About the first twenty years of my life I spend in the Emsland. I like to compare it to the Shire, where Hobbits live, because it is about the unimportant and 'boring' place one can find in western Germany. It is in general very catholic and in the 3000 people village, where I lived, were nearly no foreigners. My parents of course were in some sense as well foreigner coming from Rheinland-Pfalz. As there is so many space and illicit work/neighbourly help is so common the houses the typical Emsländer lives in are so big, that the major of cologne once said when he came to the Emsland, that in Cologne only millionaires live like the normal ones in the Emsland. Despite the general lack of foreigners, my first best friend was a foreigner, a real foreigner. His last name Haouati was always great fun, when somebody tried to pronounce it for the first time. The reason why we were best friends had a lot to do with football. Actually I can remember much what else I have done as a small child than playing football. We were not only playing one against one in our normal free time, but were as well going to the local football club, where we played every second year together as he was a bit older. I played defense, Armin was striker, a very good one and often the only hope for our very grotty team. His father was a simple worker. Armin lived with his 4 siblings in a small flat with only 2 children rooms for the five kids. When we reached primary school age, it was usual to invite all boys of our 18 children class. A tradition which all but one followed. He invited only me to his birthday. In the summer holidays, he was always going home to Tunesia. Shortly after we had learned to write, I got my first holiday card in my life, he wrote only 'Martin, you are a good friend'. His parents planned to go home, when Armins father would reach retirement age. I have the strong impression, that they somehow assumed their children would like to go to Tunesia, too. Armin was the oldest, a younger brother had the name Ali, a sister Bashra, when I met him first, later there was born a sister Maura. His mother wore a headscarve, Armin was following the rules of Ramadan, at home they spoke Arabian. Sometimes it is difficult to judge oneself, so I'm not doing that. In all the years, I went together with him to school, I was playing football in a club and our free time with him, I can't remember to have seen any sign of racism or any kind of discrimination, because of him being a muslim. But I know, that on his birthday he would have invited all the boys of our class, if it were not for the reason, that his his father earned so little money. Already after we were going on different high schools, another sister was born. The parents gave her the name Ines. So it seems they have decided to stay for ever. When Armin turned 18, he applied to German citizenship, made his military service and studied economy.
Later when I was in high school, I had a very unusual teacher of the name Kristof Tondera. He had a very strong accent and was talking Polish with his kids. All except one year in high school he was my physics teacher, which is, as you may know, the subject which I have studied afterwards. He was as well most of the time thye physics teacher of my younger brother, who as well studies physics. My brother once told me, that a pupil said something which implied Mr. Tondera to be a Pole. He said he is no Pole. He is a German. The constitution says, a German is somebody who has a German passport. Up to that point I had never really thought about citizenship, but diffusely I had the impression, of German being a race, as often in the media there is spoken about 'Deutschtürke' or something like that, which implies, that somebody is still a Turk, even once he has taken the German citizenship and has given up on his Turkish citizenship. But Mr. Tondera, one of my favourite teachers, said, he is a German. Not because he was born in Germany, or because he could speak German that greatly (he really has a strong accent), but finally, because he decided to become one, and was accepted. I think from that day on, I began to think of being German as of a clubmembership, not as a race or something like that and always get angry, if in the media there is said somebody was a 'Deutschtürke', even if his ancestry as Turk was completely irrelevant, as it is in most of the times, it is mentioned.
If I could have wished something for Armin, it would have certainly not been, that he would be more white. I never had the feeling that this makes any difference. I would have wished him, a birthday party with all children like the one had it, who were living in the big houses. When thinking about my physics teacher (you may say, he is not coloured, but speaking with a Polish accent is certainly in Germany not so far apart from being, well, different in an important aspect), the one who has probably done a big part for that I'm going the way of my live, as I do, I can't think at the same time of a disadvantaged person and of the role model, he indeed is.
Some were talking about the question if there is racism in Europe/Germany. There is. But to lump all those together in a group who are somehow different, labelling them as disadvantaged and creating a compensation, which then is statistically provided to them, in no correlation to the question whom of them really got big disadvateges and who not, is in my opinion a form of that collectivist thinking, which creates the disadvantages in the first place. It is judging people by their skin colour, by their ancients, not by what they do, what they achieve, what is their desire. The playing field is not levelled. So is not for the Kevins or the Jaquelines in Germany, so is not for those who can't speak the elitists slang, despite doing all the things superior which are officially required of them to be part of the uberwinners gang. But the field bumpy, not simply high for those who are white and low for the others. If some ETers want to call me racist for insisting on looking on the full person, not labelling people in a box. So be it. Der Amerikaner ist die Orchidee unter den MenschenVolker Pispers
I can't think at the same time of a disadvantaged person and of the role model
Maybe I should ask others, where I have the impression they are not discriminated, maybe they can name some occasions, where they were discriminated. But what exactly is the problem? We are what we are mostly either by genome or by environment interacting with the phenotype. Discrimination doesn't justify affirmative action unless it is that pronounced that it becomes dominant over other e.g. genetic factors. Whatever they will tell me, if I can't see any discrimination on people who I well know, than this discrimination will not be pronounced enough to trump other factors, the least socio-economic background, which in contrast to what Marek said, is not countered with affirmative action (that would be e.g. giving some of my commillitons better marks for the same diploma thesis than I get, because they have working class parents, or give them some extra lessons or whatsoever different treatment). Socio-economic background I can watch every week on meetings where my mostly working class commilitons behave in an attitude untypical for the upper class.
Statistical Italians in Germany have nearly as bad chances in our school system as Turks, and Spaniards nearly as good chances as native Germans. So anti-Italian racism trumps the effects of ghettoisation, which affect the more numerous Italians compared with the less numerous Spaniards?
Racism in Germany is strongly concentrated on regions and in milieus, and as our minorities are ususally not coloured, it is often an accentism. With all I know up to know, I can guarantee you, that if coloured, but accent free, Ines is going the way of her brother and studies, she will face less mutual exclusion than a white Jaqueline - despite the indignities a Gerald Asamoah has to face in some stadiums, despite burning asylum homes in Solingen or Rostock, and despite Mügeln. Der Amerikaner ist die Orchidee unter den MenschenVolker Pispers
