Shahozaini writes in his latest book:
"I envy all social justice warriors who generate clicks and likes on the internet with social injustice. There is no point in swinging back and forth on the pendulum of injustice. It serves no one but the profiteers of the racism industry. A victim mindset can and will be instrumentalized, and that is why self-healing is so important. An unhealed person will find offense in just about anything. (...) For me, there is no more racism."
by Bahman Shahozaini
I had the involuntary privilege of having to assert myself in the most diverse social milieus. As a result, I feel free from ideological constraints, which in turn makes me an outsider. This may be sheer horror for many, but as an outsider I have never felt as free as I do today.
The grand finale is imminent and adults from left to right are bickering and insulting each other like toddlers.
Right-wing radicals eat kebabs, left-wing radicals wear clothes from Chinese factories, Muslims go to brothels, Christians abuse children. Anything is possible. Is that good or bad? It doesn't matter, because it is what it is, and it is all possible because we are human beings who create not one, but many realities. If we focus on the good things, more of them will happen. If we focus on racism, what happens? That's right! More of it happens.
Let us now turn to the question of how such widespread public interest in the issues of flight and migration could arise. After all, the mantra "We can do it" issued by the Chancellor was just a lubricant. So what was the introduction? I was taken aback by the sudden canon of media professionals who were highly empathetic and compassionate in their response to the refugee issue. I was pleased to see this compassion, but at the same time I was curious to see how long the trend would last and what excesses would emerge. I had a field test under my nose that no university in the world could have offered me better. Observing and analyzing "Germans", "refugees", "migrants" and "opponents" on this stage was both a dream and a nightmare for any researcher. For me personally, it felt like taking cocaine and a sleeping pill at the same time.
Once again: as a refugee child who had already been allowed to sniff the scent of the German welcome culture in the early 1990s, I grew up in the knowledge that bloodthirsty Nazis with combat boots were waiting in countless hordes on every corner to mess up my hair. Nazis, Nazis, Nazis - I was indoctrinated with them on every channel from morning to night. I realized two things: as a Kanake, I should be afraid for my life. And the Germans should all be ashamed of themselves.
But in 2015, these two basic truths apparently changed. And the initial spark for the change was provided by a small, pretty, stateless foreign child that you may remember. She is listed in Google search suggestions as a "crying refugee girl".
Speaking of refugees. What do you think about referring to authors as hacks in the future and calling civil servants systemlings? We also talk about pests and that somehow fits, doesn't it? Do you realize it? Linguistics describes these terms as so-called diminutives, which are created with the help of so-called pejorative suffixes. A trivialization with a pejorative character.
Back to our foreign girl who took German hearts by storm. During a so-called "dialog event" in Rostock in mid-July 2015, a meeting took place between pupils and Chancellor Angela Merkel that attracted worldwide attention. The video went viral across national borders. There, the Chancellor fell into an emotional trap that apparently turned her into the nation's bogeywoman for a moment. She was confronted with two things that are not usually on her agenda: Empathy and children.
Reem, who comes from Lebanon, began to present her tragic concerns in a shaky voice, while the Chancellor followed up objectively and paraphrased what she had said in the style of a student councilor. It was about the possible deportation of Reem and her family, which hovered over them like a sword of Damocles. The topic itself was ungrateful and, what's more, the Chancellor was not dealing with equal heads of state, but with a group of people she obviously knew little about: children. Not a digestible cocktail for the Chancellor: emotions, deportation, children. What a party.
The video is still a hit and if you are interested in body language and emotional resonance, or lack thereof, you should definitely watch it.
The refugee girl Reem presented her case in perfect German. Her toleration procedure was pending, her father was not allowed to work and she lived in constant fear of having to say goodbye to friends, school and her new home involuntarily. She also had dreams and wanted to achieve goals. She gave a credible and very emotional account of how, while her classmates were playing, having fun and taking it easy, she felt like a lamb to the slaughter, with only the day of the slaughter still unknown.
The Chancellor explained to little Reem with understanding and determination: "If we now say: 'You can all come. You can all come from Africa. And you can all come'. We can't do that either." She went on to say: "It's hard sometimes, politics", and that Reem, face to face like this, seemed quite sympathetic, but "some people will have to go back".
