Organizers at the University in Fulda, Germany, invited the writer, artist and activist Noah Sow to read from her work, including her great book “Deutschland Schwarz Weiß” on everyday racism in Germany, as part of their “Festival contre le racisme”. I’m sure the organizers meant well. Yet they failed on many levels, as Ms. Sow writes in a post on her blog. For example, the young organizer who picked her up was unaware of the term “PoC” (so she obviously never read an PoC or antirascist blog ever…) Then there was this colonialist, racist lamp as “decoration” in the venue where the reading was to take place. Understandably, Ms. Sow left immediately.
It’s a story of (internalized) racism in Germany and how prevalent old colonial and racist attitudes and ignorance is in our country, even among people who “mean well”. I highly recommend this open letter posted as a reaction on Medienelite (German language): To whites it should concern.
CLARITY AND CHAOS 