Week 4: Black Germans and Black Diaspora in Germany Georgia Morrison and Emily Martin Thursday 19 th February 2015

Historical Context “Im Bewusstsein der Kolonialrevanchisten blieben die Schwarzen die Untermenschen, die es zu zivilisieren und zu disziplinieren galt” World War 2 played both a positive and negative role Children of African American soldiers BRD 2.6 Millionen AusländerInnen

Historical context cont. GDR in the 1960s saw Black German minority emerge; people from certain countries given right to study or work in East Germany Workers usually signed treaty to be allowed to stay from 3 to 6 years 1960s and 70s saw a spreading of extreme right ideologies “Ausländer –raus” Post-reunification attacks

Farbe bekennen p 48

1981/2 Umfrage von INFAS (Institut für angewandte Sozialwissenschaft) Farbe bekennen p 140

Schwarze Afrikaner in der BRD 1997

Experiences – West Germany May Ayim ‘wenn ich mal groß sein, gehe ich nach Afrika. Dort sehen alle aus wie ich. Wenn Mama, Papa und meine weißen Geschwister zu Besuch kommen, werden die Leute auf sie zeigen....meine Eltern werden verstehen, wie das für mich war in Deutschland’

This idea of fitting in and belonging ‘zerstört’ Das ist mein Vater. Ganz schwarz. “Dagegen bist du weiß” “Sehen in Afrika alle Menschen so schwarz aus?” “Na klar” Ihr habt meinen Traum zerstört.

“war ich nicht schwarz und nicht weiß” Subject to terms ‘Mischling’, ‘Neger’, ‘Heimkind’ – struggle to see herself as ‘vollwertiger Mensch’

West Berlin 1984 Marginalisation : but not racism ‘Ausländerfeindlichkeit’ Not picked out as unusual because of her skin colour, no ‘praising’ of her good command of German

1989 post ‘Mauerfall’ Hardly any black Germans ‘täglich gegen unverblümte Beledigungen, feindliche Blicke, rassistische Diffamierungen’

1990+ Didn’t consider the reunification to have brought many positives for immigrants, exiles, Jews or black Germans The wall has gone but the idea of ‘Fremde’ has stayed among the people

West German Conclusion Hard to find identity Marginalisation – perhaps because of living in city? The Mauerfall didn’t really make much difference for Black Germans

East German experience “adolescents in question did not receive any positive support from their social environment during crucial periods of their personal development and identity formation” (Piesche, 39) GDR relatively homogenous and closed society  notion of “other” exaggerated. Foreign students and workers in GDR were dispersed and split into small groups GDR leaders blamed foreigners for racism and xenophobia because of their “unwillingness to integrate into GDR society” and cultural differences

East German experience High percentage of Black East Germans grew up with no Black parent and lack of identification in public discourse Lack of literature, music, media and travel Black German adolescents lacked feeling of being part of GDR Schools a site where specific form of discrimination against ethnic minorities actively produced and practiced

East German Experience- Conclusions GDR closed and homogenous society Lack of resources for Black East Germans to develop positive self image Negative feeling surrounding Black East Germans who were not supported by the state

Comparison West Germany Marginalisation Difficulty in developing positive self-image East Germany Marginalisation Foreign workers/students separated Lack of resources and support for young people Difficulty in developing positive self-image

Post Reunification Have attitudes changed? May Ayim: reunification had little impact on Black Germans from former West Hoyerswerda saw violence against people from Mozambique

Spiegel Experience Tarik Galal – Sudan – 36 Hoyerswerda 1991 Germans fought with Vietnamese at a home for Vertragsarbeiter 32 injured Terms ‘Bimbo’, ‘Kanacke’ ‘Haut bloß ab!’ ‘ungefähr das Schlimmste’ - Reichskristallnacht

2006 World Cup Some parts of Brandenburg deemed dangerous for non-white football fans Followed an attack on an Ethiopian-German man in Potsdam who was left with severe injuries Map of "No-go zones" distributed to Black and Asian visitors

Overall Conclusion During division, experience of Black Germans worse in East Continued since Reunification to an extent Germany-wide difficulty in developing positive self-image

Bibliography Ayim, May (2002) ‘Heimat und Einheit aus afro-deutscher Perspektive’, in May Ayim, Grenzenlos und unverschämt, pp Frankfurt: Fischer Bechhaus-Gerst,M., Klein-Arendt,R., (2004), AfrikanerInnen in Deutschland und schwarze Deutsche – Geschichte und Gegenwart. Münster: LIT, pp Ein Hauch von Freiheit, Prod. credit n.k., Prod. company n.k., 21:05 16/12/2014, Arte, 90 mins. Oguntoye, Katharina et al., eds. (1992) Farbe bekennen: Afro-deutsche Frauen auf den Spuren ihrer Geschichte. Frankfurt: Fischer Piesche, Peggy (2002) 'Black and German? East German Adolescents before 1989: A retrospective view of a "non- existent issue" in the GDR', in Leslie, A. Adelson (ed.) The Cultural After-life of East German: New Transnational Perspectives. Washington D.C.: H. & H. Gray Humanity Series, pp News Articles Der Spiegel (2006). Is Eastern Germany Safe for Foreigners? Racism Warning Has German Hackles Raised. Available at: raised-a html, accessed 16th February raised-a html Ehlers, Fiona (2015). 'Unter Sachsen', Der Spiegel (2/2015) pp Available at accessed 16th February Harding, Luke. (2006) ‘Black and Asian fans told to ignore World Cup warnings’. Available at: accessed 16th February Pancevski, Bojan (2006). World Cup fans warned of race attacks. Available at: attacks.html, accessed 16th February attacks.html