VIDEO – This week on (link) MDR’s “recap” – Faschingskostüme: Ist Rassismus vielen egal? Myself and several others on the topic of racism, cultural appropriation, carnival, rassimus, Faschingskostüme, Kulturelle Aneignung.
We ask: How do you educate upon these topics in meaningful ways and create change to end racist practices? Like the title of our documentary clearly suggests, there is a wrong and a better way to show appreciation, indicate interest or learn about other peoples and cultures that do not perpetuate cycles of erasure, violence, and misogyny (+transphobia). Learn more here: flyingwithredhaircrow.com.
Description: “Finally #Carnival again! That means celebrating exuberantly, swaying, dressing up. But apparently, this year, too, that doesn’t go without missteps. At a carnival reception in Hesse, there is a “blackfacing” scandal. In Prossen, Saxony, people in “Indian” #costumes drive through town during a carnival parade, and a man in a rainbow suit is tied to a torture stake. And we ask ourselves: why are certain costumes problematic?
For this, we take a look at history, more precisely at the time of colonialism. At that time, many ethnic groups were oppressed and considered inferior. Their clothing and culture were looked down upon. Today, for example, dressing up as #NativeAmerican without dealing with their history is unacceptable, Red Haircrow tells us in the video.
And yet, “Ind*aner” costumes are still everywhere. Many fools don’t understand the fuss over the disguise. Do many not care about #racism? We asked academics and those affected for their take.”
Note: By the way, I was addressed by MDR in English and never asked if I speak German. Which of course I do, I was born in Germany and have spent the last almost twenty years back in Germany. Another example that one can recognize the problems of stereotyping, but still make false assumptions about other things that interfere with intercultural well-being.
Wir fragen: Wie kann man auf sinnvolle Weise über diese Themen aufklären und Veränderungen bewirken, um rassistische Praktiken zu beenden? Wie der Titel unseres Dokumentarfilms deutlich macht, gibt es einen falschen und einen besseren Weg, Wertschätzung zu zeigen, Interesse zu bekunden oder etwas über andere Menschen und Kulturen zu lernen, ohne den Kreislauf von Auslöschung, Gewalt und Frauen- oder transfeindlichkeit aufrechtzuerhalten. Erfahren Sie hier mehr: flyingwithredhaircrow.com.
Beschreibung: “Endlich wieder Karneval! Das heißt ausgelassen feiern, schunkeln, verkleiden. Aber offenbar geht das auch in diesem Jahr nicht ohne Fehltritte. Bei einem Fastnachtsempfang in Hessen gibt es einen “Blackfacing”-Skandal. Im sächsischen Prossen fahren Menschen im “Indianer”-Kostüm bei einem Karnevalsumzug durch den Ort, ein Mann in Regenbogen-Anzug ist an einen Marterpfahl gefesselt.Und wir fragen uns: Warum sind bestimmte Kostüme problematisch?
Wir werfen dafür einen Blick in die Geschichte, genauer gesagt in die Zeit des Kolonialismus. Damals wurden viele Volksgruppen unterdrückt und als minderwertig betrachtet. Auf ihre Kleidung und Kultur wurde herabgeschaut. Sich heutzutage zum Beispiel als Native American zu verkleiden, ohne sich mit ihrer Geschichte zu beschäftigen, sei inakzeptabel, erklärt uns Red Haircrow im Video.
Und doch sind “Ind*aner”-Kostüme nach wie vor überall zu sehen. Viele Narren verstehen die Aufregung um die Verkleidung nicht. Ist Rassismus vielen egal? Wir haben Wissenschaftler und Betroffene nach ihrer Einschätzung gefragt.”
Kapitel: 00:00 Intro 00:45 Wo gibt es Rassismus im Karneval? 02:35 Krasse Kostüme in Onlineshops 03:27 Was macht die Kostüme problematisch? 04:36 Kulturelle Aneignung im Karneval 06:42 Warum werden rassistische Kostüme trotzdem getragen 07:18 Hat Karneval ein Rassismusproblem? 08:00 Kostümverbot für Kinder? 09:50 Sarahs Meinung 10:34 Endcard
HINWEIS: Übrigens wurde ich vom MDR auf Englisch angesprochen und nie gefragt, ob ich Deutsch spreche. Was ich natürlich tue, ich bin in Deutschland geboren und habe die letzten fast zwanzig Jahre wieder in Deutschland verbracht. Ein weiteres Beispiel, man kann die Probleme der Stereotypisierung erkennen, aber trotzdem falsche Annahmen über andere Dinge machen, die das Wohlbefinden stören.
Sharing commentary by Ken Pope, on the new article by Robin Lindley in the American Bar Association’s ABA Journal: “How the US influenced the creation of Nazi race laws under Hitler”.
My comments: “IT IS EXTREMELY RELEVANT to continuing conversations, discussions and so-called “debates” on Native American stereotypes, cultural appropriation and misuse/abuse of Native cultures, spirituality, histories and peoples and the reality of “well-intentioned” support of Natives, but which still results in erasure, replacement and silencing of Natives by speaking for them instead of letting them speak for themselves.
It’s also very relevant to the normalized and increasing daily racism, xenophobia, ableism etc. and apathy in Germany towards stereotyping/ignorance, discrimination and bias towards any marginalized and/or minoritized peoples and groups. Absolutely the history of Nazism has been taught in Germany, but the underlying reasons racism and racist practices are still not understood as such is a huge problem. Obviously the education has been flawed and/or one-dimensional, which many believe is because POC are routinely excluded as educators at all levels of schooling and academia.”
Excerpts:
Adolf Hitler raises a defiant, clenched fist during a speech.
“Adolf Hitler and his Nazi followers in the 1930s fashioned race laws that were designed to degrade and deprive Jewish people of all rights. At the same time, American laws often enshrined white supremacy and discriminated against non-whites, and Black Americans in particular were treated as second-class citizens.
Prompted by Hitler’s own words in his hateful screed Mein Kampf, celebrated Yale professor of law and history James Q. Whitman conducted meticulous research to determine the influence of American sources on Nazi jurists and scholars in the early years of Hitler’s reich. In in his groundbreaking and disquieting book Hitler’s American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law (Princeton University Press), Whitman found that the Nazis had carefully studied American racial law and social policies in developing Germany’s antisemitic Nuremberg Laws of 1935 and other policies.
As Whitman reveals, Hitler saw the United States as the world leader in establishing a racist social order.
Hitler and Nazi lawyers admired racist U.S. immigration laws; criminal laws forbidding mixed marriages or sexual relations; and Jim Crow segregation laws and other provisions that robbed African Americans of rights. And they especially admired the mass extermination of Native Americans by “Nordic” pioneers.
