‘socially weak‘ instead of ‘poor’
‘person with special needs’ instead of ‘person with disabilities’
‘person with migration history’ instead of ‘person with migration background’
Those are just some of the suggested words that are nowadays considered politically correct in Germany.
Political correctness is already an undeniable concept in Germany. Discussions occur especially ever since famous children books such as ‘Die Kleine Hexe’, which was written by Otfried Preußler in the year 1957, have been modified to be politically correct. After many complaints about discriminating terms that Preußler used, a new version of the children’s novel was published in 2013. This is, however, certainly not only the case in Germany. Political correctness has already conquered many parts of Europe, for example also Sweden where a library in the south-west of Stockholm decided to burn old, now considered politically incorrect, versions of the bestseller book ‘Pippi Longstocking’ by Astrid Lindgren (Anwar, 2024).[1]
The question of whether this is a useful way to prevent discrimination in our societies and daily speech is a difficult one. Especially challenging is the concern that burning books that no longer align with today’s ideologies might drive our brutal and discriminatory past into oblivion. Therefore, the line between not continuing to bring discriminating patterns into the future and erasing them from our memory is a fine one. However, this is not the question I want to dive into today.
Nevertheless, it does show how big of an issue political correctness is nowadays.
It is obvious that certain words have a highly negative if not brutal association due to historical perceptions and events. For example, the German word ‘Krüppel’ which was used during the NS-regime to strategically dehumanize people with disabilities should thus certainly not be used anymore (Thomann, Der „Krüppel”: Entstehen und Verschwinden eines Kampfbegriffs, 1992 , S. 259-60) [2].
But there is also an abundance of new words, sometimes chosen by the affected groups, but sometimes also imposed by others, like, for instance, the term ‘migration background,’ which was accepted due to a survey that included people with and without a migration background.
The days in which political correctness only affects politicians and scholars are over since a long time. We can read about political correctness in everyday newspapers, even in heated discussions in online cooking forums and of course, all over social media with very mixed opinions. Despite much positive general feedback, there are also people who believe that political correctness is a restriction to their freedom of speech or even a threat to democracy.
This necessarily leads to conflict, not only in online forums but also in politics and everyday life. In my opinion, the most important thing is to have an open dialogue about this issue where we can be respectful with one another and not instantly demonize someone who has a different opinion than us.
Hence, for me many questions emerged from this phenomenon: ‘Is political correctness really helpful to the affected individuals?’ ‘Which terms would affected people chose to describe themselves?’ and ‘Do affected people see a change in their day to day lives since the growth of political correctness?’.
Therefore, looking at what happens to books that are not politically correct anymore, made me question, how do people that are affected by new politically correct terms that are used to describe them, actually feel about it?
Is it possible that there may even be unchallenged presumptions that the German society holds about how affected people want to be addressed?
And is it also possible that we actually use words that they would not even identify with?
Out of curiosity about those and many more questions, I decided to do my research project about people who live in Germany and speak the German language, but have some sort of migration history and how their perception of political correctness in Germany is regarding terms that are being used to describe them. Of course, I also could not help but be ask them about probably the biggest question of all ‘Do you believe that political correctness in Germany actually helps fight discrimination?’.
Generational trauma in Germany
If we look back to the history of Germany, it is evident that there may be a common fear of the same dehumanization and discrimination arising again, which may lead to some political leaders navigating into the other extreme. Furthermore, the concept of generational trauma plays into the picture, which caused especially the generation of the children of immediate war survivors to fall into shame [3] (Jakob, 2020) with things related to the war.
Considering Germany’s terrible past and the dehumanization, there is still a general conception that certain topics are very fragile such as discrimination and racism.
Especially with the horrible events that took place during the war and the ideologies of the Nazi, there is a lot of shame and fear around the concept of discrimination. Hence, this may be one of the reasons why especially (but not exclusively) the green party ‘Die Grünen’ is strongly focusing on implementing political correctness, with the goal of fighting discrimination in Germany and aims to for instance “use gender-inclusive language in all words as a matter of principle.”[4] (Meiritz, 2015).
‘Where are you from?’
For my project, I decided to interview four people with very different migration backgrounds, who live all over Germany now. They are all between 20 – 25 years old and thus, give us a representation of young adults, who are now growing into the generation that is usually associated with being more inclined to political correctness, also highly represented through the ‘woke movement’ and gender-neutral speech.
My first interviewee was born and raised in Germany and her parents are from Turkey. In this article I will be referring to her as Aylin. My second interviewee, Marina, was also born and raised in Germany and has one Algerian parent. The third person I interviewed, Melissa, also grew up and was born in Germany. Her grandparents came to Germany as guest workers from Turkey and my fourth interviewee was born in Greece but moved to Germany with his family when he was 11. I will be referring to him as Nikos.
