Two thoughts, I'd like to utter: • When you think you have some kind of "flaw" in the eyes of others, you will permanently find confirmation for this. When s.o. is unfriendly to you, stares at you, rejects you, you will always think: that's because I am black Or: because I look like a muslim, a jew, I am too small, too big, ugly, handicapped, too old or whatsoever. But maybe the other one is always like this, has a bad day, thinks of something else and so on. You are going to experience what you expect to experience. I know that there of course is also true rejection und bad behaviour. But how can you separate one from the other? • Second thought: Everybody, who has a black ancestor one or two generations prior is labeled "
Sir/madam Black people do not think we have some kind of ‘flaw’ in the eyes of others. As a matter of fact most don’t care what others think. It is when it ACTUALLY affects your life daily is when it becomes a problem. I have always said Racism is not a problem for Black people. It is a White people problem and only THEY can fix it. But unfortunately most of them view it as what you have just explained so don’t even see the problem. Because they don’t exist in it. I just pray that collectively ALL Black people realise this one day and move on from trying to get you to understand what we go through. Because you simply don’t care to try to empathise If you care to know, It’s a SYSTEM that conditions people to oppress and look at other races as lesser and don’t even acknowledge they are doing it sometimes. We don’t care about the individuals who are racist. It’s the system we want acknowledged. But it’s Ok if It doesn’t affect you so you can view it in rose tinted glasses if you wish.
@@ConvosXpodcast Thank you for taking the time to answer. I do agree, that racism is foremost a problem of the racist people. And, as I said, I am far from denying, that there is racism. (Maybe I should have underlined that stronger). Nevertheless you seem to either not understand the thought, or you consciously decided to ignore it and hold on to a black-and-white/good-and-bad-thinking. (It also may have to do with cultural differences between the US and Europe, where I am from). In a nutshell: I think that your perception forms reality as much as external influences.
Thanks for your contribution. I totally understand what you are driving at. Like I said the individual racism or racist acts are not the issue. It’s the system of racism that encourages people to look at others as less than that is the problem. Example. The culture of the “German stare” I have learnt it’s a German thing. I beg to differ in some situations I’ve been in but that I can understand the argument of it may be my perception. I get that argument. But when you have statistically Black people getting paid less than White people in the same job position and qualifications and Black women even less in the Uk. There is a racist system there. That is not about perception. Do you understand that. You can have a look at historical red lining, Jim Crow etc in the US. Germany doesn’t keep data on these things so it’s hard to know but I bet it will not be any different. So regardless of culture. There is a systematic racism that holds Black people back in all of Europe, USA most places. It’s entirely up to individuals of other races to believe, empathise or dismiss. It is not about good or bad. Racism doesn’t automatically mean bad person at all. Some very good people I have met have been or said racist stuff mostly without knowing. Difference is they seem to take it in once it’s pointed out.
@@ConvosXpodcast Thanks again for your answer. I do understand the phenomenon of a structural racism, and I do not doubt, that something like this exists. Although I am sure, that you can´t compare Germany to the US, concerning that matter. E.g. payment, in Germany, is far more standardized by tariff-contracts and fixed income-steps than in the US to achieve equality (...I know, there are still differences between men/women or West-Germany/East-Germany). I also get the idea, that racist thoughts are widely spread amongst societies, and I don´t imagine, that I am totally free of them. Anyway - what I wanted to point was something else: the difficult necessity to separate between being-treated racist and feeling-being-treated-racist. ...and I´m happy to see, that this was understood :-)
It seem also depend on where in Germany you are. Friend of our family first lived in Eastern Germany. During that time (couple of decades ago) she was afraid to go out. Insults, a neighbor who was also black, was murdered, threats.... She moved to Munich and nowadays she says she feels safe. She hasn't experienced any racism for at least 20 years but her past experience?! I mean...I am white. So when I am over at her flat and we chat about every topic that comes to our minds one day she told me about the horrors back then. I was shocked how calm she was talking about it....
That sounds horrible. I am sure it’s not as bad as decades ago. Things have gotten better however there are few ideologies that have lived on minus the violence. I’m glad your friend is doing much better.
I cannot speak for your friend, as these are her experiences. But I doubt that she hasn't faced any racism in Munich in 20 years. She might no see things as racism, because her past experiences were so much worse. But she definitely is dealing at least with microaggressions etc.
Germany is for the most part a lovely place to visit. You should visit. Germany is not nearly as bad as the perception people have. There are places you wouldn’t want to go as a Black person. Word on the street is parts of east Germany isn’t very tolerant but most of the rest of Germany is fine. Visit. There are idiots everywhere anyway.
Usually mixed children with a black father and a white mum are less aware of how society views them and they are also not as conscious of social injustice and racial inequality. Not only that black mothers make effort to teach them their African culture more. Which is why I know only of mixed children with black mothers that speak their mother’s language. It must be because mothers are generally more involved in their child’s live. But good on her.
Interesting observation. I do know one friend who also mostly lives with his dad and he is such a great speaker on African history and very vocal when it comes to his privileges. People who acknowledge their privileges are rare. Always good to meet them. Where are you based?
@@rhythmicnarratives I don’t know if Obama knows much about his Kenyan heritage. I remember him saying that he did not know his father very well because he left him and his mother at a very young age which happens way too often. All mixed children I know have divorced parents. I only know of one uncle who did not leave his white wife and stuck with her. I respect him for that. My father was married to a white woman as well but I can see myself lucky I don’t have any abandoned biracial half siblings. It is what it is 🫠
Why would they not be "aware" of social injustice and inequality, assuming that they are confronted with it? And why would the ethnicity of the mother determine whether a "mixed" person become aware of it or not? Assuming that one parent is white and one parent is black a "mixed" person would have the same Afro-European phenotype, no matter whether it's the mother or the father that is Black African. So the likelihood that a "mixed" person is experiencing prejudice and discrimination stays the same, because they have the same phenotype that triggers the same adverse and discriminatory reactions from prejudiced and bigotted (white) people, irrespective of whether it's the father or the mother that is Black. In my experience a lot of Black African (in particular first generation) immigrants struggle with Afro-European identity. They make the mistake of projecting their own petty-minded ideas from a more traditional, conservative African context (often infused with superstitious and rural ideas) upon Afro-European people, who grew up in an western, often multiethnic and urban setting. It's not only "mixed" Afro-Europeans that they tend to project their traditional cultural norms and expectations on, but also Blacks who grew up in Europe in a mostly western environment, who themselves are more Afro-European than African in their identity and upbringing. So the solution: stop projecting your ideas from a foreign cultural context (eg rural Africa) upon Afro-European people and more generally Black people who feel at home in the western culture more than in rural Africa, because they have not been brought up in rural Africa or with tradtional customs. Stop projecting your beliefs, norms and cultural expectations upon people who were socialised in a completely different cultural setting (eg "western") than what you may be used to, if you grew up in a traditional, first generation immigrant African household. And obviously it's best to learn the language of the society that you are living in first, rather than trying to learn a language that is irrelevant in the wider German sociocultural context. Some African languages have a significant number of speakers in Germany, so it's more viable to teach these languages and practice them in the context of those communities. But many African languages have only few speakers in Germany and can hardly be practiced with other speakers in everyday life.
