Cast at Maischberger shows: Political talk shows have learned nothing

The Maischberger-Talk (ARD) has received a lot of criticism this week - initially they only wanted to speak to white guests on the subject of racism in the USA.

• Maischberger was already criticized this week before it was broadcast
• On the subject of racism and police violence in the USA , the program in the First (ARD) * initially only invited white guests
• The German talk show landscape shows how little they have learned from past mistakes

News of riots in the United States after the racist murder of George Floyd does not stop. They also cause outrage and horror in Germany. Now German talk shows are taking up the topic. The program “Maischberger. The Week "(ARD) discusses various current topics every Wednesday. This time the talk show, which dealt with the violent clashes in the USA , was criticized even before it was broadcast. 

Racism discussed among white guests - Maischberger (ARD) in criticism

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) was invited to speak about the current situation in the United States . Also a guest: virologist Helga Rübsamen-Schaeff, ARD stock exchange expert Anja Kohl, moderator Dirk Steffens and columnist Jan Fleischhauer. A show about police violence and racism that is only occupied by whites? This rightly caused outrage on Twitter. 

No, we don't do that! No excuse when people discuss racism, people affected by racism belong in the studio. Finally learn to talk to those affected instead of them! You are also financed by GEZ fees from the POCs, capice ?! @ARDde

The editorial team, which did not exactly glory when trying to smooth the waves, did not at the end turn out to be completely ignorant. At the last minute, she invited the black scientist Priscilla Layne from the USA to talk about the violent conflicts and racism in the USA. 

6. The more I think about it, the reason they reached out to me is because A. Having a Black guest was a last-minute thought for them. B. When they think of racism and police brutality they mistakenly only think of the US.

Maischberger Talk im Erste (ARD): "Profit and business are not as important as human life"

Fortunately, Layne was not too irritated by the moderator's uninspiring questions and gave an insight into the everyday police violence against blacks. For black people, contact with the police is a matter of life or death, according to Layne. With regard to the looting, some of which took place in the wake of the protests and prompted Jan Fleischhauer to speak of "marauding gangs", Layne made it clear: "Everyone has to think about how he or she wants to protest. But profit and business are not as important as human lives. No matter how you protest, it will never be accepted by a system that tries to kill you. ” 

Unlike Fleischhauer, who tried to understand Trump at the beginning of the program and described the allegations against the President as "strange", the commentators Anja Kohl and Dirk Steffens named Trump's shared responsibility. This was "significantly responsible" and "do the opposite of de-escalation". Priscilla Layne also confirmed this impression. 

Ignorance at Maischberger (ARD): Racism is not just a problem for the United States 

Foreign Minister Maas did not really want to go along with this assessment. When asked whether Trump was a racist *, he initially fussed a little until he answered the question with a no. Trump has recently made "difficult statements" and has opened the "racist wound of the USA " again, said Maas. However, Maas clearly stated that racism is not a purely American problem and referred to the Halle and Hanau attacks.

With this he named what the editorial team of Maischberger ( ARD ) apparently had not thought of. The fact that there are black people in Germany who are experiencing racist (police) violence and are able to comment on the situation in the United States - and not only about it - still does not seem to have arrived in German talk shows. Otherwise, the editors would have selected other guests and would not have invited a person affected by racism only after a media protest . This shows that political talk shows have learned little or nothing from past mistakes. This may not come as a surprise to many activists, but it is always bitter.

By Josephine von der Haar

With Markus Lanz on ZDF, only white people had their say on the subject of racism and police violence. 

* fr.de is part of the nationwide Ippen Digital Network.