Posted on 11/08/2009 9:34:06 AM PST by darkside321
Is Germany a racist country? That is what a new documentary, Black on White, is trying to find out. Its findings are shocking. But, as Damien McGuinness reports, the filmmaker himself has been criticized by black Germans for his methods. For more than a year, journalist Gunter Wallraff travelled across Germany wearing a dark-haired curly wig and with his white skin painted black.
Equipped with a secret camera, and calling himself Kwami Ogonno, he went to predominantly white areas to see how a black man with a foreign accent is treated.
The experience, he said, was even more depressing that he had expected.
"I hadn't known what we would discover, and had thought maybe the story will be, what a tolerant and accepting country we have become," said Mr Wallraff after a screening of the film Black on White in Berlin. "Unfortunately I was wrong."
He was almost beaten up by neo-Nazis after a football match in eastern Germany. And outside a small-town nightclub was told by a skinhead: "Europe for whites, Africa for apes."
But the film's most disturbing aspect is not the well-known racism of right-wing extremists, but rather the secretly-filmed reactions of everyday people - the landlady who says she could not possibly rent out a flat to a black person, or the shop owner who will not let "Kwami" try on an expensive watch, but willingly hands over the same watch to the next customer who is white.
Everyday abuse
For black people in certain parts of Germany such experiences are commonplace, believes Sven Mekarides, general secretary of the Africa Council in Berlin.
The film secretly filmed the reactions of everyday people to Kwami, left Mr Mekarides left his native Cameroon...
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
would have been more interesting had he done his filming in mostly black areas, dressed as himself.
Why does the BBC think I give a rat's patoot? Is Somalia a Sh** Hole?
well i highly doubt that there are “mostly black areas” in germany in generall, but yes just visit a distric mostly populated by immigrants, believe you will not feel very welcome there too.
On my third tour to Germany, I was stationed in Stuttgart, which had a section of town with a large Turk population. The hatred for the Turks from the Germans was obvious, as was the stupidity of being white and going into the Turk's part of town.
You are EXACTLY right... it cuts BOTH ways. (As it almost always does.)
What is that old book called, Black Like Me? This sounds like a weak imitation the, Falschen Schwarzen Mann. That Germans would want a country of their own since they are not the happy little mutts we are, is not wrong. The Nazi were wrong but love of who you are is not.
I did a 2.5 year tour of duty there. At first I didn’t think Germans were particularly racist because I saw black GIs in the pubs and restaurants, etc., everywhere I went.
But get away from the big military bases, where Krauts aren’t used to dealing with a lot of US soldiers, and it’s a different story.
I learned this kicking around with my best buddy at the time, a black guy from South Carolina. Tore me up whenever we were denied service because of his race and I could see the pained expression on his face.
Anyway... I never stood for another lecture from Krauts on how evil America was for what it did to blacks and to native American Indians. In my experience, Krauts are as bad as it gets (except for maybe the French), and they’re hypocrites about it, too.
i agree. btw. i do believe that most of the hatred directed against foreigners is not because of their color. it´s more because of the cultural differences which just don´t fit very well together (regardless of the fact that politicians don´t get tired telling the people that all is just fine).
and of course as you said it cuts both ways.
I am reminded of the music video by ‘En Vogue’, entitled “Free Your Mind”. An unintentional exercise in confusion.
The song is about racism, and how the attractive women in the group shouldn’t be treated differently because of their skin color. Not a bad idea on its surface. However, these attractive women sing this while wearing outlandish, almost science-fiction costumes.
“Uh, miss? We’re not gawking at you because you are black. We’re gawking at you because you look like you just walked off the set of a Star Wars movie. Are you in the group with the blue aardvark on keyboard?”
Back to the article, the filmmaker had put on a black curly wig and black face makeup. Even though most of the immigrants in Germany are Turks. Africans are rather rare. From the CIA factbook:
German 91.5%, Turkish 2.4%, other 6.1% (made up largely of Greek, Italian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish).
So he might as well have put on a rainbow colored afro and painted his face green.
yawn ...
Funny movie. I don't even know if anyone would have the guts to play it now.
At first I didn’t think Germans were particularly racist because I saw black GIs in the pubs and restaurants, etc., everywhere I went.
But get away from the big military bases, where Krauts aren’t used to dealing with a lot of US soldiers, and it’s a different story.
First time, Frankfurt. Four or five of us went into a nice looking restaurant and the maître d’ came hustling over, arms outstretched as though he were trying to herd a pack of unwanted dogs off the premises, saying, “No, no, no, no, no...” When I asked him why, he shook his head and shot a sidelong glance at my buddy and said under his breath, “of course, you [white] guys are welcome... but him, no.” Couldn’t believe it. Had never experienced anything like that in my life. I almost committed murder that day.
The Marxist find “racism” and many on the right run around in circles. Wonder how much racism they found in all the “people of color” areas? What? They didn’t look? Oh my. Destructive Marxist multiculturalism rules and many on the right are helping in the destruction.
Did he dress up as a white guy and walk through the “suburban estates” of Paris during the early AM hours?
Thought not.
First time, Frankfurt. Four or five of us went into a nice looking restaurant and the maître d’ came hustling over, arms outstretched as though he were trying to herd a pack of unwanted dogs off the premises, saying, “No, no, no, no, no...” When I asked him why, he shook his head and shot a sidelong glance at my buddy and said under his breath, “of course, you [white] guys are welcome... but him, no.” Couldn’t believe it. Had never experienced anything like that in my life. I almost committed murder that day.
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