Hitler believed that the U.S. saw itself as ‘a Nordic German country’
Many Americans also did. Although, all of this is but one side, the nightmare side of the American story, and the Nazis were aware of that too. They were often puzzled by the competing currents in American political lives, some of which looked very much like the Nazi currents that they owed allegiance to, and some of which looked entirely incompatible with Nazi ideals.
American infatuation with eugenics influenced the Nazis
Race law is not just about eugenics, but it’s also about creating social hierarchies and humiliating people and developing notions of second-class citizen status and all those sorts of things. But what made the United States such an interesting model to a regime like the Nazi regime was that the Americans were really unembarrassedly interested in passing laws on these topics and spent a lot of time developing legal doctrines that could be used not only to the ends of creating a eugenically healthy population … but also to develop hierarchical laws.
And there’s the famous line from Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: “three generations of imbeciles are enough” … from the Supreme Court [Buck v. Bell (1927)] in a case upholding a sterilization law. It’s important to emphasize, even though everything about American eugenics looks pretty ugly to me, that doesn’t mean that we got as ugly as the Nazis did with regard to extermination. When we read what Hitler had to say in particular, and other Nazis, the model for extermination policies in Eastern Europe didn’t have to do with eugenics as such. It had to do with the American conquest of the West in particular.
Hitler admired the mass extermination of millions of Native Americans
He did indeed. And, of course, the U.S. looked like a model for a German like Hitler because … Germany should be spreading east in the way the Americans spread west, and they should be at a minimum, displacing and possibly eliminating the local populations, as they did it.
If I may emphasize it, [the Native American genocide] was a more attractive model … [than the Armenian genocide] to the extent that the U.S. had made itself the dominant superpower in the world, and that’s what Hitler wanted for Germany as well. Being a Nazi, like other Nazis, and like other hard right-wingers, in trying to explain America’s tremendous geopolitical success, Hitler ascribed it naturally to American racism.
United States leadership in racist immigration laws
The laws in the early 20th century in particular were Hitler’s special focus in Mein Kampf. These were not expressly racist. … Instead, the laws introduced national quotas. There were earlier laws that directly and expressly targeted Asian immigrants.
But these 20th century laws created national quotas with the open intent of keeping out the wrong kind of people—those who didn’t fit the Nordic ideal.
Nazis focused on Jim Crow laws and second-class citizenship
I must emphasize one thing that’s important to note is that the Nazis were not only interested in Jim Crow laws, but … the entire suite of American race practices. Some American laws targeted Asians, and some of them, of course, targeted Native Americans, and there was a whole lot there.
But with regard to second-class citizenship, the Americans faced the problem that the 14th amendment makes it clear that you can’t deprive someone of citizenship and, as a result, the American creation of the second-class citizenship of the kind where you’re depriving someone of voting rights and the like had to be done through subterfuges. And it was done very effectively through subterfuges, but the Nazis didn’t feel the need for subterfuges themselves. [They] were entirely open about the creation of second-class citizenship for Jews especially.
Nazis admired American laws criminalizing miscegenation
It’s astounding. And those laws were expressly racist and directly served as inspirations for Nazi legislation. And we know this in particular because of one of the most telling bits of archival evidence I found was the transcript of a meeting in the summer of 1934 in which the Nazis discussed what sort of criminal law they should create in order to bring the new Nazi order into existence. And there, they specifically studied American laws and particularly American anti-miscegenation laws. The desire of the most radical Nazi was to criminalize mixed marriage, and America offered not only a model but pretty much the only model in the world for doing that, and some of the penalties were extraordinarily tough.
The Nazis found U.S. law on race and Black people sometimes too harsh
That was a shocking discovery on my part. Some states, not by any means all, defined any person as Black if that person had even one drop of Black blood, which meant looking to any Black ancestor at all, however far back, who was Black. Other states had less far-reaching definitions, such as having one Black grandparent or something like that, but every single American definition went beyond what the Nazis themselves ever embraced. When Nazis discussed the far-reaching notorious American one-drop rule, they said things that you would never imagine hearing from a Nazi, such as, “That’s completely inhumane. How could you do that?”
On U.S. democracy and ongoing racism, antisemitism and xenophobia
In my view, we must recognize what happened in Germany and understand how intriguing Germans found the American example as ways of reminding us of the basic, really terrifying truth that it can happen here. … And, one hope is that there are foundations to American liberal culture that are ultimately unshakeable. … I wouldn’t claim to predict the future, but the history certainly can bring home to us the full and uncomfortable range of possibilities in making a human society.”
“The same mentality that ignores Indigenous rights to self-representation are often those who also stereotype and gaslight GLBTIIQ people, women (of all kinds), the disabled or economically challenged, especially people of color just for desiring change and equality. It is basically saying, ‘My gratification is more important than your dignity, your rights or even your life.’ This is a main facet of rape culture. It is intersecting oppression.”
This is from the description of our documentary on racism, white supremacist ideology and cultural appropriation that uses as an object lesson the stereotyping of Native peoples, cultures, histories and traditions in Germany. “Forget Winnetou! Loving in the Wrong Way.” https://forgetwinnetou.com/.
We see this with the persistent and willful use of Native mascots by teams like the Kansas City Ch*efs, and the support of R*wling or anyone who perpetuates and uses anti-Semitic, racist, and misogynistic stereotypes in their work or words, and/or who advocates transphobia and hatred under the privileged and extremely twisted and misleading claim of feminism.
The same type of people and demographic who whine and rage about cancel culture, politic correctness and having their “culture” taken away, besides admitting their “cultures” are sexist, racist and/or hatemongering in the first place, they are centering and comparing their privileged lives to those widely vilified, discriminated against, treated with violence or killed simply for daring to exist and live their lives.
The latest article by Kristina Kielblock at kino.de details the timeline of R*wling’s transphobia and hatemongering, while also examining her work’s history of anti-Semitism, racism and stereotyping. It’s in German but a simple click in your browser can translate it to most other languages.
While it’s anyone’s choice to play the new HP game or watch and cheer on their favorite sports team, real human beings who care for others, for human rights, for anti-discrimination etc. would not show support through apathy OR by ignoring the sexism, racism, misogyny and hatemongering by their actions or words, blithely claiming it’s “no big deal” or “doesn’t really doesn’t matter.” Whether they wish it or not, whether they think so or not, their participation WILL BE USED by the racists, the sexists, the misogynists and transphobes to further perpetrate acts of violence, discrimination and cruelty to marginalized and minoritized groups and peoples.
Remember: whenever Native Americans, transgender people and allies, or anyone dare to speak up against the violence, misrepresentation and discrimination they face, greater attacks and aggression are ALWAYS the result. So more clearly than ever, if you are not part of the solution, you ARE part of the problem. If you remain silent, you join the oppressor.
