From these experiences, Wallraff shared recently in DIE ZEIT, "My travels as a black-German are now over. In all these months, however, I have never felt comfortable in my black skin "that is, I felt my skin was the target for feelings or reflections of shame for the most part. It is hard to say which is more difficult "the open aggressiveness of skinheads and full-frontal racism or the behind-the-back racism of the average citizen, who practices being friendly to one's face only to be lying all the time about that supposed respect that is spouting out of their mouths. In the end, I can put my black alter ego down and walk away, but the others in this country cannot.
http://www.zeit.de/2009/43/Wallraff-43
Naturally, just as Germany's current reputation has made internationally clear, there are more skinheads and neo-nazi or fascist oriented lifestyles in those areas of Germany today "which before the Wall opened up in 1989 had belonged to the East German Communist government.
Therefore, unlike as "Ali in West Germany of the 1980s, Wallraff, as black, was afraid even to enter the Cottbuss stadium as black-German in 2009. Wallraff simply stood outside the stadium before-, during-, and after the match as Cottbuss played another eastern German team, Dresden. Constantly, Wallraff attempted to engage in friendly conversations but was always received by hate and venomous words "simply because he was wearing a black man's skin.
Later, Wallraff noted he was saved at least once by intervention by some policemen on a Dresden-fans-filled train. On the other hand, other policemen in Eastern Germany just ignored the illegal Hitler salutes of the neo-Nazi youth going and coming from the stadium "and the life-threatening words coming from their mouths in Cotbuss.
In contrast, when the black Wallraff was later threatened in a bar in Bavaria, two men stood up for him there fairly forcefully. Wallraff was pleased by this civil courage. [Wallraff notes in der ZEIT article, that it is not only racism that has led to citizens failing often to stand up to protect fellow citizens from abuse.]
In his own hometown of Cologne, Germany, Wallraff generally usually perceives a cosmopolitan atmosphere "i.e. in a city with 2,000 years acceptance of immigrants. However, just as Wallraff had experienced 25 years earlier discrimination as the Turk "Ali , Wallraff found house- and flat hunting in Cologne full of latent discrimination.
In summary, unlike in eastern Germany, the discrimination in western part of Germany was covered by a coating of Prussian business politeness or brusqueness "a brusqueness which in Germany should not be automatically read as racism.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