Little Reem then burst into tears - a heartbreaking scene took place. The Chancellor spoke to the presenter and, noticing the tears, approached the sweet little girl to comfort her and said, as if she were speaking to a fellow actress in a theater: "You did a great job!"
The presenter jumped in and told the Chancellor that it wasn't about "doing well", but about a stressful situation. The Chancellor knew this, of course: "And that's why I want to stroke her anyway."
Six weeks later, at the end of August 2015, the much-quoted phrase, which even has its own Wikipedia entry, was uttered for the first time: "We can do it!" From then on, the Chancellor mantra-like claimed exactly what she apparently wanted to deny little Reem "and everyone else". So a 180-degree turnaround? I would argue that little Reem's tears were necessary to give the Germans the impetus they needed to come up with the idea of welcoming everyone on their own. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the Chancellor deliberately sought out or even staged this encounter. But there is ample evidence that politics - like any circus - thrives on staging and that these stagings rarely if ever come about completely by chance.
Something else was needed to put the whole country - with the exception of the nutters on the right - collectively into an ecstatic state of compassion for refugees. For a lasting, traumatic effect that really burns itself into everyone's brain, images are needed. In this case, a single image was enough. The death of Alan Kurdi came at just the right time. The washed-up corpse of the toddler burst the emotional balloon so that the Germans, drunk on their own goodness, could finally hand out sympathy like carnival donuts.
Suddenly I felt like I was surrounded by more than eighty million humanists. And our troublemakers from the right, the "losers of the reunification", the "scum of the East" and the "brown sauce" were told to keep their mouths shut. Any criticism was equally right-wing radical. Zero tolerance! Any form of critical expression resulted in a witch hunt, and not only that: the enlightened, pluralistic techno society still had a tried and tested ace up its sleeve - denunciation. Suddenly it became socially acceptable to "report" and financially punish critical voices that were already being suppressed. As if only opinions that corresponded to the current mood in the country should be read. Personally, I was amused that for the first time the right-wing radicals hated the Merkel government more than foreigners. It was only the vehemence with which the critical voices were dismissed that worried me. As an advocate of unconditional freedom of opinion, I tolerate any verbal expression, no matter how hostile. I do not believe in intolerance of intolerance - it is a dead end, a ban on thought in angelic garb. Seen in this light, the government itself provoked the radical responses of the so-called right-wingers, because it favored foreigners over its own population. Even I, as a permanent guest, thought that was wrong.
It's not about racism
The spontaneous outburst of collective compassion seemed very suspicious to me and other foreigners who had been here for years alongside the Germans and not with them. My clan, my tribe and I scratched the back of our heads, perplexed. For years, we had been listening to a spasmodic discussion about integration in Germany, and now the Germans were suddenly welcoming the poor from the war zones with open arms. It was surreal and I still look back on that time with bewilderment. We asked ourselves the same questions that the supposed right-wing radicals were struggling with: what should happen to them? Who was going to look after these people seriously and emphatically? What non-existent jobs were to be given to those who believed that they would be given a house and farm in Germany? Who was going to explain to them that it wasn't just prostitutes who showed a lot of skin here and that even locals couldn't always tell them apart from normal girls? That forced sexual intercourse within marriage was a criminal offense, but homosexuality was not? Or that you could go to prison if you stole from or even beat women who traded their bodies for money? Yes, that they had rights too? Human rights! Something that most of the new arrivals didn't even know about.
Which daycare places, which were already scarce, were to be created and how was integration, the coexistence, supposed to work if the coexistence with the old strangers was already such a disaster? I knew from daycare center operators that well-off Germans were reluctant to put their children in Kanak daycare centers. For God's sake, that wasn't said, of course. They were teachers, lawyers and all members of the middle class. I knew from German teachers that their colleagues had nothing against foreigners, but also didn't enrol their children in daycare centers and schools where there were a lot of foreigners. "Otherwise they won't learn anything."