(In German below). A new article on some of the current and upcoming shows centering Native American, First Nations and Indigenous peoples that (most importantly) were made by Natives for everyone. Natives also working in healthy cooperation and collaborations with other peoples and groups to produce work both, fiction and non-fiction, that include or focus on Native characters stories….without the Eurocentrism, misrepresentation and stereotyping.
Understand what that means because inevitably (and we see it constantly) there are comments from non-Natives who say, “But they sometimes do stereotypes! Why is it so different or bad if we do it?” or even more exasperating, “We love Natives, and just want to create characters and stories, too! Where’s the harm in that?” Besides our documentary, there are MANY resources that explain how, why and when racism and Eurocentrism continues to work in our societies, what it’s symptoms and effects are. There are MANY resources that explain and clearly demonstrate the harm that results, and the cycles of erasure, silencing and replacing Native peoples, voices and self-determination that continue the purposes of colonialism and Indigenous genocide.
The only time Germany and the western world seems to really consider these topics as a nation or societies is during a controversy, such as climaxed in August 2022 following the release of children’s books no less, that sought to revive and defend the use of racist, sexist terms used for Natives that are strongly condemned, which they were made well aware of long before going to press. What is especially frustrating about such behavior and societal practices, is that like Indian hobbyists of all kinds, they overshadow or completely obscure the many Europeans who have long been allies, colleagues and partners to Indigenous peoples, working to undo centuries of Eurocentrism and colonialism through healthy relationships and cooperation of all kinds with Native peoples. We get dozens of articles about hobbyists, books and reports by so-called “Indian experts” and ad nauseum novels, shows and films romanticizing Native stereotypes or misrepresenting/skewing current events, but few or NONE about good collaborations.
Stereotypes are oversimplifications of other peoples, groups and individuals of which one is not a part, often based on historical fears and ignorance. In the case of Europeans doing this to ethnic and racial groups, this has an overwhelmingly negative effect because of the violently gained and held structural power to control all narratives, which the targeted groups have little or no opportunity to correct or change, all while being subjected to discrimination, compartmentalization and dehumanization. In the case of Native American peoples, cultures and traditions, in Germany especially, decades of moneymaking exploitation of all kinds, from museums, to media studios, to tobacco products.
Simply put: When we as Native peoples talk about ourselves, our communities, our histories, our cultures, our traditions, our idiosyncrasies, we are not stereotyping because it is coming from a place of intimate, personal knowledge about ourselves, our communities, our histories, our cultures, our traditions, our idiosyncrasies. That is not hard to understand although it takes humility, often absent in western society, and realize, too, in that sentence you can substitute any other marginalized or minoritized groups for “Native peoples”. Look around you in western society, just like our documentary’s premise, the same attitude and treatment of Natives is done to others, and even to the environment, our Earth, our home. Destruction, pain and harm are ignored, minimized or defended for self-gratification and/or profit.
That’s why we continue say, no shout and yell, that it is well past time to symbolically #ForgetWinnetou! and the harmful practices, behaviors and mentalities that continue colonial, genocidal systems that encourage the stereotyping, erasure and silencing of certain “others”.
Ein neuer Artikel über einige der aktuellen und kommenden Serien, die sich mit Native Americans, First Nations und indigenen Gruppen befassen und (vor allem) von Natives für alle gemacht wurden. Eingeborene arbeiten auch in gesunder Kooperation und Zusammenarbeit mit anderen Völkern und Gruppen, um Werke zu produzieren, sowohl Belletristik als auch Sachbücher, die Geschichten von indigenen Charakteren enthalten oder sich auf diese konzentrieren…., ohne den Eurozentrismus, die falsche Darstellung und Stereotypisierung.
Verstehen Sie, was das bedeutet, denn unweigerlich (und wir sehen es ständig) gibt es Kommentare von Nicht-Natives, die sagen: “Aber sie machen manchmal Stereotypen! Warum ist es so anders oder schlecht, wenn wir es auch tun?” oder noch ärgerlicher: “Wir lieben die Eingeborenen und wollen auch Figuren und Geschichten erschaffen! Was ist daran so schlimm?” Neben unserem Dokumentarfilm gibt es VIELE Quellen, die erklären, wie, warum und wann Rassismus und Eurozentrismus in unserer Gesellschaft weiter wirken, was seine Symptome und Auswirkungen sind. Es gibt VIELE Quellen, die den Schaden, der daraus resultiert, und die Zyklen der Auslöschung, des Schweigens und der Verdrängung von indigenen Völkern, Stimmen und Selbstbestimmung, die die Ziele des Kolonialismus und des indigenen Völkermordes fortsetzen, erklären und klar aufzeigen.
Das einzige Mal, dass sich Deutschland und die westliche Welt als Nation oder Gesellschaft wirklich mit diesen Themen auseinandersetzen, ist während einer Kontroverse, wie sie im August 2022 nach der Veröffentlichung von Kinderbüchern ihren Höhepunkt erreichte, in der versucht wurde, die Verwendung rassistischer und sexistischer Bezeichnungen für indigene Gruppen wiederzubeleben und zu verteidigen, die aufs Schärfste verurteilt werden und über die sie lange vor der Veröffentlichung informiert wurden. Besonders frustrierend an solchen Verhaltensweisen und gesellschaftlichen Praktiken ist, dass sie – wie indianische Bastler aller Art – die vielen Europäer in den Schatten stellen oder völlig ausblenden, die seit langem Verbündete, Kollegen und Partner der indigenen Völker sind und daran arbeiten, Jahrhunderte des Eurozentrismus und Kolonialismus durch gesunde Beziehungen und Kooperationen aller Art mit den indigenen Volksgruppen zu überwinden. Es gibt Dutzende von Artikeln über Hobbyisten, Bücher und Berichte von so genannten “Indianerexperten” und bis zum Überdruss Romane, Serien und Filme, in denen indigene Stereotypen romantisiert oder aktuelle Ereignisse falsch dargestellt oder verdreht werden, aber nur wenige oder KEINE über gute Zusammenarbeit.
Stereotypen sind vereinfachte Darstellungen anderer Völker, Gruppen und Individuen, denen man nicht angehört, und beruhen oft auf historischen Ängsten und Unwissenheit. Im Falle der Europäer, die dies bei ethnischen und rassischen Gruppen tun, hat dies eine überwältigend negative Wirkung, da sie gewaltsam die strukturelle Macht erlangen und behalten, alle Narrative zu kontrollieren, die die Zielgruppen kaum oder gar nicht korrigieren oder ändern können, während sie gleichzeitig Diskriminierung, Abschottung und Entmenschlichung ausgesetzt sind. Im Fall der indianischen Völker, Kulturen und Traditionen, insbesondere in Deutschland, ist dies eine jahrzehntelange Ausbeutung zu Geldzwecken aller Art, von Museen über Medienstudios bis hin zu Tabakprodukten.
