HOW WE TEACH OURSELVES RACISM

Tessa Szyszkowitz in conversation with Gilda Sahebi

HOW WE TEACH OURSELVES RACISM

We all think in a racist way, says Gilda Sahebi. But this has nothing to do with extremism. Rather, it is a consequence of political and social structures that shape our thoughts and actions. Where majority and minority societies clash, racist thought patterns and structures almost inevitably form - unless you consciously counteract them. This is not the case in Germany. People would rather be outraged than engage in a serious debate and solve real problems.

In her book „Wie wir uns Rassismus beibringen“ - eine Analyse deutscher Debatten, (S.Fischer Verlag, March 2024), Iranian-born doctor, political scientist and journalist Gilda Sahebi analyses the specifics of German racism. To do so, she looks back to the German Empire and traces the common threads of racist thinking that run from back then to the debates of our present day - for example on citizenship, the Middle East conflict and migration. After 7 October and in view of the heated protests in Germany, she wrote in the Taz newspaper: „The story of „imported“ anti-Semitism also thrives on this racist narrative. Anti-Semitism is not „imported“; these people are „our“ country.“

Gilda Sahebi, born in Iran and raised in Germany, is a trained doctor and studied political science. She works as a freelance journalist specialising in anti-Semitism and racism, women's rights, the Middle East and science. She is an author for »taz« and »Spiegel« and works for ARD, among others.

Tessa Szyszkowitz, Falter columnist and author, was a correspondent in Moscow, Brussels, Jerusalem and London. Curator of the Philoxenia series at the Kreiskyforum, Senior Associate Fellow Royal United Services Institute in London.