We can do it! Who is we? And what is that? Who is going to pay for the therapeutic support teachers need? The German school system is designed to weed out educationally disadvantaged children. With the school, an empathy-less, inhumane educational model from the 19th century was installed, which raised obedient, well-behaved bureaucrats. That might work for Germans, but not for traumatized Kanaks! They strike. Should we lock them all up or deport them?
Why didn't anyone want to talk about all these pink elephants in the room? Previous domestic and social policies had created the "foreigner crime rate". The new foreigners ensured that this statistic would continue to exist. This was a huge problem that most Germans were happy to turn a blind eye to.
Why don't you ask the local police what they think? In the course of this story, I've been beating up on this club a lot, but at the end of the day, of course, police officers are just people with feelings and an awareness of (homeland) love. Why else would you put up with such a dirty job and cover your ass for the face of the government? Not because of the salary! Racism in the police force or not. Crime against foreigners is a fact, and I can't blame any cop for not being able to remove his racial glasses when on patrol. The facts of the case and the logic of the association keep them there and that's why I say: Thank you, cop! Thank you for rescuing drowning puppies, helping old people across the street, and curbing morons who would otherwise steal our shirts.
The real problem, if you are still interested, must be dealt with at the root, and experts and people like Jacqueline Flory, the founder of the Zeltschule e. V. association, know this. She has understood it and is doing what the governments are failing to do. Ms Flory organizes and finances school education in the refugee camps in the Middle East. In this way, she prevents the development of stupidity, which can lead to crime. She also does sustainable, authentic image work for humanity. If you really want to help, then donate to this association. Be it just one euro. But please stop constantly complaining about racism. It's not always about racism. It is much more often about a lack of empathy, ignorance and contempt for humanity.
The text is used with permission "Thank you Germany" by Bahman Shahozaini. In the recently published book, the author writes entertainingly about how he has experienced his life as a "Kanake" in Germany for over thirty years. For every argumentatively dilettante contemporary who feeds his political arguments exclusively from ARD/ZDF framing radio scraps and the excretions of Twitter morons with moral resentment tourettes, this book is the way to heal, or at least to loosen up. And just for the sake of good order, I don't know Shahozaini personally, nor do I have a promotional or kickback deal with him. The book is simply an old fashioned reading recommendation. (M.L.)
Thank you for your Support of independent journalism in Germany.
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13 Responses
Racism does not actually (!) exist because there are no human races; racism is a social fiction and cannot be justified or proven in terms of human genetics. It serves to divide society into left and right and ultimately the neoliberal invasion.
Furthermore, it should be noted - quote from "Gott und die Welt": "The concept of racism is being inflationarily expanded and instrumentalized today and is thus being misappropriated in a way that no longer does justice to its actual distinctive meaning. It degenerates into a political tool that is used carelessly and excessively."
https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/biologen-fordern-streicht-den-begriff-rasse-16379749.html
Unfortunately, you don't seem to have paid attention in your biology lessons. Of course there are different human races. What is a race anyway and how does a race come about? Instead of writing a novel here, I recommend that you take a look at evolutionary processes, especially in connection with the geographical separation of two populations within the same species. A quick note: According to current biological studies, there are five different human races. And racism begins when you start 1) thinking about the value of a race and defining it by value 2) elevating one race over another (strong correlation with 1) )
What mainstream biologists demand is one thing, what happens in biological research and reality is another. Some would like to "delete" the term race in order to replace it with something else that describes the same phenomenon. This is what I call social adaptation, or more appropriately careerism in research and the hunt for "likes" in social media (gender, diversity and anti-racism are excellent for this).
Sapere Aude!
Racism is not a simple, easily grasped one-dimensional evil, even if racism and nationalism are often closely related.
Of course there are radical racists and nationalists who roam the streets with clear messages and flags and are so easy to separate from the rest of the population and whose social ostracism is all too justified. But what about the rest? Interested parties like to persuade us that they include many inconspicuous racists who need to be identified, purged if possible and, if necessary, deprived of their existence as soon as they express an opinion that is classified as racist by these interested parties. All it takes is to be the owner of a Moorish pharmacy. But is it really that simple?
