Icon: enlarge
Those who want to learn never stop learning.
Decades ago, anyone who wanted to offend people with dark skin color used the rough B-term.
The N word has taken its place.
Recently, those who do not want to injure, retraumatize, insult or just bore people with dark skin color have not even used the early modern "word that was used for chocolate kisses".
This is how Enissa Amani describes the "M-Word" in her discussion group "The best instance" announced on Instagram and broadcast on YouTube.
Amani is an influential entertainer for an audience to which the public service no longer penetrates.
More people follow her on Instagram than Frankfurt am Main has a population.
Almost 770,000 followers are a force.
Anyone who all too smugly calls the Tehran-born comedian a "comedian" can dress warmly.
Then Amani quickly turns into a vengeful Erinnye and incites her followers on the target person.
Circle of chairs in front of a glass wall
This time it was the WDR who felt their holy anger.
In response to the WDR debacle "The Last Instance", Amani organized and moderated a counter-event: "The Best Instance", a talk about racism this time not without, but exclusively with people affected by racism.
She rented a hall, brought in "health officers", "who let us all be tested, I have a camera team and, if I may say so at this point, I just made it out of my own pocket and now do this show" .
In a semicircle of chairs in front of a glass wall she received Natasha A. Kelly, communication scientist, feminist and author of several books on the subject.
Everything is there.
Gianni Jovanovic was there, queer comedian, grandfather and eloquent activist for the interests of the Sinti and Roma.
Nava Zarabian from the Anne Frank educational institution covered her scientific flank.
The freelance journalist Mohamed Amjahid writes columns and also books on the subject, which also contain everything.
Max Czollek is a poet, coach and writer for several daily newspapers, and he is also an eloquent critic of the »majority society«.
Czollek wrote the book "Desintegriert sich!" On the toxic implications of the idea of integration.
When he was jokingly suggested to write a book called "Disinfect Yourself!" In times of the pandemic, Michel Friedman, who was present at this gag, could not laugh.
The anecdote leads - after a verbose introduction by all those present and a heartfelt assurance of mutual appreciation, we are not watching television here!
- right in the middle of the topic.
So language, or: "Why does the supposed majority society insist on using swear words?", After all, at least at WDR, a certain persistence was noticeable.
Czollek »would not speak of majority society, but of dominance culture.
The interesting thing about the dominance culture is the arrogance with which it perceives the present «.
An assumed position that Jovanovic puts it mildly: "The word doesn't hurt me, so it's not hurtful either."
Now on television (and not only at WDR) it is actually representatives of the majority society who stroll through delicate topics with privileged nonchalance that cannot be overlooked.
The diversity of society is rarely depicted.
And when someone is invited, they are usually outnumbered.
At worst, a person, as Kelly says, "who has not yet gone through their political awareness process."
It was different in "The Best Instance".
Instead of mutually trivializing racism, the guests highlighted its different forms.
It was thanks to Amani that the event did not turn out to be a proseminar.
As a moderator, she wants to learn something herself and asks questions "which you are probably tired of explaining".
Why the "potato" is perfectly okay for Germans
So, whoever didn't know it, learns that the supposedly sterile term »antiziganism« reproduces wrong connotations because the Z-word is still hidden in it.
It should be "anti-Sinti or anti-Romanism", suggests Jovanovic, or simply: "racism against Sinti and Roma".
By the way, the term »Z-word« itself is already under observation, because the Z ... it's complicated.
For the transition, everyone agrees, you still need the abbreviation.
It also explains why "potatoes" are perfectly okay for Germans.
The absolution for the "cop" as a name for a police officer is a little more shaky.
According to Amani, the latter is "clearly" a pleasant animal.
And "why is Alman allowed"?
It's not about permissions, says Amjahid, half resignedly, half soothingly: "You can't prohibit anything, but there is contradiction."
And this contradiction of supposed minority societies "can no longer be switched off".
Or, as Czollek says: "We're coming now, we're taking over the whole place."
On YouTube, Amani is not a big city, before the broadcast it was more of a village with 9610 inhabitants.
There were 44 likes before the show started, after ten minutes 1736 people looked in, at the end there were almost 5000, at midnight 30,000.
That is actually more than the »last instance« usually achieves with the »advertising-relevant target group«.
After all, every fourth person in this country has a migration background.
If that's supposed to be a "minority," it's pretty big.
Unbelievable, they team up!
And talk to each other!
About structural racism!
"We have to answer it," said Jovanovic, "otherwise others will do it for us."
Should such a gigantic apparatus like the WDR really not have been able to set up a comparable format at short notice?
It would be bad if he lacked the ability to do so.
It would be worse if he didn't have the will.
And if the public-law spaces are closed or too narrow, the socially relevant target group turns to “safe spaces”.
Icon: The mirror