Everyday racism

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Everyday racism is an associative term that evaluates the social practice and the thought patterns of a larger social group as racist when it constructs a "we" and from this position powerfully expresses or practices the otherness of the evaluation of "our" normality to the "others" , with the result that those categorized in this way are excluded. According to Siegfried Jäger , all three factors must be present in order to describe this everyday behavior as racism .

Everyday life as the place of origin

For the sociologists Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann , “everyday life” is the most formative area in which people make their experiences. Correspondingly, the “small” forms of racism can have a particularly lasting effect and are internalized by those affected as well as by the actors and the “bystanders”. Jürgen Link describes these internalization processes as normalization. This is done using simple symbols shared by a social group. These collective symbols - e.g. B. in the field of sport - provide mythical simple and unquestioned explanations and whole worldviews. Racist thinking and behavior is therefore not noticed by those involved. They often firmly believe that they are actually not racist.

The critical whiteness research establishes that “whites” perceive themselves as the determining norm in Germany as well. They see themselves as the dominant culture and gain a privileged position. The dominant “white” position is only created through demarcation. In doing so, she sets herself in a determining relationship to the particular , minor , other and even stranger and experiences herself as something of her own . You experience yourself as the real thing - in the sense of the only important thing - and thus define yourself through others. Because of the dominance, this relationship appears inconspicuous and commonplace: it is not the whiteness that is perceived, but that which is not-white. Excluding behavior is not necessarily intentional, but is mostly not noticed by "whites" even in everyday life: Fatima El-Tayeb describes the difficulty "whites" have in looking at themselves and their powerful effect as "color blindness".

Delimitation of the term

The term mostly serves as a demarcation to racism by politicians, authors, organizations and media who pursue a more or less developed theory of racism. Parts of the research ( TA van Dijk 1990, 1991) and the EU Committee of Inquiry into Racism and Xenophobia (1990) differentiate here between the racism of an elite and the racism of the social base. Leiprecht (2001) sees here above all a much more subtle racism, differentiated from openly expressed racism, in the form of racist knowledge and racism without races ( Stuart Hall ).

Investigations

Since the mid-1980s there have been initial studies on the term everyday racism - e.g. B. in the UK, USA and the Netherlands.

Discourse analytical investigation

The private, politically left-wing Duisburg Institute for Linguistic and Social Research has been conducting critical discourse analysis studies in Germany for the first time since the early 1990s . In its non-representative study “Racism in everyday life” based on 22 “in- depth interviews with citizens (from West Germany) of German origin”, it claimed the following “statements about minorities” and immigrants as “dominant”, which were “often highly ideologically loaded” (one Selection):

  • The immigrants have been invited to come to our country.
  • They cause the decline of the city or the neighborhood.
  • They (the immigrant workers) work hard.
  • They are taking over our homes.
  • They abuse our social security system and live on welfare.
  • You have to adapt to our norms and rules.
  • They have different habits, customs and traditions.
  • Education should only take place in our language.

Study on the influence of the political elites

The research project Racism at the Top of the Austrian Ministry of Science and Transport investigated the role of political elites in the development and reproduction of everyday racism in the late 1990s under the direction of Ruth Wodak ( University of Vienna ) and Teun A. van Dijk (University of Amsterdam) as a discursive form. The parliamentary speeches of seven Western European countries were examined. In the description of the project it said:

“Bearing in mind that political action is primarily language action, the main concern of this research project was to investigate the extent to which open and covert forms of racism manifest themselves in political discourse, how racist and xenophobic prejudices against foreigners are linguistically reproduced or how they are (can) uncovered and combated with the means of language. "

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Everyday Racism and Structural Racism

Philomena Essed from the research project Racism at the Top examined not only everyday subtle interactional discrimination but also the connection with institutional and structural forms of everyday racism.

