Gerald Asamoah, Otto Addo and Patrick Owomoyela report on “Lanz” about their experiences of racism in German football.
Hamburg - “Markus Lanz” will be dedicated to the topic of racism in football on Thursday evening.
The occasion is the sports studio report “Black Eagles”, which ZDF broadcasts on Friday evening.
Ewald Lienen - who was already a guest at “Lanz” on Tuesday - thinks very much about the film: “This documentary really moved me.
I think this has to be compulsory reading for all schools.
Because I heard things there that I never thought could have happened in Germany. "
“Markus Lanz” guests Addo, Asamoah and Owomoyela report on their experiences of racism
The film shows, among others, the former German national players Gerald Asamoah and Patrick Owomoyela as well as the German-born ex-professional Otto Addo, who played for Ghana during his playing days.
Talk host Lanz asks the trio about personal experiences with xenophobia.
Asamoah describes that he lived in Ghana until he was twelve and that he had “no picture of Germany”.
He got to know Germany “from my mother's Otto catalog”.
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Gerald Asamoah, Otto Addo and Patrick Owomoyela as guests of "Markus Lanz" (ZDF)
© ZDF / Markus Lanz
Owomoyela describes his childhood and youth as "happiness" because the color of his skin did not play a role for him in his hometown of Hamburg.
“I actually didn't experience racism because it was really mixed up.” Addo reports of completely different experiences: “I've been confronted with racism for as long as I can remember.
Whether that was in kindergarten, whether we were using public transport, whether it was as a young soccer player.
Unfortunately for me it was normal that it could happen again and again.
But I just tried to come to terms with it. "
"Markus Lanz" - these were his guests on June 17th:
Serap Güler
(CDU) - State Secretary for Integration in
North
Rhine-Westphalia
Gerald Asamoah
- ex-professional soccer player
Otto Addo
- football coach
Patrick Owomoyela
- ex-professional soccer player
Ewald Lienen
- soccer coach
Asamoah reports, the integrative power of sport helped him as a young person to gain self-confidence and gain a foothold in Germany: “I found recognition on the soccer field.
When people notice that you can do something and have a bit of talent, then you get respect. "With this statement, Lienen thinks a step further, namely of the people who do not have this opportunity:" The things that you have experienced as everyday racism , you were able to compensate a little with performance.
You have found recognition.
But there are many who cannot do that. "
“Markus Lanz” on Thursday: Union politician Guler calls for a we-feeling for everyone
Lanz attests to an imbalance when a young man born in Germany like Addo prefers to play for his parents' country of origin.
At some point he accepted the external attribution of others, he explains his decision: "In the end, I saw myself as others saw me and that's why I didn't see myself as a German."
Serap Güler - CDU board member and integration state secretary in North Rhine-Westphalia - sees the whole of society as an obligation: "That also shows us that we haven't succeeded here." create, this arrival, this acceptance that these people are a very clear, natural part of this country. "
Addo added that Asamoah, with whom he played together at Hannover 96, decided in 2001 to play for Germany. “Because we ourselves have also experienced a lot of things together where we have been marginalized.” Only after a while did he realize that Asamoah could also have positive effects with his decision: “Over time I saw that there are people who have got through Gerald understood that there are black Germans. "
The talk only becomes controversial for a brief moment - when Lienen attempts to research the causes towards the end of the program: “We cannot discuss these things without also thinking about developments in society as a whole.
It doesn't come from a vacuum. ”There are causes for anger and hatred,“ we cannot ignore the social question, ”he explains.
Guler considers this explanation too simple and contradicts.
“To blame that on social status makes racism too easy.
There are people who are doing very, very well in our country.
And yet they don't want black footballers, politicians of Turkish origin or anything else.
They don't want that. "
"Markus Lanz" - the conclusion of the show
“Markus Lanz” on Thursday evening differs significantly from the programs of the past few weeks. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the round table is neither controversial nor politically debated, but rather the guests report on their personal experiences with racism and exclusion. On the other hand, talk show host Lanz moves from one player to the next of the documentary “Black Eagles”, which in places leads to longer pauses in the flow of conversation. The show was nevertheless successful, as it deals with an important social issue through the magnifying glass of football. Because not only Otto Addo knows: "Football is a reflection of society."