One thing is certain, racism, like nationalism, is not a simple world view that people can define, because everyone has justified and unjustified resentments and dislikes. It is also clear that racism and nationalism are not only widespread among "old white men", as Katharina Schulze, the leader of the Green Party in the Bavarian state parliament, who is blessed with a simple view of the world, would like us to believe. There is racism and nationalism on every continent, sometimes even in an aggressive, i.e. murderous, form that goes far beyond what we know in our country and what large sections of our politics would like to see outlawed as racism. Everyone is familiar with the images of burning people in South Africa, hacked off limbs in sub-Saharan Africa and expulsions, occupations and imprisonments in Asia, etc.
It is difficult to identify racism on a small scale. Is it already racism or nationalism to shrug your shoulders at a flood disaster in other, particularly poorer parts of the world, but to invoke national solidarity here? Is it racism when dozens of police emergency vehicles and the colorful so-called party scene regularly keep each other at bay in Stuttgart, which has long been governed by the Green Party, and the common citizen turns away in horror or avoids the city center late at night? Is it due to the disguised racism of the Greens, the Left and the SPD, which is not openly displayed and which results in a cramped attitude, that they and their right-wing counterparts are unable to find a concept for the promotion or development of the African continent? It seems that the former are trapped in their naïve belief that the African continent could be saved if we only intensified the cab service on the Mediterranean. They deliberately turn a blind eye to the fact that this will lure many people into the Sahara death trap: "Vincent Cochetel, the UNHCR's special envoy for the Mediterranean and Libya, told WELT AM SONNTAG: "We assume that probably at least twice as many people die on the way to the Mediterranean as in the Mediterranean itself. But the number could also be much higher. No one can say for sure, but it is a tragedy." This shows that their fight against racism does not primarily serve the people in Africa, as claimed, but rather their own conscience. We cannot help Africa by conjuring up a colorful society here day in and day out, which, when viewed in the light of day, turns out to be quite gray and sometimes even violent, in contrast to the image conveyed in advertising and public broadcasting. This brings us full circle to the fight against climate change and coronavirus. Here, too, the aforementioned circle is not interested in the fact that it is precisely wind energy, which is so much protected, that promotes climate change. Ignorance, self-absorption and racism are closer together than many in the aforementioned circle would like to admit. The recent appearance of Norbert Walter-Borjans in the debate with Prof. Mertens, the chairman of the Standing Vaccination Commission, on Markus Lanz showed that ideology often obscures the view of reality: (2908) Childhood vaccination, STIKO and political communication | Markus Lanz from July 15, 2021 - YouTube
When it comes to the topics mentioned, an open social discourse on OBJECTIVE political concepts must finally be made possible again, without radical contemporaries who are prone to totalitarianism and bans on (thought), especially among members and supporters of the Greens, Left and SPD, defaming the discussants as climate deniers, corona deniers, racists or even Nazis.
The fact that the Federal Ministry of Education and Research removed the revealing interview with Federal Research Minister A. Karliczek and Max Planck Institute Director R. Schlögl from their homepage (see https://www.bmbf.de/de/die-zukunft-gehoert-allein-dem-gruenen-wasserstoff-10851.html), which calls for a change of direction in the energy transition towards importing green hydrogen, should give us all pause for thought. The increasing inability of large parts of our political landscape to engage in discourse is not only destroying our future, but also our free and democratic basic order and thus our democracy.
Racism...... another -ism! (Ideological term of war?)
A biologist would just scratch his head at this term within the 'human race' anyway.
The actual separation of man happens in the spirit.
Morality, world view and, of course, language - these are the hurdles.
Racism debate can be ended for these reasons!
An interesting article about compassion and empathy and about fears.
Mr. Shahozaini gives us a mental arc for the turbulent years from 2015 onwards. These images of refugee flows and crying children are deeply etched in our emotional memory.
Also the media battles against everyone who was also confronted with their fear. Concern, fear and criticism from the "natives" were and are "Nazi". These people have no voice. And they don't get a voice here either. Anyone who does not agree with the media's interpretation is a right-wing extremist.
I ask Mr. Shahozaini as an observer of all these social tensions and upheavals. As a person who has now successfully arrived in the middle of society, what do you want to achieve with this article? (After all, you can publish your clever contributions here).