For Germany, Mark Terkessidis examined in his book "The Banality of Racism. Second Generation Migrants Develop a New Perspective" in 2004 for the first time the effects of everyday racism from the point of view of those affected (he works with Michel Foucault's concept of "people's knowledge"). Terkessidis concentrated on the "small", apparently unimportant experiences. Derived from his definition of racism, Terkessidis asked about experiences in the field of citizenship (belonging), cultural hegemony (family, school) and the labor market.

He was able to work out a number of "racist situations" in which people are confronted with " racist knowledge ". He used neologisms to describe these situations: 1. Alienation ("original situations" in which people first notice that their affiliation is being disputed), 2. Referral (people are continually made clear by questions such as "Where are you from?" they belong in a different place), 3. the disrespect (calling up clichés, "southern temperament" or the like, with which people are explained how they actually are), 4. the equalization (people are assumed to have a deficit: "You speak German well" and at the same time the subordinate makes himself the judge of the deficit and thus enhances himself) and 5. Specularization (based on Luce Irigaray understood as situations in which people are often non-verbally made into a negative mirror become).

For Germany, Wiebke Scharathow (young people) and Karim Fereidooni (teacher) recently presented empirical work on the topic of everyday racism.

Communication practice in social affairs

Claus Melter asserted with his study “Experiences of Racism in Youth Welfare” from 2006 that structural and institutional racism are commonplace and emphasized the category of everyday racism in published discourses . As institutional everyday racism , he assessed unintentionally or intentionally systematically practiced disadvantageous practices by institutions / organizations against racialized, culturalized or ethnicized people. Institutional racism will e.g. B. practiced through insufficient support in the school system. The distribution in the areas of labor and housing markets and economic resources influenced by processes of racialization and ethnicization is to be regarded as structural everyday racism . According to Melter, various everyday forms of racism are referred to as everyday racism, for example:

  • Defamatory offenses or derogatory sayings
  • the construct of 'overlooking and ignoring' people who are perceived as 'foreign', whereby the constructed image of 'white' Germans always functions as a counter-image in its ascribing construction of 'strangers' (see also xenophobia ).
  • Discrimination when looking for accommodation and jobs due to the priority regulation for employees with EU and German citizenship
  • systematically poorer support in the education sector and corresponding disadvantage on the labor market

These acts are not necessarily a sign of right-wing extremist sentiments, but could also be an expression of internalized prejudices . Sometimes these are also referred to as “ Stammtisch slogans ”. It also includes exclusion as a result of alleged institutional racism, for example the constitutional status of people depending on their residence status .

Everyday Racism in Germany

In 2009, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Racism, Githu Muigai, visited Germany and criticized the political and social deficits in the fight against everyday racism. In Germany, for example, racism is still equated with right - wing extremism and is therefore not sufficiently recognized. Similar deficiencies are effective here as with institutional racism in Germany: “The police, authorities and courts still have a lot to do”.

The UN Special Rapporteur described the introduction of the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) as a step in the right direction . However, the law is still in need of reform. As a concrete example, Muigai cited complaints from migrants about discrimination by landlords when looking for accommodation. In this context, he also called for better staffing of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency and its presence at the state level.

The low presence of migrants in public life in the republic and their low political participation were also criticized. With Muigai, a UN special rapporteur on racism visited the Federal Republic for the first time in 14 years. A detailed report was published in February 2010.

In April 2014, the social media initiative against everyday racism # AuchichbinDeutschland was initiated, coordinated and implemented by the scholarship holders of the Deutschlandstiftung Integration .

