Interview--International Weeks against Racism

„There’s never been this much engagement”

For many years, the Amadeu Antonio Foundation has supported projects taking part in the International Weeks against Racism—logistically, financially, and with our information and expertise. In the run-up to this year’s Weeks of Action, taking place across the nation from the 13^th to the 26^th of March, we spoke with Britta Graupner, spokesperson for the Weeks of Action project.

By Anne Gehrmann

Ms. Graupner, why were the International Weeks against Racism founded?

March 21^st and the International Weeks against Racism commemorate the “Sharpville Massacre” of March 21^st, 1960, in which the South African police opened fire on a peaceful demonstration and killed 69 protestors. Six years later, the United Nations declared the day the “International Day of Overcoming Racial Discrimination”. In 1979 the UN expanded the memorial to a week-long show of solidarity with the opponents and victims of racism.

What has been done since then?

Since 1994, the International Council [for the Weeks against Racism] has coordinated the protest actions, initiatives, and projects around the 21^st of March in Germany. At the beginning, participation in the Weeks against Racism was quite modest; racism was seen as a taboo topic or something that didn’t concern “us in Germany” anymore. Over the years, the societal discourse—and the readiness to engage with racism—has steadily changed. The United Nations Weeks against Racism have developed into an established, nationwide movement with hundreds of organizers. In 2016, over 1,600 actions and activities were carried out as part of that year’s Weeks of Action. We’ve never had this much engagement before.

More and more “independent” Weeks run by cities and communities

In the last few years, we’ve been able to observe more and more communities organizing and leading their own Weeks against Racism—in 2016, these constituted over half of all the activity in Germany. These cities, their community leaders, integration experts, and civil-societal alliances have brought their effectiveness to a new level with these independent actions. This regional-level action strengthens networking between local initiatives and projects, makes all sorts of synergy effects possible, and breeds solidarity in the community at large with the causes we champion. In 2008, we extended the event to two weeks because of the burgeoning number of events and rising participation.

Can one participate?

Anyone can take part in the International Weeks against Racism who wants to engage against racism: hundreds of organizations, local initiatives and alliances, clubs, sporting organizations, schools, businesses, theater troupes, city and town governments, individual people, … the list goes on! Local efforts are the active foundation of the International Weeks against Racism project. The Action-Alliance of the International Weeks against Racism was founded to publicize and network these local efforts. Members of this Action-Alliance meet regularly, and are named in the member list of our website and in the yearly report. Of course, such a membership is optional—you don’t need to be a member to take part.

“Overcoming one’s own shadow” – self-critical reflection as the basis of the project’s success

Where do you see the biggest success of the Weeks of Action? What do the activists say?

I think the Weeks of Action have done their part to increase societal confrontation – self-critically, most of all! – with racism. This is, in my opinion, an essential point. Racism affects us all, through discrimination we ourselves have experienced, through racist actions and opinions of others, and through our own racist actions and attitudes. We can only develop effective counterstrategies and authentically and plausibly confront racism when we own up to the reality of our own racist influences.

This is reflected in feedback that we increasingly receive from our activists: that they increasingly perceived, over the course of their engagement with the International Weeks against Racism project, how important it is to “overcome one’s own shadow” and question oneself. To not just focus on “the others” or “the right wing”, but to focus on oneself. This step is costly and uncomfortable, but it is the basis of real solidarity.

“100% human dignity – Together against Racism”

Is there an emphasis this year?

We’re calling our focus this year “100% Human Dignity—Together against Racism.” The idea is that human dignity may not be bartered for any political or ideological goal. Outside of that, however, local groups can set their focus on whatever they need. It has already become clear that the Weeks of Action this year will be shaped by themes like migration, asylum, and rising right-wing populism. This has been expected in light of current discourse and the upcoming national parliamentary election.

It is clear to see how current events and developments are picked up by our activists and thereby change the focus of our events. The rising numbers of refugees and migrants, and the corresponding immense increase in violent attacks and hate speech against them and their new homes, have been clearly reflected in the last year’s choice of topics. As I said before, this year’s emphasis will once more lie on these topics and themes.

Dangerous developments: Ostracization and degradation instead of solidarity

I find the current societal atmosphere vis-à-vis the developments in migration and asylum to be extremely problematic. Instead of a strengthened solidarity between those in the so-called “majority society” who feel hung out to dry and marginalized groups like refugees, migrants and those affected by racism, increased immigration has fostered a horrible mentality of ostracization and degradation of others. Nationality is functioning more than ever as a mark of worth and group identity. Right-wing populist groups and parties refer back to and promote this nationalist feeling, and a vicious cycle begins. This is a development that I find frightening and dangerous—not just in light of the coming elections, but also for the social and political fabric of society.

A counter-culture exists—it just has to be made more visible

What do you hope for in the upcoming International Weeks against Racism?

First, I want to emphasize that the engagement we have is huge and unbelievably creative! To oppose the developments I sketched out above, I can imagine intensive training of local alliances and organizations on the subject of solidarity—indeed, extending to all social and economic groups and being inclusive (of course!) of people of color and people with migrant backgrounds. In this way, a strong and self-confident counter-current could arise. After all, it already exists—it just has to become more visible!

How do we get involved?

Everyone who wants to take part in the Weeks of Action with their own event can register their event directly on our website or can send it by email to iwgr@stiftung-gegen-rassismus.de. The foundation for the International Weeks against Racism will then put your event in our nationwide online calendar. It’s nothing more complex than that!

For those who want to participate but are looking for ideas: a list of event ideas can be found on our website.