"Have we become a country of racists …?" With this question on Twitter Boris Becker (52) caused a sensation exactly a week ago. According to him, this was preceded by massive insults from his German homeland after he took to the streets in London for the "Black Lives Matter" movement. In an interview with "Bild am Sonntag", Becker now discusses his bewilderment at "nothing but hate and malice", which was spilled on him in the social media – because he campaigns against racism.
"Most stunned" he was that the criticism also came from his own fans and followers. "All those who cheered me on the tennis court now criticize me because I defend my family? Honestly: I can do without such fans."
Example from your own family
"What hostilities and disadvantages people with a different skin color have to endure", he has known at the latest since he met his first wife Barbara (53), says Becker. Nothing has changed since then, "at least once a week" his three oldest children experience racism in everyday life.
How easy latent racism can creep into everyday life, Becker uses an example from his family to explain: "My mother is the loveliest person in the world, she was a refugee herself and is the opposite of a racist. But in her language, she too has a few words that are just no longer in order today. You and my sister still say, for example, Mohrenkopf to foam kisses. "