literature

  • Susan Arndt : ›The Racial Turn‹. Colonialism, White Myths and Critical Whiteness Studies, In: Marianne Bechhaus-Gerst, Sunna Gieseke & Reinhard Klein-Arendt (eds.): Colonial and post-colonial constructions of Africa and people of African origin in everyday German culture, Frankfurt / M., Peter Lang , 2005
  • Philomena Essed : Everyday Racism, Newbury Park / London / New Delhi: Sage publications, 1990
  • Philomena Essed: Understanding Everyday Racism. An interdisciplinary, Newbury Park / London / New Delhi, Sage publications 1991.
  • Philomena Essed, C. Mullard: Anti-racist education - Basics and considerations for an anti-racist education theory , Felsberg: migro, 1991.
  • Karim Fereidooni: Experiences of Discrimination and Racism in Schools: A Study of Inequality Practices in the Occupational Context. Bielfeld: transkript , 2016, ISBN 3658136154 .
  • R. Leiprecht: Everyday racism. A study among adolescents in Germany and the Netherlands , Münster: Waxmann, 2001, ISBN 3-89325-620-2 .
  • Claus Melter : Experiences of racism in youth welfare. An empirical study on communication practices in social work, Münster: Waxmann 2006.
  • J. Müller: Everyday Life - Racist Discrimination and Critical Thinking - Left Theories on Everyday Life , Discourse and Ideology Lecture from April 6, 2001 on the occasion of the workshop "Right-wing populism and the effects of critical research on racism" at the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research
  • Siegfried Jäger (1992): BrandSätze. Racism in everyday life. DISS study. With the collaboration of Ulrike Busse, Stefanie Hansen, Margaret Jäger, Angelika Müller, Anja Sklorz, Sabine Walther, Hermann Cölfen, Andreas Quinkert and Frank Wichert. Duisburg Institute for Language and Social Research ISBN 3-927388-29-7
  • Siegfried Jäger (1991): Everyday Racism. 22 interviews with citizens from Germany. Duisburg Institute for Linguistic and Social Research.
  • Siegfried Jäger: Racism and Right-Wing Extremism - Danger to Democracy. There: 2. Everyday racism and its causes. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
  • Trial observation group Guben (ed.): Just one dead ... Everyday racism in Germany and the Guben hunt. ISBN 3-89771-806-5
  • Jörg Becker (1977): Everyday Racism: Afro-American Racial Conflicts in Children's and Young People's Books in the Federal Republic. Campus. Frankfurt a. M.
  • Alain Patrice Nganang (1998): Everyday Institutional Racism. Experience report of a Cameroonian student and writer in the FRG. GWR No. 1998
  • Grada Kilomba: Plantation Memories. Episodes of Everyday Racism. Münster, 2008. ISBN 978-3-89771-485-4 .
  • Noah Sow : Germany black and white. Everyday racism. Bertelsmann, 2008. ISBN 978-3-570-01008-2
  • Wiebke Scharathow: Risks of resistance: Young people and their experiences of racism. Bielefeld: transcript, 2016, ISBN 3837627950 .
  • Mark Terkessidis: The Banality of Racism. Second generation migrants develop a new perspective. Bielefeld: transcript, 2004, ISBN 3899422635 .

Web links

Footnotes

Remarks

  1. ↑ cf. Leiprecht 2001, p. 2
  2. ↑ Siegfried Jäger in a speech on the 10th anniversary: 10 years DISS ( memento from April 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ); in: DISS-Journal 1/98
  3. ↑ cf. Essed 1991, p. 279
  4. ↑ cf. Melter 2006, pp. 25f.
  5. ↑ cf. Melter ibid. P. 27
  6. ↑ Text online
  7. ↑ The emergence of xenophobia: the responsibility of politics and the media. - T. 1
  8. ↑ everyday institutional racism | gwr 230 | summer 1998
  9. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Table of Contents (PDF; 90 kB) )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.gradakilomba.com

