THE TRUTH ABOUT BEING BLACK IN GERMANY (AMERICAN’S PERSPECTIVE)

[douglassherrod]

I’ve lived here for 32 years now, came here as a soldier and stayed. I’m from Charleston where I had to deal with racism multiple times a day. I’ve had 2 racist incidents in my 32 years here. Seriously. I’ve been all over this country and have been accepted everywhere I’ve went. I also have been part of the medieval scene here for the last 5 years, as a melinated Viking no doubt, and still am accepted everywhere I go. I love being here. Taught myself to read, speak and write in German. As long as you try to integrate the people here have no issue with you. I love being here and will never go back across the water to live in that uncomfortable situation. I live in Rheinland-Pfalz. Mainz to be exact. Living here is the first time I actually experienced what freedom is. I’ll never give that up.

[theCountOfTotal]

Honestly, I did not expect to hear “They treat us as human beings”. That blows my mind. I cannot imagine that anyone would just say “we don’t serve you ice cream” in the US.
I’m glad that you feel safe in the EU, and I feel bad that you had to leave your home country to have that experience. Damn…

[Ork]

As a native white german I never experienced racism myself. But this video inspired me to share a story from a few years ago.
My grandpa is living in this small german town. He was pretty bitter back than because his neighbor who was a very close friend and his wife died within a few months. All his children and grandchildren were living at least 200km away. In my case more than 400km. He was sad and lonley and I was very worried about it. Tried to get him to move closer to us but he was totally stubborn about it.

Than a black family bougth the house next to him. The one where his friend lived. I can tell you he wasn't happy! They had three pretty small children, youngest one a baby. They didn't looked like you. They were from Tansania and as dark coloured as it gets. The men was fluent in german, the two older kids, too. My grandpa made a few pretty racistic comment about it.

We fougth over it more than one time. During these figths I realized this men got to over 70 years without ever talking to one black person in his live. So I bascily told him to treat them with respect and expect them to do a few thing different since they are from an other country and just get to know them.

About half a year later I visit again and make a very suprised face when I found my granddad in his garden playing with the two black kids. After they left I just asks him about it and he is just acting like it is the most normal thing ever.

A few months later I visit again. This time all three kids are there in the house. It is raining. Even the youngest one who can walk by now is there, too. It is totally clear from the way they behave that they are totally comfortable and know the house in and out. When they leave they say: "Tschüß, Opa." Which translates to: "Bye, grandpa."

By than I was grinning like an idiot and just ask my grandfather: "Did they just call you Grandpa?" He is like "What's so funny. Their grandparents are half around the world, kids need a grandpa." And I was just like: "Yeah. Of course. These poor kids." He wasn't lonley any more.

Racism has a lot to do with biases. And the best way to figth biases is to replace them with experience. And if you don't, not only do you mistreat others, you may very well rob yourself of happiness.

[istora]

I'm German and clicked on this video prepared to face the facts because I wanted to see what we could do better - I was not expecting that many positive experiences, I'm really glad you feel welcome here :D

[PHANKS]

I'm an old Black guy, all I can say to Black people is:
-watch more YouTube videos
-PLEASE travel someplace outside the US, at least once.

[Wayouts]

I lived there 10 years, went as a soldier and married a local. I’m trying to move back now. I never felt scared, never felt threatened. But I also had to change the way I acted, I lived. I learned to be quieter, not so boisterous. Last trip back I had to explain to a few AA tourists that they needed to be quiet on the train that being loud is very rude. I now notice how loud Americans are.

[alexs.]

I`m a native German and i have to say that i really enjoy watching your videos. You come across very charismatic, not beating around the bush. Germany has become a pretty openminded country. The majority of people is well aware of the bad things that happened in this country. Our legacy is to make sure that such horrible things never ever happen again. People like you, willing to contribute to the society are very welcome. Regardless of your nationality, skin color, religion or what ever. I hope to see more from you and your family in the future.

[emmashuherk]

I’m the daughter of a black soldier and a white German woman and have spent a lot of my life in Germany. My wife and I recently moved back to Wiesbaden, Germany from North Carolina and I honestly didn’t realize how much of my anxiety in the US was from the racism I encountered. I love being here. This is where we plan to live for the foreseeable future. I will say that I have experienced racism in Germany but I haven’t experienced it in a very long time and i’ve never experienced homophobia here.

[gigiarmany]

as a black woman, living in Germany for 35 years, I have only encountered racism 2 or 3 times, am now a German citizen & LOVE living here...being a flight attendant of 25 years I have visited almost every country in the world & am always super happy to return to Germany..I visit all major US cities regularly / almost weekly & am very much surprised at how Americans dont realise that many aspects of life in USA are hopelessly outdated..e.g. shower heads, buildings, cars etc.. also the amount of homeless people in the streets IS STAGGERING!.. also such problems as mass incarceration, health care, police brutality are terrible & there is a strange tension in the air & many mentally ill people in the streets in USA..so Yes..I love being a black German & living in real freedom & not just the Hollywood professed freedom of USA..

[jordanf]

I’m an African American woman, and I visited Germany for the first time for a summer internship last year. For the two months that I was there, it was profoundly eye opening for me. Everyone was respectful and treated me very kindly. I felt like I didn’t need to fear about being treated differently because of my blackness. No one hovering over me in the stores acting like I might steal something. I just felt very accepted. And I did notice (like you mentioned in your video) that most people would talk to me in German first, which was pretty cool.

