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RBB director Schlesinger: "This factual mistake shouldn't have happened"
Photo: Britta Peders / picture alliance / dpa
Patricia Schlesinger, director of the ARD broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB), has apologized for parts of a broadcast by cabaret artist Dieter Nuhr.
The RBB confirms this to SPIEGEL.
Initially, the »Tagesspiegel« reported on it.
Nuhr had been outraged in his program “Nuhr im First” about the title “What white people don't want to hear about racism, but should know”, a book by the author Alice Hasters.
It is »sensational«. And because the title implies racism across the board because of the color of white people, the title itself is »racist«.
He had also claimed that the book was "a big hit in the US."
The only thing is that the German journalist's book was not even published in the USA.
»Racism has no place in the RBB under my leadership«
This factual mistake shouldn't have happened, Schlesinger wrote in a reply to an open letter from the group "Black Women Matter": "Our apology for this goes first to Alice Hasters." That one shouldn't talk about a book anyway have not read, "the RBB has meanwhile also agreed with Dieter Nuhr".
Numerous cultural workers and initiatives had signed the open letter to the director.
According to the authors, Nuhr questioned the existence of structural racism.
"Mr. Nuhr not only damaged Alice Hasters' reputation and her work as an author and journalist, but also insulted the entire black community and people of other skin colors in Germany." There was no apology and no statement in coordination with the broadcaster.
"Instead, Mr. Nuhr has exacerbated the situation through his previous reactions," it says to Schlesinger's address.
The artistic director defended the cabaret artist in her apology.
One appreciates Nuhr because he "goes to the limits".
What he said about the title of the book on his show is covered by artistic freedom.
But now, as suggested by the group, they want to develop an exchange and presentation format in order to think together about where to look more closely under the heading of "Satire": "Racism has no place in the RBB under my leadership."
Nuhr holds on to allegations
A few days after his broadcast on Facebook, Nuhr himself tried to explain himself because he felt accused of being a racist by the discussion about his broadcast.
"Of course, I cannot leave this accusation standing", wrote the 60-year-old.
Nuhr apologized for his formulation about the book: »I made a mistake when I said: 'This book was ...' I wanted to say: 'Such books are ...' I made this mistake - and admitted it, of course, no question
›Such books are a big hit in the USA ...‹ it should read.
He stuck to his other comments on the title of the book.
He also did not believe, he wrote, “that sensational book headings aimed at polarizing scandalization for the purpose of sales promotion, as is the case with Alice Hasters' book, help to change the situation.
You specify this, but ultimately lead to a hardening of the fronts. "
He also bothered, according to Nuhr, that there is now an “ideologized academic process”.
A common term like racism is first redefined and then others are accused of not adhering to the definition.
He believes that his use of the term is that of "colloquial" - "and that is the language I speak on stage".
Alice Hasters herself wrote shortly afterwards on Twitter: “I have never said that white people are racist because they are white.
All people are racially socialized, white people are privileged by racism.
That is what they often do not want to hear, but should know. ”And also:“ 'White', like all other racializations, is a social construct and not a biological fact.
Whether you fall into the “white” category can depend on the context.
I too can be white in some contexts.
Dieter Nuhr is white in every context. "
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