Campaigning in Germany for "a society of the many"

Tahir Della is tall and speaks with a rolling "r". As spokesman for the Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland (Initiative of Black People in Germany), he talks about a racism that is still deeply rooted in German society. He talks about racial profiling and the links between racism and Europe’s colonial history. Della has been talking about these things for more than 35 years. Over and over again.

Della was born in Munich in 1962. His mother is German, his father from the United States. Just as in the case of many people of colour, racist experiences run like a thread through his life. He began to take an interest in politics as a youngster. It was his grandfather who made him keenly aware of the subjects that determine his identity and his everyday life: marginalisation, racism, the history of slavery, colonialism.

His watershed moment came while reading

The watershed moment came in 1986, when Della was reading the book "Farbe bekennen. Afro-deutsche Frauen auf den Spuren ihrer Geschichte" (Show Your Colours. Afro-German Women Explore Their History – published by Katharina Oguntoye, May Ayim, Dagmar Schultz, Orlanda Frauenverlag). In the book, black women relate their experiences in Germany. "It was very moving for me to read, because it closed a loop," says Della. "What the women do with their experience of discrimination. That they say, let’s get politically active and take control ourselves. We can’t wait around hoping that mainstream society does this political work for us."

That same year saw the founding of the Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland and ADEFRA, an association for black women in Germany. The black community had taken the first steps towards establishing its own structures; Della was involved from the outset. The aim was and still is self-determination, rather than determination by others.

A narrow understanding of racism

Since then, he has seen some positive developments, says Della. "It’s easier to address the issue of racism these days," he adds. But there is still much scope for change. Racism is often primarily assigned to the political right, although this is not the only source. In addition, the prevailing perception of racism is narrow; that it emanates from a conscious intention to discriminate. But there is such a thing as an unintentionally racist comment, says Della.

There is still much room for improvement within the judiciary and police, he continues. He cites the right-wing extremist NSU (National Socialist Underground) murders as an example. "There were no consequences on a political level, or for security and investigating authorities, despite the fact that in the NSU case, investigations were sluggish across the board due to racist attitudes," says Della, adding that people would still rather talk about individual cases than systematic, structural racism.

And there have been repeated setbacks. For example, when German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer rejected an investigation into alleged police racism with the argument: what is forbidden does not need to be investigated.

In Della’s view, the best way to tackle racism is to find out how it manifests itself, to objectively describe what these forms of racism mean and, above all, what they trigger in those affected. This is tough, especially when dealing with the authorities. "The first thing we need to do is break through the defensive reflexes that prevent us from conducting this discussion thoroughly. We’re always talking about individual cases and transgressions, because otherwise we’d be placing the police – for instance – under general suspicion," he says.

Racism and colonialism: two sides of the same coin

Tahir Della is convinced that racism and colonialism should be considered and talked about together because the two are interdependent. But can Germany’s colonial history be compared with that of Britain, France or Portugal?

Colonialism, says Della, was a European project. "Germany was a key actor, after all Bismarck hosted the Berlin Conference in 1884 to divide the African continent up between the European powers. The ruling system established then is still functioning now. People in the Global South are suffering as a result, while we in the north benefit to this day," he says.

In a bid to make colonialism visible, Della campaigns – as part of the Berlin project "Dekoloniale Erinnerungskultur in der Stadt" (Decolonial Culture of Remembrance in the City) – for the critical reappraisal and changing of street names honouring colonial-era actors.

It is not surprising to learn that Della frequently encounters resistance in his work: "Global economic conditions are based significantly on these 500 years of the European, colonial project. That’s why it’s so difficult for us in the Global North to be honest with ourselves about the impact of that project. Because deep in our hearts, we know it’s not just about saying sorry or that things didn’t go well over the last 500 years. What needs to happen is that we also break down the consequences. In concrete terms, this means for example opening up markets to the Global South today. And not just dumping our computers and all the rest of our junk on the coast of West Africa," says Della.

Society of the many

Many black people are gradually running out of patience, says Tahir Della. They no longer want to have to explain that certain terms, names or circumstances are not acceptable and that some issues are non-negotiable. "We don’t want to debate our categorisation and perception. We want these to become the basis for debates and discourse," he adds.

For this reason, Tahir Della continues to campaign tirelessly for a "society of the many". He wants a nation in which the many different people who make up German society are recognised on an equal footing in the expression of societal values and norms. But it’s a long, long road ahead. Della will continue to agitate for a society that is serious about fighting against discrimination; one that doesn’t consider discrimination to be part of its set of values.

Ceyda Nurtsch

© Qantara.de 2021

Translated from the German by Nina Coon