Racism and Xenophobia Still Prevalent in Germany

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http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/xenophobia-still-prevalent-in-germany-20-years-after-neo-nazi-attacks-a-851972.html

08/24/2012 24.08.2012

Twenty Years after Rostock

Racism and Xenophobia Still Prevalent in Germany

By Charles Hawley and Daryl Lindsey

Twenty years ago, a neo-Nazi mob attacked a hostel for foreigners in Rostock, one of several similar crimes in the early 1990s. Today, however, Germany is still plagued by a significant level of racism and right-wing extremism in both the east and the west. For far too long, officials seemed content to ignore the problem.

Christian Berntsen is nothing if not enthusiastic. An activist with Bunt statt Braun, a group dedicated to combating right-wing extremism in the northern German city of Rostock, Berntsen has been instrumental in helping plan and stage events dedicated to commemorating the xenophobic, 1992 assault on an asylum-seekers home in the city quarter of Lichtenhagen. The list of activities is long: films, podium discussions, international cooking courses in local schools and presentations by local and regional politicians of all stripes.

"The city is working hand-in-hand with us when it comes to the remembrance program," Berntsen says ardently. "And the events have been extremely well received and well attended."

The effort in Rostock is indeed impressive. The city has gone out of its way to ensure that the kind of hateful violence that flared up two decades ago does not make a reappearance. But elsewhere in Germany, particularly in the east, the situation offers decidedly less cause for optimism. There are, to be sure, myriad groups pursuing goals similar to Bunt statt Braun, but entire regions remain where foreigners are afraid to venture, towns dominated by neo-Nazi thugs and repeated attacks against those who look different. Twenty years after the despicable Rostock violence, Germany's xenophobia problem remains daunting.

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1. "towns dominated by neo-Nazi thugs"..."entire regions remain where foreigners are afraid to venture"

Today, however, Germany is still plagued by a significant level of racism and right-wing extremism in both the east and the west.

But for all the myriad groups focused on combating racism and right-wing extremism that have sprung up around Germany in the last 20 years, anti-foreigner hate and violence remains prevalent in the country. Hardly a week goes by without new reports of swastikas being daubed on gravestones at Jewish cemeteries, bricks being thrown through the windows of Turkish restaurants, immigrants being beaten up or even mobs chanting "foreigners out" as they chased eight Indians across a town square.

Away from the political stage, recent surveys have found a significant level of latent prejudice not just in eastern Germany, but in the country as a whole. In 2011, the latest edition of the long-term study on racism and xenophobia begun by the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence at the University of Bielefeld found that 47.1 percent of Germans agree that "there are too many foreigners in Germany." Just short of 30 percent believe that foreigners should be sent home if jobs become scarce.

Some experts believe the problem goes well beyond such initiatives and that it can only be tackled if countries address a gap between rich and poor which has been growing dramatically in Europe in recent years, particularly in Germany. Michael Privot, director of the European Network Against Racism, says that xenophobia is a significant problem across the Continent, and that frequently, socio-economic problems are to blame. "Our analysis shows that the expression of racist sentiment is definitely linked to the economic situation and social context in which people are living."

Privot's sentiment would seem to be born out in the strength of right-wing parties in several of Germany's neighboring countries -- the kinds of anti-Islam populist groups which have not attracted much support in Germany. Many xenophobic parties have seen their poll numbers increase as the euro crisis has become worse.

It is always sad to be reminded of the link between "right-wing extremism" and "neo-Nazis" with racism, "anti-foreigner hate and violence" and "xenophobia". Sad, but not surprising.

Despite its economic success and, in many ways, exemplary progressive society Germany has a long way to go in addressing attitudes towards foreigners and minorities.

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2. The areas concerned need special assistance

These extremist views are prevalent among those in poorer or less prosperous parts of society. Especially in the eastern part, in cities like Magdeburg or Dessau where the economic factors are sorely lacking. New job and education initiatives should help people in these areas.