Einfach ausgedrückt: Wenn wir als Native Nations über uns selbst, unsere Gemeinschaften, unsere Geschichte, unsere Kulturen, unsere Traditionen, unsere Eigenheiten sprechen, dann tun wir das nicht stereotyp, denn es kommt von einem Ort intimer, persönlicher Kenntnis über uns selbst, unsere Gemeinschaften, unsere Geschichte, unsere Kulturen, unsere Traditionen, unsere Eigenheiten. Das ist nicht schwer zu verstehen, auch wenn man dazu Demut braucht, die in der westlichen Gesellschaft oft nicht vorhanden ist, und man sollte sich auch darüber im Klaren sein, dass man in diesem Satz ” Native Peoples” durch jede andere marginalisierte oder minorisierte Gruppe ersetzen kann. Schauen Sie sich in der westlichen Gesellschaft um, genau wie die Prämisse unseres Dokumentarfilms, die gleiche Einstellung und Behandlung der “Natives” wird anderen angetan, und sogar der Umwelt, unserer Erde, unserem Zuhause. Zerstörung, Schmerz und Schaden werden ignoriert, verharmlost oder aus Gründen der Selbstbefriedigung und/oder des Profits verteidigt.
Deshalb sagen wir weiterhin, nein, wir brüllen, dass es längst an der Zeit ist, symbolisch #ForgetWinnetou! und die schädlichen Praktiken, Verhaltensweisen und Mentalitäten zu vergessen, die koloniale, völkermörderische Systeme fortsetzen, die die Stereotypisierung, Auslöschung und das Verstummen bestimmter “Anderer” fördern.
My essay “Terming Us into New Obscurity” was included, with perspectives on the usage and evolution/deevolution of the terms BIPOC and POC. My contribution and the brochure is in German.
Shared from the xart splitta website:
“#CommunitiesSolidarischDenken ist nun im dritten Jahr einer der thematischen Schwerpunkte bei xart splitta. Wir haben über Solidaritäten gesprochen, geschrieben und uns ausgetauscht – über gute und schlechte, gescheiterte und gelungene, schwierige und einfache, Solidaritäten, aufgrund von Gemeinsamkeiten oder trotz Differenzen. Ziel ist hier der Versuch, community-übergreifend zu arbeiten und dabei bewusst Community-Verbindungen zu schaffen. Dazu gehört, Unterschiede und Gemeinsamkeiten in unseren Communitys zu thematisieren, um dadurch Handlungsstrategien für community-übergreifende Zusammenarbeit und Solidaritäten (weiter) zu entwickeln und zu stärken.
Doch wen bezieht diese Solidarität mit ein? Wer zeigt sich hier solidarisch mit wem? Es ist sicherlich kein Geheimnis, dass diese Communitys mehrheitlich (intersektionale) BIPoC-Communitys sind. Mit unseren Forderungen von 2021 im Gepäck ist es nun an der Zeit, sich tatsächlich mit den Basics auseinanderzusetzen.
Dies haben wir wieder für euch in unserer Broschüre #CommunitiesSolidarischDenken – Überlegungen zu nachhaltiger Community-Zusammenarbeit III mit dem Titel “Zusammen als People of Color?!” zusammengefasst, welche hier als download verfügbar ist.
The event will have both English and German segments. Register asap as space is limited as Covid19 precautions will be taken regarding personal distancing, etc.
Please visit their event announcement page for all details and the schedule for the two days of inspiring, enlightening & solidarity supporting gathering.
My Title: “Allyship “Righting History – How Historical Amnesia and Omission Fuels the New Rise of Normalized -Isms”.
Description: “The minimization or exclusion of the contributions, achievements and presence of women, non-Europeans and non-heteronormative people in history is common and also needs correction, but those omissions are more obvious.
However, the Eurocentrism in Western education systems and media also has another name most don’t associate with it and few “white people” recognize as such: white supremacist ideology. What are some of its forms, methods and tactics, and what can we do to right the wrongs written into the history of western society contributing to the current rise of hate, intolerance and ignorance.”
16./17. November ab 10 Uhr
Nachbarschaftshaus Urbanstraße
Diese Veranstaltung wird in-Präsenz, sowie digital stattfinden. In deutscher und englischer Lautsprache, sowie deutscher Gebärdensprache mit Verdolmetschungen.
In Kooperation mit dem Nachbarschaftshaus Urbanstraße.
The Living Archives ist eine online Plattform zur Dokumentation, Archivierung und Weitergabe von Wissen aus und für BIPoC Communities. Es ist ein intersektionales, dekoloniales resistant-knowledge Projekt, durch und für BIPoC-Communities. Ziel ist es gebündelt (verlorene und/oder gelöschte) Inhalte und Wissen, das innerhalb von BIPoC Kontexten generiert wird/wurde, festzuhalten und für diese Communities wieder zugänglich zu machen.
An diesen zwei November Tagen wollen wir uns gemeinsame mit Fragen um die Herstellung und Sicherung von Wissen sowie dem bewegungspolitischem aktivistischem Erinnern widmen.
Mit Keynotes, Panels sowie Workshops werden wir uns gemeinsam mit dekolonialen Wissens(re)produktionen und Politiken des Erinnerns auseinandersetzen. Die Prozesse um Wissen über intersektionale Diskriminierung bzw. über Lebensrealitäten, welche von der Norm abweichen, das Erinnern aktivistischer Kämpfe, Personen oder Orte sind grundlegend von struktureller Auslöschung betroffen oder werden in ihrer Existenzberechtigung an den Ränder der Gesellschaft gedrängt. Wir werden uns deswegen gemeinsam in die Zwischenräume begeben. Zwischenräume, in welchen unsere Geschichten erhalten und weitergegeben werden so das wir uns nun mit unseren widerständigen Prozessen aus den gesellschaftlichen Nischen und digitalen Subräumen heraus ausdehnen können.
