New film uncovers racism in Germany

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." 

Günter Wallraff was almost beaten up by Neo-Nazis after a football match in eastern Germany. 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.

Mr Mekarides left his native Cameroon in 1991 and came to study in a small town in eastern Germany.

He says he and his fellow African students experienced racist attacks and abuse every day.

They were spat at, shouted at and beer bottles were thrown at them.

The worst attack took place in the eastern Berlin district of Lichtenberg in 2004, when Mr Mekarides and his girlfriend were surrounded by seven young men armed with knives.

"We soon realized that it was dangerous to travel in groups of less than three people. And we would never let any of the women go anywhere without accompanying them," he said in a Berlin cafe.

Since then, he said, the situation has not got much better.

According to the Amadeu Antonio foundation there have been 138 racially-motivated murders in Germany since 1990. And last year police registered 140 race attacks in Berlin.

"Those are only the most extreme cases the police know about," said Mr Mekarides.

"Every day we get calls from black people who have been falsely accused of stealing something or insulted on the street."

Clown in a carnival?

Although Mr Mekarides welcomes the discussion about racism the film has sparked off, he believes the filmmaker's exaggerated disguise confirms Europeans' worst stereotypes of an African.

"He just doesn't look like an African," said Mr Mekarides. "The wig, the make-up and the brightly-coloured shirt are all so over the top, he looks like he's a clown in a carnival.

"After he has washed his skin, he can forget the problem. But black people have this problem every day."

Some German newspaper commentators have accused the filmmaker himself of racism for acting out such a negative stereotype of a black person. The character of Kwami speaks broken German and is childlike in his ignorance of dangerous situations.

Anti-racism pressure groups, meanwhile, have complained that the filmmaker is paternally speaking for black people, rather than with them. Why did he not simply film the experiences of real black people?

"It was crucial that I take on these dangers myself," countered Mr Wallraff. "There's no way that I could delegate this role to someone else.

"I've been accused of being racist. But just imagine if I'd sent a black person into situations that I wasn't prepared to go into myself."

Torture and prison

With a celebrated 40-year career of unearthing social injustice, it is impossible to doubt Gunter Wallraff's motivations.

In one assignment he went undercover as an anti-government protestor in 1970s Greece and was tortured and imprisoned.

The film has won praise for starting a debate about racism in Germany. After a Q&A session with Mr Wallraff in a Berlin cinema, one young black woman said the film was "interesting, helpful and needed for Germany".

She said: "I've lived here all my life, and this is the first time I've ever seen an audience like this discussing this issue."

Racism is viewed as unacceptable by mainstream German society, and many urban areas pride themselves on a multi-cultural tolerant atmosphere.

But there do still exist so-called "no-go areas" - particularly in rural eastern Germany - which anti-racism activists advise non-white people to avoid.

Gunter Wallraff's film has already done a lot to spark discussion about racism. With an ageing population, Germany is now having to come to terms with being a country of immigration.

Clearly the debate is just beginning.

Source: BBC News

Neo-Nazi Victim Battling to the Death - 09/29/2006

By Roman Heflik in Birmingham

Noel Martin plans to take his own life in less than a year. Just over 10 years ago, a neo-Nazi attack left him paralyzed from the neck down. He plans to fight right-wing extremists to the very end.

Noel Martin has already chosen July 23, 2007 to be the day he dies. On that evening, his pulse will gradually slow down until it stops completely. He has decided to die as a result of a lethal blend of drugs -- administered in Switzerland by Dignitas, an organization that offers its clients medically assisted suicide.

Noel Martin has only 297 days left. But time, he says, is also limited for the neo-Nazis who ruined his life.

Martin publicly announced his decision in June, 10 years after the attack that left him paralyzed and destroyed his will to live. He plans to celebrate his last birthday -- he'll be 48 –- and then drink the cocktail that will put him out of his misery.

He has 297 days left.

The attack occurred on June 16, 1996 in Mahlow, a town in the former East German state of Brandenburg where the dark-skinned, Jamaican-born Briton was employed as a construction worker. A stone crashed through the windshield of his car and Martin's car veered off the road. He remembers seeing a tree careening towards him and jerking the steering wheel.

And then, a thud. Darkness.

