11
Merkel uttered those words full of conviction and seriousness in February 2012. On that day, we wanted to believe her. We still want to believe that Germany’s self perception as a homogenous white society is no longer valid, that dark skin and kinky hair are as German as lederhosen and beer. We want to believe that times are a changing for us, too.
And progress has been made since 1964. We might not have had our Rosa Parks moment, yet. There is no German Civil Rights heroine, no German Martin Luther King, Jr., but there are little sparks, which all the same could ignite true change in Germany. Civil society is thoroughly fed up with the peddlers of hate, not least because the demographics have changed dramatically. Fifty years ago, mixed-race children where considered an abomination among their white peers. Today, our son and daughter go to schools where most kids have one, two or three lineages in them. In Germany today, 16 million citizens are of immigrant stock. And those numbers are rising. And politicians are reacting to this trend.
Germany is now governed by a new coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel at the helm again. In her
cabinet, more women are serving than ever before. “Equal opportunity” is no longer just a phrase. Several prominent members of the former and the current government have come out as gay. Complete financial and legal “equality” of homosexual relationships will only be a matter of time.
And for the first time in German history, there are two Afro-German members of Parliament – a Social Democrat and a Christian Democrat. And a number of junior ministers have immigrant roots as well. Germany is slowly changing toward the norm. The multiracial, multicultural country at the crossroads in the heart of Europe that it always was.
In 2014, an old man from West Africa looks back at his life, at the 50 years he has spent in Germany. He acquired German citizenship a long time ago. And even if he still does not “feel” quite German, this country has become our father’s home. g
1 NA, RG 338, EUCOM, Secretary, General Office of the Chief of Staff, Confidential, Hq. IX Air Force Service Command, Policy No. 47 on Marriage of Colored Soldiers and White Women, 24 August 1945
2 Deliberations of the German Bundestag, stenographic reports, March 12, 1952 p.850ff
3 Yara-Colette Lemke Muniz de Faria: “Germany's 'Brown Babies' Must Be Helped! Will You?“: U.S. Adoption Plans for Afro-German Children, 1950-1955. In: Callaloo, Bd. 26, Nr. 2, Spring 2003, S. 342-362
4 Both German States, the German Democratic Republic (East-Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (West-Germany) were founded in 1949 but only joined the United Nations in March 1973.
5 Ius Sanguinis: (Latin: right of blood) is a principle of nationality law by which citizenship is not determined by place of birth but by having one or both parents who are citizens of the state. German citizenship is based primarily on the principle of jus sanguinis. In other words one usually acquires German citizenship if a parent is a German citizen, irrespective of place of birth. A significant reform to the nationality law came into force on 1 January 2000. The new law makes it somewhat easier for foreigners resident in Germany on a long-term basis, and especially their German-born children, to acquire German citizenship.
6 Albrecht Dürer, Head of an African, 1508, Coal on paper, 32 x 21,8 cm, Graphic Collection, Albertina Vienna
7 Chancellor Angela Merkel apologizes for racist murders: see NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/world/europe/merkel-apologizes-for-police-handling-of-neo-nazi-killings.html
8 http://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/rechtsextremismus/rechtsextreme-gewalt-bundesregierung-zaehlt-63-todesopfer-es-sind-deutlich-mehr/7957070.html
9 Interactive Map: http://service.tagesspiegel.de/opfer-rechter-gewalt/
10 http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/justiz/opferzahl-rechtsextremer-gewalttaten-womoeglich-deutlich-hoeher-a-937217.html
Documentarian John A. Kantara faced discrimination as an Afro-German child.