U21 hate: how often?
Germany, you have a racism problem
A comment by David Needy
06/25/2023, 09:14 am
Again, German footballers are verbally attacked on the net. Respect that they don’t step back in the face of this hate. But football and politics must finally take action against the structural problems – and understand the danger for all of us.
The German junior internationals Youssoufa Moukoko and Jessic Ngankam each missed a penalty in the opening game of the U21 European Championship against Israel and were promptly racially insulted on social networks. Moukoko then says: If you win, you are German. Then they belong. If they lose, if they miss penalties, they’re black. The “others”. The marginalized. Respect that they don’t step back in the face of this hate. But the following question arises: how often?
What is happening in the case of the U21s is a reflection of the anti-constitutional propaganda that is becoming increasingly rampant in Germany. On the football pitch and online, at demonstrations and in parliament. The agitators recruit, spread their ideologies, insult, threaten and blame “the others” for all kinds of problems: refugees, immigrants and their children who were born here, black people, Jews and Muslims, Sinti and Roma.
Moukoko and Ngankam are not alone. The situation was similar on Tuesday for central defender Yann-Aurel Bisseck after his appointment as captain of the German U21s. The German U17 European football champions were recently racially insulted. More than 22 percent of Germans have experienced racism themselves, according to the situation report by the federal government’s integration commissioner.
Politics must act more
On the one hand, it must finally become routine that authors of hate comments are prosecuted consistently and harshly. In such cases, steps must be taken to prevent anonymity on the Internet. Accounts must be deleted immediately. All of this is also about a signal effect.
The March 2021 law to combat right-wing extremism and hate crime is an important start. This makes it easier to fight racism on the Internet, social networks have to delete criminal postings and report them to the Federal Criminal Police Office. But that is not enough: the data of perpetrators that contribute to identification should also be passed on to the law enforcement authorities in such cases. This also applies to cases in which the social platforms do not store the data in Germany.
On the other hand, politics and football must finally admit that there is a structural problem here and that hate crime and racism can only really be combated at a structural level. Deleting individual content is not enough when people are openly attacked again and again. Sometimes online, sometimes verbally, sometimes with fists. Mölln, Solingen or Rostock-Lichtenhagen – the list gets longer and longer. Sometimes even with weapons, such as in the NSU attacks or in Halle in 2019 or in Hanau in 2020.
Racism problem in football and society
Germany, you have an acute racism problem. Not just on the right edge. But in the middle of society. stand by it With the police, on the platform, at school, in job interviews, when looking for a flat, on the internet. Overall. And the white majority of society benefits from this – even if they may also experience discrimination as women, people with disabilities, people on welfare or homosexuals. Everyone needs to be aware of that. Everyone acts or thinks racist and excludes. Silence only exacerbates the problem. The author Noah Sow wrote the clever sentence: “It’s not our fault that we were taught so much racist nonsense. But we can get rid of it now.”
Germany, you have a racism problem. Acceptance is the first step. scream it out loud condemn it. With all vehemence. Always and everywhere. Accept that the perspective of those affected, the Moukokos and Ngankams, counts. Their everyday life – on the street, at work, on the soccer field, while surfing the net – is flanked by the constant companions of exclusion, humiliation and danger in a way that people without experience of racism cannot imagine.
Germany, you have a racism problem. Next, take the second step and actively address the problem. Coordinated and consistent. Finally. After a long silence. Protect your citizens. Your soccer players. your children and young people. Insults and threats based on “skin color”, assumed origin or other attributions – that must not be. “You’re different, you don’t belong” – that shouldn’t be. It’s about belonging. About identities. About togetherness. Not only must politicians intervene loudly and decisively, fellow citizens must get involved, including online, and take active action against racism.
Germany, you have a racism problem. When racist ways of thinking and resentment are propagated more and more openly in comments on football, in politics, in the social climate, the perpetrators feel encouraged. They see themselves confirmed when politicians and society remain silent or act too hesitantly. Populist statements by the AfD or recently by speed skater Claudia Pechstein are also breeding grounds for their hatred.
Racism is an attack on us all
In the current case involving Moukoko and Ngankam, the DFB deserves praise for quickly and clearly taking a clear position and defying racists. Nevertheless, it would not be surprising if one or the other kicker no longer wanted to endure this hatred. When football, a matter close to the heart, is smashed again and again. When the dream of a national team is destroyed by hate. When passion keeps turning into danger. Thanks for continuing to play. Because it must not come to that. Then the perpetrators – the enemies of democracy who also denigrate football – would have won.
Experiences of racism like those of Moukoko and Ngankam are painful experiences of powerlessness. This can bring lifelong fears and other repercussions. After all, the two footballers are lucky enough to be able to take part in public discourse and defend themselves against the agitation. However, people who have experienced racism in Germany never feel completely free and carefree.
And that has serious implications for democracy. Racism is an attack on all of us, an attack on the legal basis of our society. He soils the football. He inflicts pain on citizens. It undermines the entire cohesion of Germany. How. Often. Then. Still?