Icon: enlarge
Basic law passage on a glass wall at the Jakob-Kaiser-Haus
Photo:
Reiner Zensen / imago images
Article 3 of the Basic Law formulates a central principle of Federal Republican democracy: "All people are equal before the law."
But paragraph 3, which prohibits discrimination, speaks of "race".
However, there is now scientific consensus that there are no human races.
The Federal Government therefore wants to delete the term from the Basic Law and replace it with a new formulation to protect against racism.
"There is full agreement that there are no different races of people," said Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) of the "Augsburger Allgemeine".
"That is why we in the federal government have agreed to revise the Basic Law at this point."
In paragraph 3 of Article 3 it says so far: "Nobody may be disadvantaged or preferred because of their gender, their origin, their race, their language, their homeland and origin, their beliefs, their religious or political views."
When the Basic Law was created in 1949, the term race was included, said Lambrecht, "in order to clearly distance oneself from the Nazi racial ideology."
Nevertheless, from today's perspective, the use of the term "could lead to misunderstandings", she said.
Therefore this is rightly criticized.
Hamburg proposal for a new version
The government had already discussed controversial issues in the spring after a Green push to delete the word "race".
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU), among others, assessed the project with skepticism, while Lambrecht supported it.
Most recently, the red-green governed city-state of Hamburg announced a Federal Council initiative to remove the term from the constitution.
The term should not be removed from the constitution without replacement, said Lambrecht of the "Augsburger Allgemeine".
"The Basic Law must protect against racism without speaking of 'race'."
According to the interview, the Justice Minister wants to work out a corresponding draft together with Interior Minister Seehofer how this should work.
The Hamburg initiative, which is to be introduced to the regional chamber on November 6th, shows how it could work.
It proposes to replace "race" with "racist".
Accordingly, it would in future say: "Nobody may ... be racially disadvantaged or favored."
Icon: The mirror
apr / AFP