There was just so much less chaos in the air. I don’t know how to explain it. But there’s an energy in the air in the United States that feels like anything could pop off at any moment, for any reason. And when I lived in Germany for that short time, I didn’t feel that at all. It brought me so much peace to my core. I’m now back in the States, but I’ve been intermittently toying with the idea of moving out to Germany permanently with my fiancé.

[nonnoyobisnis]

Hi, black german here, born & raised since 1970.
Can we all agree that skin colour should not matter?
I highly recommend that you keep and value your openmindednesd towards the native german population, join a sports club, a choir, a non-profit etc.
Obviously there are bad apples everywhere, but in my experience my fellow germans are very friendly and willing to learn and also help when help is needed.
Please don't accept the segregationist mindset of that chef. His statement is an action not a re-action (to racism).
I see this tendency of black folks (and pretty much all other immigrant groups) to stay "with their own" here in Germany (and then complain about not being included). That does not seem like an intelligent approach and makes me a little sad.

BTW - Just yesterday I was really floored to hear from an old (white german*) friend that he considers my father (emigrated from Angola in the sixties, 82 yrs old) as his own father. My father was a coach for the soccer youth in the 70s and 80s. My friend told us about worries about his son yesterday that he hasnt shared with anyone else in our close-knit northern german town. It was very touching.

Anyway, thank you for this very interesting Video and keep up the good work.

*It pains me to mention his skin color. It's so stupid.

[mrchronos]

I had been in the german armed forces and was in Georgia for some kind of exchange program. I was shocked to experience such open racism against black people. Our liaison seargent there told us about a story, where they had a barbecue somewhere and when they asked the black first seargent to sit at their table to have a chat, the US battallion commander openly said, he won't sit with him at the table together. Such behavior would never ever be tolerated by a german soldier, no matter the rank. To be said, the battallion commander had to find a new table to sit at ;-)

[elmaLLe]

Popped up randomly in my feed but let me add something: when it comes to learning German everyone always mentions the articles (whether a noun is male/female/neutral etc).

With so many people trying their best to learn the language many Germans won’t mind if you mess this up! We will still understand you and respect you for learning what many consider a difficult language ❤️

[yannicbeer]

As a white german: Thank you for this video! When I hear stories like yours, I feel the values we try to build our society around are being recognized. It actually motivates me to step up and take on whatever racism is left in our society (and there sure is more than enough to do something about it).

[Elkendrien]

As a German I am really happy to hear that you and your family feel comfortable and welcome here in Germany! 😊

[bene]

Really interesting video! One thing: If people talk about (more) racism in "east Germany", they don't really mean the whole area close to the eastern border of Germany. What they really mean is the area of the former GDR. So the place you visited in Bavaria doesn't count as "east" in that sense. :D

[karinha]

White German here. I really love to hear that you feel safe and welcomed here. As others already mentioned, if one looks different, stands out of the crowd, one will get looks and maybe comments. Just because the obvious difference is noticed, not necessarily in a negative way though. The famous German stare is mainly curiousity. I understand that this could be misinterpreted though :)

But I have to say that the statement "a black person would not want to live amongst white people" leaves a bit of a bad taste. I would understand concerns regarding language, culture, job skills, climate, you name it. Many things could be a reason not to move elsewhere. But if the biggest concern is the colour of my neighbours skin, to be honest, I personally would consider this as racist. I mean, as an example, if I would think about moving to Asia or Africa, and I would check all or most of the boxes an the "pro" side, but a big "con" would be the colour of the skin of the natives, come on. To me it sounds like someone is looking for a comprehensable excuse without looking fainthearted. You know what I mean?

Regardless, I am happy to hear that you guys feel safe and welcomed here in Germany. And I hope Germany will never disappoint you and offer the future you hope for.

[helfgott]

I dont give a f....if you are black, green, pink...You are a human THATS IT 😂😂

[marleneamara]

I’m a black girl from Portugal living in Baden-Württemberg/ Konstanz. I totally agree with you. When I moved to Germany a lot of my friends were worried, saying the Germans are very racist. I tell them all the time that I’m Portugal you might experience more rAcism then here. Even though a lot of black people live in Portugal.

Unfortunately racist exist everywhere, but I believe the Germans just try to learn from errors from the past instead of ignoring it.

[Enlightize]

I understand this!! I've been living in Japan for 7 years now. As a youtuber, many viewers ask about racism in asia (as you also mentioned). In my experience, American racism is specific to the US. In all of the other countries I visited and lived in, I've never had people refusing to service me or call me names just because I'm Black. In Japan, I feel completely safe. Like you said about Germany, everyone leaves me alone and goes about their business. If you speak Japanese, you can interact with people and really understand people (something many expats here don't do unfortunately), but I've never felt more human than when I'm outside of the US. In the US, I've always felt Black amongst everyone, Black people and other ethnicities. Everyone talks about race in the US to constantly remind everyone of their "role". It's hidden in our culture, in our jokes, and why we refuse to go certain places or do certain things. Abroad, and here in Japan, I am human first, American second, and then a woman...and then if we continue the conversation and they ask me about life in America, I may mention..."Btw, I'm called a 'Black American' in the States."😂 Of course people see that I'm Black, but in my experience, me being Black is irrelevant.