There are frequent diaries on DKos about how social justice prevails in Germany and how the German social safety net, workers' rights, etc. are superior to conditions in the US. But there is a darker side to life in Germany that is rarely mentioned - namely, a pervasive racism. People who don't "look German", that is, people of middle-eastern background, blacks, Asian, etc, are subjected to discrimination, both subtle and overt. They are frequently the targets of right-wing violence. Recently, a new-Nazi terror group was discovered after it had assassinated a number of people of Turkish background over a number of years. The police did little to solve the murders, presumably because of the victims race. A book published last year by the central banker Thilo Sarrazin claimed that Arab and Turkish immigrants in Germany are genetically inferior - and became an instant bestseller.
Now a court in Koblenz has ruled that it is perfectly legal for the police to harass and interrogate individuals because of the color of their skin.
A black German citizen got fed up with constantly being forced to show his identity papers that he took the police to court:
A Koblenz court knocked down the complaint of a black German man who got into an argument with two federal police officers who demanded his papers while travelling on a train.
He refused to show the officers his identity papers, and was taken off the train to a police station where his rucksack was searched and his driving license eventually found, the court said in a statement.
The officers then accused him of abusing them, and took him to court. During the hearing one of the officers said that when deciding which travellers to check, he sought out those who seemed to him to be foreigners and said one of his criteria was skin colour.
This prompted the man concerned to sue, saying their conduct was illegal. But the judges at the Koblenz administrative court in Rhineland Palatinate ruled on Tuesday that the officers had not acted illegally
There were some cries of protest at the ruling. The left-liberal
Tageszeitung wrote:
If you allow checks without suspicion in order to fight illegal migration, then you also automatically create a discriminatory situation. This discrimination is particularly directed at those who have legal residency here or have even long been German citizens. With each check, they will be reminded once again that they don't actually belong here and, at the very least, have an appearance that leads police to imagine they are illegal immigrants. … Here, the seeds of distrust and racism are permanently sown. Such laws only serve to hinder integration and should be eliminated.
Discrimination based on race, gender, or religion is unconstitutional in Germany. This is stated in Article 3 of German Basic Law (Grundgesetz):
(1) All persons shall be equal before the law.
(2) Men and women shall have equal rights. The state shall promote the actual implementation of equal rights for women and men and take steps to eliminate disadvantages that now exist.
(3) No person shall be favoured or disfavoured because of sex, parentage, race, language, homeland and origin, faith, or religious or political opinions. No person shall be disfavoured because of disability.
The ruling by the judge in Koblenz will likely (hopefully) be appealed.