Programm:
16. November
10.00h Ankommen 10.30h Begrüßung 11.00h Keynote “Black Deaf History” von Vincent Hesse (DGS) 11.45h Mittag 12.45h Panelgespräch “Verwoben mit Verwobene Geschichten – erinnerungspolitischer Aktivismus in digitalen Plattformen” mit Iris Rajanayagam, Juliana Kolberg und Latifa Hahn (Deutsche Lautsprache) 14.00h Workshop Phase I Workshop 1: “EXPECT BIPOC_ism” mit Adetoun Küppers-Adebisi (Deutsche Lautsprache) Workshop 2: Allyship “Righting History – How Historical Amnesia and Omission Fuels the New Rise of Normalized -Isms” mit Red Haircrow (English spoken language) 16.00h Netzwerk Austausch und Ausklang
–
17. November
10.00h Ankommen 10.30h Workshop Phase II (gleiche Gruppen und Workshops des ersten Tages) 12.30h Mittag 13.30h Panel “Deine, Meine, Unsere Erinnerungen” mit Nataly Jung-Hwa Han, Kenan Emini, Bahar Sanli und Juliana Kolberg (Deutsche Lautsprache) 15.00h Launch & Keynote “TRANCE” mit Sea Novaa (English spoken language) 16.00h Performance
Weitere Informationen über zu den Workshops und den Referent*innen. Der öffentliche Teil der Veranstaltung wird simultan in deutscher und englischer Lautsprache und deutscher Gebärdensprache verdolmetscht. Die Workshops werden unterschiedlich verdolmetscht, weitere Informationen findet ihr bei den jeweiligen Workshopsbeschreibungen.
Anmeldung: Die Teilnahme an der Veranstaltung ist nur mit vorheriger Anmeldung möglich. Manche Workshops sind als Safer Spaces konzipiert und nur für BIPoC zugänglich. Die Teilnehmer*innenzahl ist begrenzt. Menschen mit Diskriminierungserfahrungen werden in der Anmeldung bevorzugt.
Anmeldungen bitte bis Freitag, den 09.11.2022 an contact@xartsplitta.net.
Es wäre toll, wenn ihr bei eurer Anmeldung zu folgenden Punkten etwas schreiben würdet:
An welchem Workshop möchtest du teilnehmen?
Warum hast du dich für die Teilnahme an dem Workshop entschieden?
Auf welche Weise hast du dich bisher mit dem Thema beschäftigt?
Hast du Bedürfnisse oder brauchst du zur Teilnahme Unterstützung (z.b. Kinder Betreuung oder Sprachassistenz etc)?
After documentary filming with Drew Hayden Taylor in Berlin-Kreuzberg
Following my participation, albeit a small but contextually accurate part, in “Searching for Winnetou”, the 2018 documentary film on Indian hobbyism, with a million dollar budget very different than my own, both in finances and tone, I was invited to write an op-ed published to CBC Docs. I talk about the matters in the news the past days, but also discuss some important realities and people ALWAYS IGNORED BY GERMAN MEDIA AND SOCIETY whenever Winnetou, Indian hobbyism, cultural appropriation and racism are mentioned.
My Background as Informative on Multiculturalism & the Difference between “White” vs. “non-White” Behaviors
One of the many things some people never think about or even consider, which is a reality faced daily by persons like myself in Germany who may have written about or become “labeled” as a critical of “German culture” (aka cultural appropriation) and Native stereotypes. What those who most often interact with me, only is a product of stereotypes and stereotyping, the dehumanization of Natives, BIPOC or other people of color, that even some who are anti-racist rarely think about. It’s dehumanization because there is ZERO interest in me, but only in what I can perform or supply for others.
My research focuses have long been Indigenous intergenerational historic trauma, which inevitably includes that of Indigenous and original peoples of Europe. I’ve a Master’s in Native/Indigenous Studies, which many assume relates only to Natives of North America as if those total 13 years of combined higher education didn’t include extensive study of European history (past and present), cultures and world civilizations also. Besides my own personal interests and studies since I was a child who happened and was thankful to grow up in an extremely multicultural environment. They don’t think about it, which is fine enough, but its almost always done without according the same regard they would show a white peer working in similar topics, which they assume to have an interest in and having studied cultures other than their own. This is a critically important realization that needs acknowledgement. It is such a common demeaning, undermining and harmful attitude and position POC academics, scholars and professionals face in Germany, even from many Germans who believe themselves open-minded, anti-racist and “global” citizens.
My upbringing was very different than the way I see some Germans believes makes them “open-minded” and appreciative of all cultures because they grew up in Berlin , Köln or Frankfurt with mostly topical access to or ability to observe or perform “cultures”. I talked about it before, for example in this panel at DBS Studios moderated by cultural consultant Cavana Hazleton-Lee, “Can you copyright culture?” I grew with close friends from Taiwan, Hawaii, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Puerto Rico, Korea and Japan, where we ate most meals together, we had sleepovers between us children. I went to dance and languages classes with them, they went to get-togethers with us. I was able to learn and listen to firsthand experiences from other cultures, at their knees, learn about their cultures by helping prepare their foods, tend their gardens and doing handwork or learning musical instruments.
When we were grew up, they cared for our children, too, feed them food from their mouths and rocked them to sleep. We cared for theirs. Here in Germany, what I experienced was Germans may invite you to their homes, but coming to yours? That’s a different story. They may invite your children over to a party, but their children go to your home, let alone have a sleepover? That’s a very different story. Parts fear-based behaviors but also a control/trust factor. Somewhat natural behaviors, of course with one’s children, but POC are treated very differently than white peers.
I began studying genocide, political history when I was 7 or 8 years old, as a European Jewish and others Holocaust survivor from Germany was a part of our group. Her perpetual sadness touched me deeply, and I wanted to know about it, not just certain years, but what was the psychological lead-up to a country and peoples deciding genocide was acceptable, especially as both sides of my family, whether African or Native American, were also subjected to an ongoing genocide. I spoke about that in my personal essay on Medium, “When I Think About America.”
I mention this because the topic of cultural appropriation, misuse and abuse in Germany is both terrible and understandable to me. Like other European peoples, newer designations and originals, there’s been cultural loss but the overwhelming majority was at the hands of their European peers. This must be stated every time. Natives suffered later from what Europeans first did to their own. That doesn’t excuse appropriating cultures or parts of cultures from others to escape one’s trauma. That only continues cycles of violence. We see this a lot in Germany, and its recognized and expressed not just by POC, and shouldn’t be used (but is) by those claiming stopping racist, appropriation of Native cultures is “taking something away from us (Germans!!).”
I and others like me are examples of how you do not have to culturally appropriate, misuse or abuse, and you can be part of other cultures and peoples in a very personal way individually when you are informed, welcomed, rooted. In fact, if I had to create a film, a piece of art or narrative about myself or upbringing, it would have to include my perceptions and experiences with cultures not my own. But whether that or anything else, it absolutely needs to involve Cultural Humility. Germany, as a whole, does not have this or teach it. It’s just the opposite. In the majority of Europe and western society, from a young age people are not only taught to consume, but to see it as innocent exploration or appreciation, and later to justify it and reject any criticism. Largely without knowing anything about the history, origin and effects of such Eurocentric behaviors and practices or the history, cultures and narratives of those people FROM those peoples.
