Enlarge image
Musician Ronja Maltzahn
Photo:
Zuzanna Badziong / dpa
The musician Ronja Maltzahn is not allowed to appear at a Fridays for Future demonstration in Hanover on Friday as initially planned.
The local group of the climate protection movement canceled the appearance of the white artist.
The activists justified the cancellation with Ronja Maltzahn's hairstyle.
Dreadlocks have become a symbol of resistance in the civil rights movement of black people in the USA.
"So if a white person wears dreadlocks, then it's cultural appropriation because we, as white people, don't have to grapple with history or the collective trauma of oppression because of our privilege," the climate activists wrote.
First, Maltzahn himself had made the cancellation public on his social media channels.
The musician reacted with concern: »We were looking forward to being able to set an example for peace and against discrimination with our music.
It's a pity that we are excluded from it because of external characteristics.«
First, she should cut her hair for the performance
Fridays for Future Hannover commented on the cancellation that it was important to give black people, indigenous people and people of color a space within the climate justice movement.
The appearance of a white person with dreadlocks could give the impression that there is no protected space in the climate protection movement for these people in which discrimination would be reduced.
"That's why we decided to cancel Ronja Maltzahn," the message said.
The activists of the climate protection movement also asked the musician for an apology.
In a chat message to Maltzahn, the group informed the musician of the cancellation, but at the same time said that her performance would be possible if she cut off her dreadlocks by Friday.
This suggestion was an invasion of the artist's privacy, which should not have happened, Fridays for Future later announced.
as/dpa