When Martin woke up, he was lying on his back. He heard a voice. "Can you feel my hand on your leg?" it asked him. "But you're not touching my leg," Martin replied.

"I am not a part of life. I just exist"

Two young Germans, Sandro R. and Mario P., had thrown a lump of concrete at Martin's car. They were 17 and 24 years old at the time and their motive was "explicit xenophobia," as a court later determined. They were sentenced to five and eight years in prison. Noel Martin never got an apology, but by now he doesn't care any more. "It would be a waste of time. God will take care of them," he says, "life will take care of them." Both of his attackers are now free. But Martin is still imprisoned –- in his own body.

The attack left Noel Martin paralyzed from the neck down. "I am not a part of life," he says, 10 years and three months later, "I just exist." At home in Birmingham, he leans his heavy head against the headrest of his giant wheelchair. He fixes his weary eyes on his interviewer. "Everything has to be figured out by your head. It's torture, mental torture," he sighs. Martin will never be able to move his arms or legs again and he'll never be able to feel what his fingertips touch. He'll never have sex again, never go to the toilet by himself. Nor will he ever feel his own heartbeat.

Martin feels comparatively happy this afternoon. He was up at 8:00 and it only took until noon for him to be washed, massaged, and dressed.

Mornings aren't always this easy. Sometimes his ulcers bleed and bleed, until his dark face goes ashen and his eyes fall shut from sheer exhaustion. Sometimes his nurses slap his face to wake him up again. They have to slap his face –- that's the only part of his body that Noel Martin can still feel.

Losing control of your body hurts

On this particular afternoon, the idea of death seems absurd. Warm rays of sun shine through the garden window, casting patterns of light on the living room carpet. He looks around at the gilt moulding between the high ceiling and the green walls, at the heavy wooden furniture, the red leather couch and his television. There's a little fire place built into one wall. His huge old desk is covered with photo albums and sheets of paper. Dozens of birthday cards line the cornice along the wall. The room is full of life. This is Martin's kingdom. This is where he spends almost every day.

His wheelchair is in the middle of the room. His nurses have dressed him in black trousers and a casual black sweater. His roundish paunch protrudes underneath the sweater. "I used to be fit," Martin says. "I used to run in the mornings. Then I would do sit-ups. I did kung-fu and boxing too." Today he's plagued by chills and hot flashes. His broad shoulders have gone slack. He still has some control over his right shoulder –- which allows him to operate his wheelchair with a joystick and use his phone. Apart from that, Martin needs the assistance of his eight nurses for everything else.

They keep an eye on him 24 hours a day. Even now, a small woman with a blonde ponytail is standing in the doorway. "Cath, give me some wine please," Martin says. The nurse reaches him a glass of chilled white wine. He drinks it through a straw. "Good. Give me a cigarette please," he says. Cathy puts one in his mouth and lights it. Martin takes a drag. Then Cathy removes the cigarette from his mouth –- until he wants to take another drag.

This constant dependence on other people is agony for Martin. "I can never be alone." The self-confident man suffers from his loss of control. Suddenly he twists his face into a grimace –- he can't stand it anymore. "Cath, scratch please." The nurse wipes his face with a towel. This will happen about 10 times before the afternoon is over.

"You can't suffer every day of your life"

Jacqueline, his strong-willed wife, used to take care of him. She died of cancer six years ago. Two days before she passed away, they married at Jacqueline's sickbed -- after having lived together for 18 years. Martin says he spent 36 hours with her after their marriage before she fell into a coma. "I miss her every day," he says. His voice, which normally sounds so resolute, cracks. He can see her grave outside in the garden.

After the attack, he promised Jacqueline to try and hold on for eight years. On the evening of July 23, 2007, 11 years will have passed since the event that changed his life forever.

Martin's announcement that he plans to commit suicide has caused an uproar. The phone rang constantly for days. "The only one who didn't call was God," he jokes. Countless journalists asked him for an interview and outraged Christians urged him not to commit such a sin. But Martin says he doesn't need their advice. "Cath, cigarette please." He takes a deep drag and says that "99 percent of them" would already have "ended it all" years ago, in his situation. What does he think about other handicapped people who want to "end it all"? "Suffering is individual," he replies. "And you can't suffer every day." No, he says, he's not afraid to die. "No one escapes death anyway." He seems relaxed now –- almost cheerful. These are thoughts he has often thought.

