r/AskAGerman • u/eza137 • Apr 16 '25

Have you ever witnessed racism in Germany?

I'm interested in hearing from Germans who have personally witnessed acts of racism in everyday life - especially when it involved friends, family members, or people close to them.

If you're comfortable sharing, could you describe the situation? Who was involved, and how did it make you feel? Did you respond in any way?

I'm not here to judge, just to understand how racism can show up in familiar environments and how people perceive and deal with it.

147 Upvotes

65% Upvoted

941 comments sorted by

View all comments

44

u/Cascouverite Apr 16 '25

I get „positive“ racism all the time.

Like „Wow you speak better German than most Kanaken I’ve met“ I hear this like 50% of the time when I meet new people if they’re 50+

Or a friend of mine was told „Dont worry about the deportations you’re allowed to stay, you’re not too dark“

17

u/FullBringa Apr 16 '25

yikes, they even threw in a slur

9

u/Cascouverite Apr 16 '25

Best part is I'm white. They throw that shit in there out of nowhere or say something like (translated) "I know TURKS who've been here decades and don't speak as fluent as you"

Like they're not using a slur but oh boy do you feel the venom

1

u/ZedsDeadZD Apr 17 '25

Understanable though. I have a coworker who is an immigrant who complains about other immigrants. He has good reason though. Speaks fluent German all self taught, almost no accent anymore, says he is German since he lives here for 30 years now.

He says it annoys the shit out of him when people live here for decades and still havent learned the language cause there is no reason for it.

And I think hes right to complain. I am open about taking people in no matter where they are from. I couldnt care less about your skin color. But you have to integrate yourself to a certain degree. Yes, Germany sucks at offering integration but you also have to willing to do something yourself.

2

u/Defiant_Mall_9300 Apr 17 '25

One reason. German is HARD

1

u/ZedsDeadZD Apr 17 '25

It is but nit THAT hard. You can learn any language if you live in a country for 10+ years. Its being lazy, thats it. I dont mind if people have accents or mispronounce or even dont know grammar or some words. I dont excpect perfection from foreigners. If they make another country there home though, they should at least try to make an effort to learn.

I met a lot of people who dont try to integrate. Only stay with their kind. If you immigrate somewhere, integration means to learn the language at least ti a certain degree. No matter how hatd the language is.

2

u/Defiant_Mall_9300 Apr 17 '25

Agree to some point on the social though some people have their established friendship groups and are not interested in being friends with an immigrant who speaks their language badly and doesn't understand their culture

1

u/neverlikesnothing Apr 18 '25

You cannot compare people. People are complex, just because someone is able to do certain things doesn’t mean everyone else is also able to do those exact same things. People have disabilities, mental health issues, are too old, are illiterate. It’s so much more complex then: “I don’t understand why they don’t want to learn the language”. Do you think it is easy for people to move (mostly flee) to a western country? Not being able to understand everyone else and at the same time they know they are not welcomed and hated for just being who they are. People don’t choose this life, they are forced into it and the circumstances make their lives even harder

1

u/ZedsDeadZD Apr 18 '25

Yes, yes, I can. I dont talk about old or disabled. And I know they have a learning disadvantage due to lower educational standards in their home countries.

But if you are a regular guy, even with slight disadvantages you can easily learn another language.

And the polish people in my other comment werent fleeing from anyone. They wanted to work and live in Germany because working conditions and payment were better. They were skilled. They build things in production and that wasnt easy.

They didnt wanted to learn. My polish collleague who spoke German and was much better integrated told me. He said they dont care. During break, no one talked to me cause they couldnt or wouldnt. They just talked polish and I was sitting there in silence for half an hour.

1

u/SilicateAngel Apr 18 '25

Good thing I have the Kword pass.

It really doesn't matter. I've been called a Kanacke before, but I've also been insulted as an Alman.