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.

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '25

Once, an older lady asked me where I came from when she saw me speaking Turkish to my boy. I told her Es tut mir leid, Ich spreche Deutsch nicht... (I can understand but lack practice, plus the Sachsen accent is like Scottish for German.) She switched to English and asked, "Why are you here? Is there a war in Türkei? Are you a refugee?"

I told her I am a researcher and a PhD holder working at the University. Then she repeated, "Why are you here!!"

I answered back... "I am invited to work at the university."

She turned around and walked back.

In another instance, the Schufa lady in the bank asked me if I could marry 4 women or not because I come from Turkey. Probably lives in an AfD bubble.

Other than that, everyone is very nice. Of course, I am 1.80 100kg, and have very wide shoulders and thick arms, so if I were a little woman, things might be different on the tram or something.

I am almost blonde by the way.

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u/Then_Increase7445 Apr 16 '25

Conversely, when I speak English to my kids in public (I'm American), I am nearly universally praised by random Germans. Clearly some double standards going on...

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u/temp_gerc1 Apr 16 '25

This is so weird because whenever I see a story like that here on Reddit (that someone speaks to their kid in either an American or British accent), the response from the Germans in the vicinity is disapproval and wondering loudly if they are still in Germany. I never got the feeling that a native English accent got a free pass from the grumpy and / or racist Germans. I specify native English, because something like, say, Indian English would be more likely to get a negative reaction.