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Siegfried Jäger The emergence of xenophobia: the responsibility of politics and the media. - T. 1 , especially there "Everyday Racism", as well as literature
  2. ↑ Becker / Gerhard / Link 1997: Modern collective symbolism. A discourse-theoretical research report with selected bibliography, International Archive for the Social History of German Literature (IASL.), 22nd BD., I.
  3. ↑ Alfred Schobert: Middle and Normality. On the simultaneity of modern collective symbolism and traditional institutionalist symbolism. In: Ernst Schulte-Holtey (ed.) Grenzmarkierungen: Normalization and discursive exclusion. Duisburg.
  4. ↑ Maureen Maisha Eggers, Grada Kilomba, Peggy Piesche, Susan Arndt (eds.) (2005): Myths, Masks and Subjects. Critical whiteness research in Germany , Münster, (Review h-soz-kult Rez.ZG: MM Eggers et al. (Ed.): Myths, masks and subjects - H-Soz-u-Kult / reviews / books )
  5. ^ Frankenberg, Ruth (1996): White women, feminism and the challenge of anti-racism. In: Fuchs, Brigitte / Habinger, Gabriele (ed.): Differences, power relations and solidarity between women. Vienna. See in more detail: Whiteness
  6. ↑ Ursula Wachendorfer: Being white in Germany. On the invisibility of a ruling normality, In: Susan Arndt (Hrsg.): AfrikaBilder. Studies on Racism in Germany, Münster
  7. ↑ Fatima El-Tayeb: limited horizons Fatima El-Tayeb: limited horizons / unrast-Verlag , Fatima El-Tayeb in foreword to myths, masks, subjects foreword to myths, masks and subjects / unrast-Verlag
  8. ^ Van Dijk, TA: Elite Discourse and the Reproduction of Racism. Paper for the Conference on European Racism in Hamburg, September 25-30, 1990 (Version 1.0, July, 1990)
  9. ^ Van Dijk, TA: Racism and the Press, London 1991
  10. ^ Report of the European Parliament of July 1990. European Parliament: Report on behalf of the Committee of Inquiry into Racism and Xenophobia of July 23, 1990. Rapporteur: Glyn Ford.
  11. ↑ Stuart Hall (1989): Racism as ideological discourse, Das Argument 178, 1989, p. 913ff.
  12. ^ Van Dijk, TA: Communicating Racism. Ethnic Prejudice in Thought and Talk, Newbury Park 1987
  13. ^ A b Siegfried Jäger (1992): BrandSätze. Racism in everyday life. DISS study. With the collaboration of Ulrike Busse, Stefanie Hansen, Margaret Jäger, Angelika Müller, Anja Sklorz, Sabine Walther, Hermann Cölfen, Andreas Quinkert and Frank Wichert. Duisburg Institute for Linguistic and Social Research. Siegfried Jäger (1991): Everyday Racism. 22 interviews with citizens from Germany. Duisburg Institute for Linguistic and Social Research. For current and ongoing studies, see the institute itself.
  14. ^ Jäger Siegfried: Racism in everyday life (1990/91) . Duisburg Institute for Language and Social Research eV. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  15. ↑ Results in: Ruth Wodak, Teun van Dijk (ed.): Racism at the Top. Klagenfurt 2000
  16. ^ Ruth Wodak et al .: Racism at the Top. Discourse analytical Studies of Political Strategies of Exklusion (short version) ( Memento from May 15, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
  17. ↑ Philomena Essed (1990, 1991)
  18. ↑ Mark Terkessidis: The Banality of Racism. Second generation migrants develop a new perspective . 1st edition. transcript, Bielefeld 2004, ISBN 3-89942-263-5 , p. 226 .
  19. ↑ Mark Terkessidis: Psychology of Racism . 1st edition. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1998, ISBN 3-531-13040-4 , pp. 280 .
  20. ↑ Wiebke Scharathow: Risks of resistance: Young people and their experiences of racism . 1st edition. transcript, Bielefeld 2014, ISBN 3-8376-2795-0 , p. 478 .
  21. ↑ Karim Fereidooni: Discrimination and Racism Experiences in Schools: A Study on Inequality Practices in the Occupational Context . 1st edition. Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2016, ISBN 3-658-13615-4 , p. 400 .
  22. ↑ a b c d e Sabine am Orde: Xenophobia in Germany: UN criticizes everyday racism , taz, July 1, 2009
  23. ↑ a b Githu Muigai: Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (PDF; 155 kB) , February 22, 2010, accessed on February 24, 2011