilling to 'integrate' should be deported. Is the demand.

Those who are 'integrated' are deported nonetheless. That is the practice.

Today I watched the preview of a documentary on India. I liked the pictures and the music. But I was irritated by the comment: the way the woman spook, the wrong pronunciations, the mistakes and the references to stereotypes. It was not really bad, but not good either. And it definitely differed from what the two directors did otherwise.

After the discussion over drinks I got the explanation: The producers had changed the comment, made it 'smoother' - without asking the directors.

Normally conservative politicians propagate the rule of the law. They, however, seem to have a strange interpretation of the law. From the migrants they demand loyalty to the German constitution. They themselves are, however, very willing to ignore all the constitutional protection of the dignity of the human being, the rights of minorities and the principles of a constitutional state. Their newest demands to deport 'foreigners' who are unwilling to integrate are just one example. Another is that they want to shift funds away from fighting right extremists to fight 'islamists' and left extremists. Even in areas where the latter two do hardly exist, the former however dominate.

This the rule of islamophobia.

People from Latin America can dance, those from India can meditate and those from Africa are always cheerful.

Living in Germany one constantly is confronted with the sterotypes other 'Germans' have about the 'mentality' of the ascribed country of origin. If one deviates from these, one irritates the one who categorises one.

These interactions about what is supposedly typical about your 'origin' form the basis for the every-day othering experienced by people who are considered different.

In the current racist discussion about 'foreigners' in Germany the minister of the interior has accused the migrants of not wanting their children and grand-children to become 'German'. And as a consequence of this he denies them the right of permanent residence.

And certainly he is right in the observation that some migrants do not want their children to become 'Germans'. That is one of the problems of 'Andere Deutsche' (Other Germans). I can oberserve it among 'Indian' migrants once in a while.

But the real problem is that 'German' society does not accept 'Andere Deutsche' to be 'Germans'. As long as they deviate significantly from the idea of the ideal 'German' they have no chance to become one. And deviations are hardly to be avoided as they include 'skin colour', names and even relatives abroad.

The task of the state would be to go against this othering. Rather than promoting it.

When talking about racism in Germany then the media and politicians are talking about some few marginalised bald young men in Eastern Germany, who attack 'foreigners' violently. All agree (more or less) that they are a problem and that something has to be done about them.

Hardly anybody, however, looks at the racist structures prevalent in the society which provide the basis for these extreme racists. The racists are the others, not oneself. Structural and institutional racism is denied and thus all the time reproduced.

In Danish television a new debatting programme titled "Adam and Asmaa" has been started. The atheist Adam Holm and the Muslima Asmaa Abdol-Hamid discuss with guests following the disputes about the Mohammed carricatures.

Asmaa Abdol-Hamid is only 24 years old, but she seems to be a very engaged social activists and so impressive that she was casted for the programme although she has no journalistic experience. From what I read about her she is a self-confident and outspoken young woman. And she seems to be a believing Muslima who adheres to some 'conservative' rules.

Now 'Danish' feminists want the programme to be stopped because she is wearing a headscarf and thus is promoting the suppression of women.

I do not understand these 'White' feminists. Even if I would agree that the headscarf is part of a patriarchial structure, I do not understand how it helps women in such structures when women with headscarf are denied a place and voice in public.

I do understand 'Black' women who feel they are not represented by 'White' feminism which ignores their double marginalisation.

The violence in schools still dominates the news. Conservative politicians develop each day new ideas how one can arrest, threaten and deport 'foreigners'. Because they are the problem.

Unfortunately now also a totally White school has made its problems with violence public.

Whom shall we blame there? And how can this be taken as a reason to make 'racist' demands?
I am sure the conservative politicians and media will find a way to blame the 'foreigners'. Else they will ignore the problem.

All of Germany is discussing about the problems in schools. The first thing most agree about is that it is a problem of the 'migrants' (not the 'Germans' and the school system). Thus the problems are solved by targeting 'them'. So, one conservative politician demands that the parents of the 'migrants' need to join courses about being proper parents in churches. Another demands more discipline and more rigid punishments in schools. But most of all the 'migrants' have to learn German and if they do not know it, then they cannot join the school.

Racist and islampohobic structures in 'German' society and institutions are totally ignored.