If the first migrant who has put down roots here builds a bridge, then I am happy to see a good future for this country.
But what I see is merely a quiet criticism of the loud hypocrisy of the do-gooders.
The left-green mainstream is increasingly establishing further social fissures in order to remain in power.
I think we need clever "foreigners" to get out of this impasse.
"An unhealed person will find offense in just about anything." [...]
"But please stop constantly complaining about racism. It's not always about racism. It's much more often about a lack of empathy, ignorance and contempt for humanity."
Thank you for this contribution, Mr. Bahman Shahozaini. Thank you for the literature tip, Mr. Langemann.
In keeping with the theme: does anyone remember the "racism scandal" involving Jordan Torunarigha, the dark-skinned German professional footballer with Nigerian roots? It happened in February 2020 during the cup match between Schalke and Hertha BSC, which went into extra time. Nobody noticed anything during the match, but after the game the then Berlin coach Klinsmann dropped the bombshell. "Allegedly, apparently, probably, obviously" quickly became fact. Torunarigha was racially insulted with monkey noises and/or other abuse from the stands. A scandal, a scandal. But what were the facts?
Torunarigha was aware of this racism in the stands towards the end of the game when the score was 2-2. There was a deafening noise in the stadium at this point, Schalke had equalized a 0:2 deficit. Who else but Torunarigha had heard these monkey noises? Nobody. No other player, no coach, no journalist, no other spectator. No TV microphone picked it up, no smartphone recorded it and although there were calls for witnesses, no guilty individual or group was found afterwards. The player's statement was enough and the proof was the player's tears. Anyone who cries so heartbreakingly is not lying. Period. Anyone who still questions it is an inhuman being and a trivializer of racism, is himself a racist.
I watched the whole game. Torunarigha was "highly emotional" throughout the game. Every refereeing decision against Berlin, especially against himself, was commented on with gestures and he constantly felt unfairly treated. So he lamented throughout the game. Then, out of curiosity, I dug deeper. In Berlin, the player is regarded as a "HB man", as undisciplined, as hyper-emotional, as a person who rarely has his emotions under control. Such people exist, regardless of their origin and skin color. Perhaps Torunarigha had a "perception disorder". Referees often use this as an explanation, even though they are trained to make rational and objective decisions and have their senses under control. Perhaps the player also lied spontaneously and this lie became more and more the truth for him, because nobody questioned it, because he was met with a sea of encouragement and sympathy. I don't know. All I know is that I find the official story completely implausible.
Epilogue: A week ago, there was an Olympic test match between Germany and Honduras, which took place in camera. It was stopped 5 minutes before the end because a player named Torunarigha allegedly (!) felt racially insulted by an opponent several times and his DFB colleagues showed solidarity with him. The Honduran association defended the player in question, saying that it must have been a communication misunderstanding. For the DFB and its coach Kuntz, these are just cheap excuses. Torunarigha was racially insulted. That is a "fact". End of the discussion.
...and if a real schizophrenic at Frankfurt Central Station follows his "heard voices" and pushes people in front of moving trains, it is a crime against foreigners because he happens to have a migration background - and not a real schizophrenic psychosis, which a fellow countryman could just as well have in order to behave just as sick, bad and dangerous....
Dear Verena,
I condemn fanaticism and violence. Real racism and real right-wing radicalism are forms of (national) fanaticism. I myself took to the streets against this over 30 years ago. I demonstrated against skinheads and real neo-Nazis and not against citizens who criticize the lockdown, read Heinrich Heine or dress their child in an Indian costume.
The "search itself" for racism has become just as fanatical, if not more fanatical and hateful. There are whole armies of racism commissioners and ethics committees who perceive and "want to see" racism in culture, in language, in conservative political attitudes. Keyword cancel culture.
Do I have sympathy for traumatized refugees who receive basic benefits here but otherwise live in ghettos, so that many of them develop into ticking time bombs? Yes, I do.
Do I have sympathy for German parents who no longer let their daughters go out on the street or take the train after a certain time because the danger of "experience-oriented young people of non-German origin" has become too great? I have too. And that's not just a cliché spread by the right. It's very real.
