"Multiculturalism has utterfly failed in Germany," said German chancellor Angela Merkel last year in a speech, echoing the sentiments of Thilo Sarrazin and many pundits. For Sarrazin and his fans, the failure of multiculturalism is the fault of (genetically inferior) Muslim immigrants who stubbornly refuse to adopt German values. But Kenan Malik, in an Op/Ed piece in the New York Times, sees it quite differently. The problem has always been that German policy has been a barrier to assimilation of the Muslim minority:
A similar process has taken place in Germany. Postwar immigrants, primarily from Turkey, came not as potential citizens, but as “gastarbeiter,” or guest workers, who were expected to eventually return to their native countries. Over time, immigrants became transformed from a temporary necessity to a permanent presence, partly because Germany continued relying on their labor, and partly because they — and especially their children — came to see Germany as home.
The German state, however, continued to view them as outsiders and to refuse them citizenship. Unlike the practices in Britain, France or the United States, German citizenship is based on blood, not soil: it is granted automatically only to children born of German parents. Germany has nearly four million people of Turkish origin today, many of them born there, but fewer than 25 percent have managed to become citizens. Instead, multiculturalism became the German answer to the “Turkish problem.”
Viewed as second-class residents in Germany, people with Turkish backgrounds were forced into "parallel societies":
In place of citizenship and a genuine status in society, the state “allowed” immigrants to keep their own culture, language and lifestyles. One consequence was the creation of parallel communities. Without any incentive to participate in the national community, many Turks became dangerously inward-looking. Today, almost a third of Turkish adults in Germany regularly attend mosque, a higher rate than elsewhere in Western Europe and higher than in many parts of Turkey. The increasing isolation of second-generation German Turks has made some more open to radical Islamism. The uncovering last year of German jihadis fighting in Afghanistan should therefore have come as no surprise.
The Sarrazins, Broders and Wilders in Europe always complain that Muslims have no relationship with the "Judeo-Christian roots" of Western culture. I can only recommend that they open their Bibles to Galatians 6:7: "For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
How do Germans expect to keep their language and culture going if they consider it exclusive to people of German ancestry?
They are so short sighted.
Posted by: Hattie | July 08, 2011 at 05:12 PM
"Multiculturalism has utterly failed in Germany,"
That is not what she said, shame on you David.
Posted by: Volker | July 09, 2011 at 09:48 AM
I quote from the international press:
"And of course, the approach [to build] a multicultural [society] and to live side by side and to enjoy each other ... has failed, utterly failed."
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/1017/Germany-s-Angela-Merkel-Multiculturalism-has-utterly-failed
Shame on you, Volker, for doubting me.
Posted by: David | July 09, 2011 at 10:43 AM
"How do Germans expect to keep their language and culture going if they consider it exclusive to people of German ancestry?"
Ahh come on, since Sarrazin we all know that Arabs' and Turks' biggest contribution to the society lies in fruit and grocery trade anyway :-D
Posted by: Zyme | July 11, 2011 at 01:09 AM
"Multiculturalism has utterly failed in Germany" ....I don't believe in this statement. I have been in Germany and I see diversity in their populace.
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