Racist place names are often renamed.
But a village in Schleswig-Holstein is resisting - it wants to continue to be a “Negernbötel”.
Munich - Negernbötel.
How does that sound to you?
Would you like to live in a place with that name?
For the district association of Green Youth in Segeberg (Schleswig Holstein) the answer is crystal clear: no.
In their opinion, no place in Germany should contain the “N word”.
"Hurtful and racist" - Green youth complains about the place name Negernbötel in Schleswig-Holstein
The spokesman for the district association, Lennart Stahl and Marlene Jakob, declared on Instagram: "The place name N *** rnbötel contains the very hurtful and racist N-word".
The demand: the village should be renamed!
However, people who are also very involved see it completely differently: the almost 1,000 villagers themselves. Mayor Marco Timme says: “The topic distracts from the actual tasks in the village that have to be tackled.
We are building a new fire brigade and at the daycare center, ”said the mayor about the
picture
.
"The discussion about naming 1306 is of secondary importance."
"Negro" stands for "near" - because the village was closer to the monastery than another
This year the place was baptized when another village came to the Segeberg monastery.
"Bötel" probably means "home" and probably comes from Lower Saxony, as can be read on the village website.
One had to distinguish between the two villages, since otherwise there would have been two "botele".
Because Negernbötel was closer to the monastery, it was given the addition "Negern" - for closer.
In contrast, the other settlement is called Fehrenbötel - "fehren" for far.
With this background knowledge, it is easier to understand why the citizens are not offended by their village name.
The Greens, on the other hand, make it clear that they know about the origin: "The place name has no racist origin," they write.
When it comes to the question “for us, not only the origin is important, but also the recognition of the Low German language and culture.
We fully understand that people want to protect the Low German culture and Low German place names and cling to this tradition. "
Grüne: "Plattdeusch is no longer a very widespread language"
The Greens continued: “At the same time, however, it is important to recognize that Low German is no longer a very widespread language and that the place name does not trigger an association with the Low German language for the vast majority of people today.
Anyone who reads the name today associates the place name with the racist N-word that was used for centuries to oppress black people. "
The representatives of the Green Youth do not accuse the villagers of racism: "Of course that does not mean that the inhabitants of the village are racist, but it does mean that we have a word that stands for racism, oppression and the murder of Black, Indigenous, People of Color stands, honor and don't worry about it. "
Both sides have valid arguments.
Renaming is in vogue: the gypsy sauce is now also called differently.
The question that remains is whether the answer has changed for you: Would you like to be a “Negro coop” or not?
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