The Things Forgotten in All These Discussions & “Debates”
Like I said above, you don’t have to be culturally appropriative and abusive, dismissive or reductive in interacting with other cultures. When I make kimchi at home, having learned to both grow all the ingredients needed and to make it by a still very close family friend who is Korean, I would never create a business selling it, small or large. I wouldn’t write about it for my non-Korean friends to consume either. Some of my closest who-still-are friends growing up was a German-Mexican family, the father was a German soldier and engineer who came to work at the same Army base my father was stationed at in the USA. He’d met his Mexican to-be-wife when she was living in Germany with her family. Their kids are my sister and I’s age. Summer parties, sleepovers, and many sports outings together. When I wasn’t getting along with my parents, they listened. Of course, there was the age difference, but earlier this year when I heard the wife had passed away, I called to talk to the husband. Now, at age 50 and 80+ years old, it was more relationally balance of mature experiences.
One of the things he shared with me was that his father had been a higher ranking Nazi official who had been stationed and oversaw operations in Yugoslavia. It was chilling to learn. He said that was why he had always especially wanted to live in and support a multicultural experience for his children, as he knew personally supremacist and Eurocentric thinking of any kind, any level, was inherently violent and harmful. He asked me if he had ever made me feel different or less than, and I responded that I had not. In fact, one of my outstanding memories of him was his taking the time to teach me the game “Tiddly-Winks”, when I had felt shy during the first sleepover. Another example that adult and child interactions can be innocent and supportive, not predatory, which is based on the adults behavior. He and I had a great conversation. I felt GOOD.
I mention all of this because there is always the possibility and option to not be abusive, appropriative or predatory. There is always the possibility or option the educating oneself and relearning how to better interact with others, and have humility to make changes in one’s learned behaviors, practices and beliefs. Many people choose not to do so, even when offered, even with the opportunity now more than ever before in history to receive firsthand knowledge. Yet this is not to say, that an upbringing like mine is the only way to have respect for other cultures. It is very much about how one is taught.
Another close friend I met while studying then working in law enforcement, grew up in a small town of about 600 people in Alabama, an entirely “white” town where POC were not allowed. He had never met a POC in person until he went to college in another city in the early 90s. He was raised to respect all cultures, to be anti-racist, curious and humble. He is an excellent example of what is possible, and in fact, was from a German immigrant family on both sides, with an entirely German name. If you didn’t know, Alabama was mostly settled by Germans especially through the mid-regions of the state. German is the 3rd most common European language spoken in the USA, and in the area I grew there were also 1st and 2nd gen German families, and thus bakeries, restaurants, culture groups, etc.
The summary of this post & my sharing of the above personal stories and experiences, is this quote from my op-ed for CBC Docs.
“Some Germans are culturally sensitive In the midst of this racism, there are positive stories that we don’t hear about either. There are Germans who have learned better ways to appreciate and respect Indigenous cultures. Some have stopped dressing up and practice culturally responsible empathy. They recognize the part that white people have played in the exploitation of Indigenous people and want to stop it in all forms. They use their white privilege to improve intercultural understanding and work with Indigenous peoples on Indigenous terms (for example, the Native American Association of Germany).
Not all interest in Indigenous cultures and peoples is exploitative.
German media rarely if ever talks to such people, or if they do, exactly as Carmen Kwasny, the chairperson of the Native American Association of Germany, personally relayed to me, they are treated with antagonism, they are demeaned or even accused of betraying their race or trying to replace Natives. There are positive intercultural collaborations happening ALL of the time here in Germany, and across western society, but they rarely ever make the news. Instead, we are all bombarded by, if not outright white-centric often male focused opinions, commentaries, films, etc. then also the same demographic using other cultures in appropriative ways sometimes backed by a token or supporting Native or POC to justify in a “I can’t be racist, I have a Black friend!” kind of way. And they don’t just treat Native cultures and peoples that way, speaking over, silencing or “interpreting” them with little personal, extended knowledge, but women, the disabled and others, also. Any of their own peers they speak out about it or try to change such behaviors soon find themselves bullied, ridiculed and out of job, but still rarely with the structural power and force to oppress that POC are subjected to daily.
There are no positive effects from colonialism or white supremacist, patriarchal, Eurocentric, structurally racist, sexist, ableist systems dominant in western society, with its power gained from horrific, persistent discrimination and violence, psychological, verbal, emotional and physical of ANYONE they deem unacceptable. THIS MUST BE CHANGED FOR THE VERY SURVIVAL OF OUR WORLD. Please pay attention that I did not state that passively, such as “it must change”. No, there must be active steps to change this damaging, discriminatory systems privileging a small segment of one demographic. This is not to be misconstrued to be an attack on “white men”, but specifically to patriarchy, because those type of men of mainly white European heritage continue to destroy and abuse the best and brightest of their own peers, too.
I might word the quote below differently, but this is a solid summary of my and many, many others feelings, especially POC, marginalized, minoritized groups who have to daily face and often fight alone, even our children too often have too, when facing the societal crimes and effects of racism, white supremacist ideology, Eurocentrism and sexism/misogyny. Yet I and many of us continue to show solidarity with others, but aren’t often reciprocated in visible, tangible positions of resistance and opposition by those of “white” or those of primarily European heritage. And those who do, they also get forgotten by media and society. Cross cultural solidarity and support absolutely, but remember also, that we are often exhausted or frustrated when constantly expected to respond, listen to or be “informed” about similar shitories (this was initially a mistake in typing but I left it because it fits!), which are used to center “white” experiences yet again. That’s failure or lack of ability to actually be allies or work in solidarity by self-centeredness, a foreign concept and behavior in any Indigenous or original culture.
Don’t fall victim to or accept the deliberate twisting of positive statements, movements and terms like “woke and wokeness”, Black Lives Matter, and #MeToo, which have been used recently by some “experts” and German media to gaslight and victimize those who criticize and resist racism, sexism and patriarchy. Learn accurate definitions of racism, Eurocentrism, and eurocentric are educate yourself on contextual, historic and contemporary usage and applicable of those terms, which are almost always used to support racism, xenophobia and bigotry and to center “whiteness as rightness”.
“The word ‘woke’ has been purposely repurposed to deter the very work that people focused on awareness about injustice and on the urgent need to eradicate injustice were centering the word to accomplish.
Many have distorted a positive narrative so that injustice can persist.” -Bernice King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Bitte lesen Sie die vollständige Erklärung auf ihrer Website, die ich mit dieser zusätzlichen Anerkennung voll unterstütze: In Deutschland bezieht sich der Begriff “Natives” zwar in erster Linie auf die Native Nordamerikaner, insbesondere auf die Plains Nations, aber auch auf alle indigenen Gruppen in “Amerikas”. Eine von den Europäern geschaffene und durchgesetzte Bezeichnung, die die Namen der Kontinente durch ihre tatsächlichen Originalbewohner, die Natives, die immer noch hier sind, ignoriert.