Neo-Nazis are already celebrating the imminent death of the man they despise in their Internet forums. After all, the attack gave rise to an unprecedented campaign against xenophobia. Citizens in Mahlow spontaneously started up a local project called "Tolerant Mahlow." Martin returned to the city in 2001 and he called on its citizens to continue to stand up for the rights of others. He also established a charitable foundation against xenophobia.

Right-wing extremists, for their part, see it as a provocation that he is still alive. One of their Internet forums features a post by a neo-Nazi urging Martin to burn himself alive on a market square, noting that this would save money. The author of the post adds that he would be "happy to donate the gasoline." What does Martin think about the neo-Nazis? "Foolish people who know nothing about life. They love white skin, but they lie down in the sun to get a tan." He says to let them talk –- after all, there is such a thing as freedom of speech. "I wasn't afraid of them then, and I'm not afraid of them now," he says.

Noel Martin hasn't yet turned his back on life

Black people still aren't safe in Brandenburg today, 10 years after the attack on Noel Martin. "The government should make sure everyone can go wherever they want and be safe," he says. Martin knows how far-reaching the problem is. The first time he heard the word "nigger" was decades ago, back home, in the British industrial town of Birmingham.

And so Martin wants to make the most of the time that's left before the evening of July 23, 2007. His nurses, Cathy and Charity, spread out sheets of paper on the carpet. Martin discusses his appointments with the two nurses and makes a few phone calls. He hasn't turned his back on life yet. He's working on his book and in October he has a meeting with Brandenburg's governor, Matthias Platzeck in London. Later, he wants to return to Mahlow another time.

"I want to tell people they should stop apologizing for their past. They should just teach their children the value of life," he says. He's sure to receive public attention now –- and Martin is using it to support his foundation and other projects.

The right-wing extremists may well celebrate his death as a late triumph, but Noel Martin takes a very different view. "I have some bad news for those people," Martin says. He raises his head and his voice as if he were preparing to give a speech: "Of the 6 billion people in the world, 5 billion are people of color. Sooner or later they'll all mix." He grins. "Who knows? Maybe the children of these Nazis will marry a black man or a black woman one day?"

He likes the idea. The Nazis are running out of time –- with or without Noel Martin.

Source:  Spiegel

Pregnant Woman Hospitalized in Racist Attack - 12/03/2007

The eastern German city of Magdeburg saw a series of hate crimes over the weekend. Suspected right-wing extremists attacked five Iraqis -- including a pregnant woman -- and four Africans in two separate incidents, and a Jewish community center was also vandalized.

A 20-year-old pregnant Iraqi woman was among several victims of what were believed to be racially motivated attacks in the eastern German town of Magdeburg this weekend.

A group of Germans attacked five Iraqis on a night bus on Saturday night, police reported Sunday. The group of two women and three men were verbally abused as they were getting on the bus around 10 p.m. A German man punched one of the woman in the face at the bus stop, and a second man pushed her against her two-year-old child's stroller. The woman, who is pregnant, had to be taken to hospital suffering from abdominal pain, police said. The police detained two suspects but later released them.

In a second attack, three men and a woman from Niger were allegedly harassed and racially abused by three men who are believed to be German. A fight developed, during which two of the Africans were injured. A passerby alerted the police who came and broke up the fight. A police officer who tried to detain two of the suspects was attacked and injured by the group of assailants, which had grown to six or seven people, and the two suspects managed to flee. The group split up before additional police could arrive.

In a third incident, a Jewish community center in the city was vandalized on Sunday. An intercom box was torn off the wall of the building, causing €300 worth of damage. Police have not ruled out an anti-Semitic motive.

Germany's domestic intelligence service, which monitors far-right activity, is investigating all three cases.

The incidents are merely the latest in an ongoing series of attacks on foreigners in Germany's economically deprived eastern states. An attack on eight Indian men by a mob in the town of Mügeln made headlines around the world in August 2007. More recently, four men carved a swastika into the thigh of a 17-year-old woman after she tried to stop them harassing a six-year-old girl in the town of Mittweida.

Source: Spiegel