That's why you can question Germany's migration policy without being suspected of being right-wing extremist. What makes me angry is that many refugee flows are caused by NATO wars. And the same parties (first and foremost the CDU) that voted for these wars and submissively followed the USA are generously voting to take in tens of thousands of war refugees for whom they themselves are partly responsible.
P.S.: I am Muslim and Afghan. My homeland, perhaps my hut, was bombed over decades. A country like Germany, which took part in this, "thankfully" takes me in. My gratitude and willingness to integrate would probably be limited.
Hello Mr. Löcke,
I'm right there with you. (I wanted to walk 1.0 km home at 3:00 a.m. after the 30-year graduation party - just like before. My classmates who stayed at home told me that it wasn't possible because it was too dangerous - cab...).
"Cancel culture and the search itself": a sham debate (about "gypsy sauce" and "fare dodging" - as well as gendering) that ignores the actual (socio-cultural) problems and even distracts from them - and thus even mocks and exacerbates them. And drags completely different problems (e.g. medical/psychiatric care for the mentally ill) onto this slippery slope instead of solving them. - None of this is solution-oriented...
In her highly readable book "Die Selbstgerechten", Sahra Wagenknecht makes a coherent distinction between migration and flight. The latter follows no other way out in the face of unimaginable conditions in the home country.
The former are not necessarily taken on by the weak and needy (who are often physically unable to do so).
It's not about the exterior.
It's about behavior. Slipping into illegality is not linked to ethnicity.
However, it is certainly socially explosive when recipients of HartzIV have more financial resources at their disposal than poorly paid full-time employees. And also when services financed by taxes and contributions (including healthcare or care for the elderly) are not adequately provided, but "newcomers" benefit from services for which they have contributed nothing.
The state must - regardless of ethnicity, age, religion, origin or opinion - ensure a balance between service providers and service recipients. And not just in the relationship between young and old, rich and poor.
Yet the 10% rich in this society already contribute 50% of state tax revenue through progressive taxation. Left-leaning people like to conceal this when they want to cash in. If we succeed in getting more than just the people who come to us into work, that would be good - and it has been quite good so far. However, as a result of the coronavirus and refugee policy, we will experience tensions on the labor market that could widen the social gap and jeopardize the social fabric. Gillets jaunes in Germany? And now, after the monsoon, entire regions in this country are facing nothing? And society tends to hand over personal responsibility to the state? Who takes care of whom and how, if not everyone takes care of their (extended) area of responsibility? 70% of disability pensions due to mental illness and the average age here is 45???
Roll up your sleeves - not because of vaccination, but because of tasks. Migrants are perhaps also taking care of us - not only in the care of the elderly - we must not forget that. How many locals are (arrogantly) too good for hard work? Have we perhaps simply had it too good? Or do we prefer to ignore precarious living situations, which are also increasingly common here? What is really precarious and where is it simply lazy and self-righteous?
I believe what I see
As a German, I see our world through my own eyes. I see staging and deception. Not all people are the same, even Germans from Bavaria to Friesland are hardly similar, and not just when it comes to soccer. Don't kid yourselves, beautiful texts are useless.
Eckhart Tolle already wrote about the "global madness" of humanity in one of his books. But... don't we finally want to stop lamenting? How "insane" are we ourselves? Aren't we constantly going round in circles ourselves? The "evil" world has basically always been and will most likely continue to be. Let he who is blameless cast the first stone...
Yes, and Jesus turned around angrily when a stone came flying from behind and hissed: Mother, you're annoying... 😉
"...lack of empathy, ignorance, contempt for humanity..."
well, dear Michel, there it is again, the psychopathologically narcissistic, German basic disorder...compensated by emotions prescribed by the media...
Open-mindedness, respect, esteem for life, emotional resonance - warm-heartedness...qualities that can probably be found in musically and artistically inclined people...and they of all people are being put down by public opinion because they can't bear to have to look at the socially deficient mirror image...quo vadis Germany?
The alleged multiculturalism and the integration practiced in the form of established parallel societies...?
Fortunately, there are also exceptions to real coexistence - with recognition of lived differences.
Thank you Mr. Langemann for your next book tip...