Please read the full statement on their website, which I fully endorse with this additional acknowledgement: In Germany, while the term “Native” refers primarily to Native North Americans, especially the Plains Nations, it also refers to all indigenous groups in “the Americas.” A term created and enforced by Europeans that ignores the names of the continents by their actual original inhabitants, the Natives, who are still here. The NAAoG statement will be translated to English in the next days.
The protests and demand for removal and banning of the term “squ*w began decades ago in North America, supported by many Native nations, peoples, non-Natives and objective researchers on the etymology of the term, its origin, historic and contemporary usage, which was deemed racist, sexist exploitive and reductive.
“The word itself is a constant reminder of the unjust treatment of the Native people, of the Washoe people,” said Darrel Cruz of the Washoe Tribe Historic Preservation Office. “It’s a constant reminder of those time periods when it was not good for us. It’s a term that was inflicted upon us by somebody else and we don’t agree with it.”
RAVENSBURGER WAS FULLY MADE AWARE OF THIS AND OTHER OFFENSIVE PRACTICES AND TERMS FOR YEARS. THEY DELIBERATELY CHOSE TO CONTINUE PRODUCTION THIS YEAR AND ONLY AFTER PROTEST ISSUED A NON-APOLOGY, WHICH HAS GENERATED ANGRY BACKLASH DUE TO WIDESPREAD DELIBERATE MISINFORMATION CIRCULATED BY GERMAN MEDIA.
von Carmen Kwasny (Vorsitzende):
“Am 23.08.2022 fing morgens das Telefon an zu klingeln und hörte bis in die Abendstunden hinein nicht mehr auf. Parallel dazu landeten weitere Interviewanfragen in unserem E-Mail-Postfach. Was war geschehen?
Note: Never forget random attacks, antagonism and racism against Native/Indigenous peoples, especially to our young people, have increased since this new “controversy” began, driven by many in German media’s and other’s misinformation, outright mendacity & white supremacist rhetoric. While many think of this as just a societal debate, just like stereotypes, such behaviors have daily life effects, often violent and discriminatory, for Native peoples. We already often felt unsafe and endured regular bullying and misuse, but this added a new level of venom and arrogance in how we are treated. It’s all demonstrated exactly how harmful stereotypes and appropriation really are. – 1 September 2022.
This is my official statement and sharing of information and situation I’ve experienced due to the on-going controversy of Ravensburger, Winnetou and the “bad faith” arguments, “strawman” examples and false equivalents on Native American stereotypes, cultural appropriation and misrepresentation, and the inherent racism and Eurocentrism at the root of those behaviors and practices. This is what our documentary is about, by the way, not an analysis of May’s work as yet another writer erroneously reported, the latest was in David Baum’s interview of myself at Stern.de.
I believe this continues to be a deliberate escalation of discrimination and hatred of anyone rejecting the contemporary cultural abuse and misuse of Native American cultures & peoples, which many in German media has exacerbated through subjectivity and the spread of misinformation, incendiary unfounded assertions, and race/ethnicity assumptions. And more specifically, the situation has been used to forward so-called, “White Rights”, especially white CIS men, which in actuality means the discrimination, oppression and/or silencing of all other ethnicities and groups except (in this case especially) Natives who fit Eurocentric stereotypes and support anti-Blackness, homo- and transphobia and Eurocentrism. etc.
I have recently met with members of “Natives in Germany”, a quite new group of persons of Native and Indigenous heritage here in Germany, which is entirely different and unassociated with the Native American Association of Germany. (Read NAAoG’s statement here, which I fully support.) First Tagesschau in the interview with Tyrone White (Lakota) misattributed his association with NAAoG, which error was duplicated by SternTV in its 28 August 2022 broadcast, which myself, Tyrone White and others refused to participate in, due to its adversarial format, which indeed resulted in what might be term a show of white male privilege, arrogance and condescension.
I also am not a member of NAAoG, but have worked in cooperation with its chairperson on several projects in the last decade and will continue to do so. While the “Natives in Germany” may overtly have a different style and method than NAAoG and partially than my own, I support their joining the important resistance and fight against racism, cultural appropriation, and stereotypes, which has been ongoing for decades in Germany. To fight such a pervasive historic and social crime as racism, it takes many types, methods and solutions by both Natives and non-Natives, and any human beings to end this plague. To reject the structural white supremacist ideology and patriarchy who believe it is their right to violate and/or control other peoples rights, narratives, histories and bodies, this includes everyone, including their own peers, past and present. It’s all connected: Reproductive rights, racism, sexism, ableism, etc.
I believe this is an important time in Germany’s perspective on “accepted” forms of racism and sexism, such as that against Natives and Indigenous peoples. As my documentary, work record and other material showed and shared from a variety of sources, both Native and non-Native, its critically important for all of us to move forward together in a spirit of restorative justice, and not the continued fetishization, fake ownership of and misrepresentation, misuse and misattribution of Native cultures, traditions and peoples. This also applies to and supports emancipation and self-representation by any marginalized or minoritized peoples and groups, to a help heal our world and create a better future for all our children.
It is time to symbolically #ForgetWinnetou, and work together with Native and Indigenous people with a spirit of cultural humility so that respect can develop in healthy ways mutually beneficial, and not in the culturally abusive, Eurocentric way much of Germany has perpetrated for decades.
Violence & Hypersexualization of Native Girls and Women
In particular, those who claim wrongly that stereotypes are harmless, that “playing Indian” and stories are just fairytales that have no impact on real life, and that it’s all just a part of German culture. They say, “How dare anyone protest?” “How dare this be taken away because of being overly Politically Correct?” Being PC is something I do not believe in and not just because it is an activity and idea created by white people to cover up the structural racism that has never gone away since colonialism and the first invasions of the renamed Americas. Mostly only white people were deceived by the PC control device, which I discussed the long term effects of actually increasing white dismissal of POC challenges to racism, exclusion, stereotyping, etc., find that article here, “Today’s Cultural Appropriation and the Long Term Effects of Politically Correct.”
I have never called for or supported the banning of Karl May’s books, but the Ravensburger books should NEVER have been produced. YEARS AGO they and other publishers were advised and pressed to discontinue usage of stereotypes, and other cultural appropriative and misrepresentative material not only by Natives and POC, but many other organizations and individuals working in cooperation to reduce Germany’s societal crime of racism that absolutely goes beyond the oversimplification of the White/Black binary. Ravensburger’s ignored that.
