Unfortunately, I don’t have that much time to publish new pieces since I have a lot to do. I, i.a., care for foreign students; this feels a bit like a 24/7 job. I showed them some nice sites of Leipzig; we were, e.g., on top of the Monument to Battle of Nations. 2013 marks to anniverseries: In October, when the Battle of Nations will pass its 200 years jubilee, the Monument’s will become 100 years old.

First, I deemed the SMS in which someone became exasperated whith a thank-you from the South African Revenue Service (SARS) to be a joke.

But indeed, the SARS thanks tax payers for their contributions. I ask a South African friend who confirmed this approach and was staggered how the German revenue service would handle this. Well. I asked some other Germans — and it’s not only me who haven’t ever received any thank-you.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

The short movie Schwarzfahrer about a black man in Germany, who’s harressed by an old, white woman for being black, is a classic but still up-to-date. It concentrates many stereotypes against non-white people living in Germany.

The movie from 1992, Oscar-winning two years later, accurately describes my daily experiences as a black German in my hometown Leipzig, i.e. a town in East Germany, where people are not ashamed of telling others, who are perceived as foreigners, of their prejudices or, as seen in the video, speaking about these peoples without letting them take part in the chat.

I already wrote that resentment against non-white peoples in East Germany are stronger pronounced because so few of them live here. White is much more seen as the standard of society than in other regions in Germany. Therefore, it’s not surprising that non-whites are accounted as foreign (thus dangerous). A white foreigner (or migrant) has a real chance to leave a positive mark. If you aren’t white, or worse: if you’re black, you’re fucked up. They see you, they judge you, they refuse you.

The German movie title Schwarzfahrer (engl. fare dodger) is a pun which can’t be translated accurately. The literal translation is black driver. Black is connotated as illegal or negative. In Germany, many negative words are often created by using the word black. Another example is schwarz arbeiten (lit. work black, engl. to moonlight).

Note: At 5:40 minutes, there’s a little mistranslation: The woman says: They [the foreigners] smell awful, but the text is translated with you smell awful.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.