Ravensburger was advised BEFORE production of these books that including racist, sexist slurs like squ*w was absolutely unacceptable, besides the stereotypes and misuse of Native cultures. They ignored that, too. So this is not “cancel culture” or about banning a book instead of using it to educate. Obviously, they are not only refuse respectful education but believe reproducing or introducing racist, sexist slurs is acceptable. This just an excuse to use slurs and say, “Oh its just historic!” It wasn’t right then, and it isn’t right now. And all the terrible coverage done by #Tagesschau especially and #SternTV only exacerbated the situation, NOT our challenging racism and sexism.
The willful usage and defense of such indefensible decision to use the term in a children’s book no less, is interconnected with other examples of contemporary racism, misrepresentation and erasure of the genocide, ethnocide and mass sexual assaults, rape and abuse of Native young girls and woman (and Two-Spirits) since Europeans first invaded. Ravensburger’s non-apology and excuse is reprehensible, and the attempt to introduce usage of the slur to a new generation. Deliberate misinformation has been circulated by German media, which has escalated antagonism, misunderstanding and hatred against anyone rejecting the continued cultural abuse and misuse of Native cultures and peoples.
The Flood of Requests to Native Americans on the Winnetou/Ravensburger Controversy
In the last days, Natives mostly, but also other POC experienced a flood of requests to mostly answer the same questions, but “Forget Winnetou! Loving in the Wrong Way” documentary, completely ignored by German film distributors, funders, studios and agents despite it winning awards answered those and MORE. Ask yourself why is that? Our documentary still doesn’t have a German or European distributor, and never had backing to broadcast on TV etc. while those by white male directors and producers especially, are quickly accepted and shown such as at 3sat. Structural racism indeed!
How do you feel about the portrayal of Native Americans in Karl May’s Winnetou book?
What are the consequences of this portrayal for Native Americans in real life?
What would art (books, movies, etc.) have to look like that adequately represents Native Americans?
What do you think about Germans wearing indigenous jewelry or children dressing up as Native Americans for Mardi Gras?
ALL of these questions have been answered repeatedly last month, last year, 2 years ago, 5 years, even 10 and 20 years ago! This is a waste of time and energy at this point, especially for Natives & POC, and shows clearly that by majority, Germany has not listened or pointedly ignored what Natives, other POC and allies have said for decades. The education system, the film studios, the writers etc. have ignored them in very Eurocentric, white privileged ways that are covertly/overtly white supremacist in ideology. How so? Because they pointedly place “white” needs, feelings, thoughts and beliefs (white male especially) as the most important, penultimate deciding factor on behaviors, whether it continues hurt or harm others and themselves.
There has been few exceptions in the past years besides these. Notice the type of writers/journalists?
There is distinct, deafening COGNITIVE DISSONANCE and/or deliberate misdirection. Conversations are not moving forward because of such bad faith, circular discussions, aka “debates” wherein Natives and other POC are asked to “debate” with those who are apathetic “devil’s advocates”, who try to downplay or “good people on both sides” the issue or outright defenders of racism. In all of it, it is seeking to continue control over all narratives relating to Native Americans, whether fictional or non-fictional, which continues to cause discrimination against Natives in society.
Just one example is the fact Germany believes other cultures should have a center and support to share their cultures and history with others in German society. Good, right? However, Native Americans have been many times rejected when applying for funding for this and told, “There are enough such places about Natives in Germany already, another is not needed.” When every one of those is WHITE created and led, and are overwhelmingly misrepresentative and reliant on stereotypes and Eurocentric interpretations of Native peoples and histories. There are NO Native American cultural centers in Germany, by Natives for Natives and everyone. This is blatantly and egregiously discriminatory, Eurocentric and structurally racist in method and effect, demonstratively proving Native “fairytales” and white supremacist ideology can and do affect society in the worst ways.
Appropriation vs. Appreciation Falseness + “There’s more important things Natives should focus on!”
This nicely summarizes many points BIPOC like myself and other Natives & POC have said and shared for decades.
For those who wish to progress & create positive change? I’m for it but….
My response to the request I mentioned and to others using the same retreaded rhetoric:
“From personal and professional experiences I know these are highly complex issues, and no one individual or group is exactly the same in why they accept or reject the continued misuse of Native cultures, fictitiously or in daily life. In my writing, my lectures and psychological counseling, I always include that fact and am very well aware of the spectrum of experiences. Therefore, I respectfully decline to repeat and share the same information I’ve been asked dozens of times in the last two days (Tagesspiegel, Stern, ) and the past twenty years (my bibliography). This is a personal choice, and in no way is intended nor should be taken as a negative opinion on anyone who does choose to participate. You are welcome to share this statement in part in the correct context or as a whole.
Instead, I will continue to move conversations forward on how to stop perpetuating stereotypes, how to make interculturally positive changes now and in the future, and work together with like-minded others to make a better, more respectful society for all ethnicities, cultures and peoples, especially for all children. If at any time in the future (the company) has a question(s) or is interested in cultural consultation, education and cooperation, I am available for inquiry. https://flyingwithredhaircrow.com/.”
A helpful FAQ list about the documentary, and other resources on these topics can be found here.
In a recent Twitter post an important point was made by Dr. Noa Ha, a participant from our documentary, “Forget Winnetou! Loving in the Wrong Way” and a “(Post)colonial urbanist. Des/integration, critical race, decolonial studies. @ art school Berlin-Weissensee and DeZIM.”
I responded on the thread “Another facet of whiteness and whiteness-centeredness, both of which have the same roots: Racism. They’re still ask the same questions about Winnetou that were answered years ago. As in Rostock Lichtenhagen, no real social changes have been made. People are deliberately holding on to, and even defending, behaviors and practices that cause enormous harm.
It’s all connected.
I have done a few interviews in the last days regarding the Ravensburger book controversy and the new Winnetou film, but I’ve declined most, especially those asking the same questions already answered last month, last year, two, five and ten years ago. But a certain Germany and Germans refuse to listen and willfully defend racism and racist practices, and the teaching of perpetuation of Eurocentrism and cultural appropriation to another generation as “part of German culture”. So, racism is your culture? German media has largely been inflating, misinforming and encouraging defensive of racism and outrage over consequences for the support of stereotypes and cultural appropriation.
Thus far, you can partially read the articles/interviews cited below online or in print, but these are in German. And inevitably, at least one source stated a complete falsehood about my documentary, “Forget Winnetou! Loving in the Wrong Way” at the beginning of my interview. And then, they wonder why we and I delete their requests because of such misuse and misrepresentation of ourselves and our work? Rather like what they do to Native Americans in these books and films. Yet another example of how affective even fictional caricatures and stereotypes are in influencing behaviors.
A couple of articles/interviews with me so far, and this list will be updated:
Image shared from the nomorenativemascots.org website.
Forget Winnetou! Loving in the Wrong Way 
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