When conducting my interviewees I was particularly curious about these questions:
How is their perception of political correctness in Germany?
What terms do they oppose, and which ones do they embrace?
Do they think that political correctness can help to fight discrimination and racism against people with a migration background?
During my interviews, the first thing I noticed quite quickly, was that my previous assumption, that this issue is not being addressed a lot in Germany, was correct. All of my interviewees told me that they had never really talked about their story regarding discrimination in Germany and the role of certain new terms that were used to describe their group. I felt a positive reaction from all of my interviewees, and it seemed like they were all happy to share their emotions and thoughts on the topic and what I especially noticed what that they were all glad to be finally asked how they actually feel about this topic that is so often talked about without actually talking to them[5].
Moreover, I found that their answers varied significantly in some aspects, whereas other questions had similar answers from my interviewees.
Generally, all of my interviewees agreed that political correctness is a good thing and that they see it as (to some extent) a useful measure in order to fight discrimination and racism in Germany. Moreover, my interviewees all believe that language shapes reality and the way we perceive ourselves and others to a certain extent. They agree that language holds power and that through the change in language perhaps also political actions can be influenced. Also, all of my interviewees believe that you should definitely ask when you are unsure, how the person wants to be addressed [6].
Regarding the question if they see a tangible change in their everyday life since political correctness grew, three of my interviewees mentioned that they did not really see a significant change in their everyday life since political correctness grew in the recent years and one of my interviewees even saw a more so negative change regarding discrimination[7].
Despite the efforts and the actual goal of political correctness to fight discrimination, three out of fours of my interviewees believe that the general situation in Germany throughout the recent years has changed for the worse regarding discrimination and racism. They especially named the growth of a right-wing party, which, according to the judgement of the Court of Cologne “may classify the entire AfD as a suspected case of right-wing extremism.” (Nickschas, 2022 )[8][9].
Generally, my interviewees also agreed that there is still a big integration issue in Germany and that Germany does not do enough to integrate people with a migration background and that political correctness is not enough if it is not being backed up by the necessary actions[10].
The ‘migration foreground’
In Germany, the phenomenon of word euphemism is very present and it has been addressed and criticized in many ways because there is often a fine line between “Hypermoralism” or “respectful, non-discriminatory language usage“ (Koohestani, 2021)[11].
There are without any doubt words that have a highly negative connotation and that have been rightfully changed, the question is just, to what extent it is helpful to constantly find new words once a new word starts having a negative connotation and if by only choosing to use new words, we are changing the actual discrimination that still occurs in Germany.
My interviewees also agreed that just because new politically correct terms are popular now that does not mean that there is less discrimination in Germany and that political correctness may also be a way to conceal the truth that there is actually more of a negative trend regarding discrimination in my interviewees eyes[12].
In an article that was published by the German newspaper Tagesspiegel in 2021 it was mentioned that the term ‘migration background‘“ is also rejected by many affected individuals.” (Stanat, 2021) [13].
Hence, I wanted to know how my interviewees perceive the new term ‘Person with a migration foreground’ and take it as an example of how representative those new terms truly are. Interestingly, I found that none of my interviewees identify themselves with this term or would use it to express themselves. However, my interviewees pointed out that if someone would specifically ask them to refer to them with this term, they would use it, but they have never heard anyone use this term in their lives[14].
One of my interviewees said: “I have a migration background – that is just the way it is.”[15].
Despite not identifying themselves with this new term, there are some other issues my interviewees saw with political correctness. Marina told me that “some words have nothing to do with the origin of the meaning anymore”[16] and Nikos believes that “’person with migration history’ sounds more dramatic than what it actually is”[17]. In his opinion, someone’s roots should not be that big of a deal and they should definitely not stand in the center of that many discussions because it draws more attention on someone’s background and thus, makes it seem as if it is something outside of the norm.
The identity struggle
That their roots stand in the center of attention and are constantly addressed can also be very uncomfortable and even lead to an identity struggle for some people.
Melissa also pointed out that the constant search for new politically correct terms also puts her into a position where she feels like she is never arriving anywhere in her search for her own identity. And that she is constantly being reminded that she is “not German enough”[18]. She stated that “Many, like myself, who grew up this way, experience an identity crisis. Despite being born and raised here, I don’t feel fully German. I feel a strong connection to Turkey, yet I feel like I’m not Turkish enough for Turks and not German enough for Germans.“[19].
It appeared to her that through the never-ending odyssey of finding the perfect term she is being out into a position, where she must categorize herself. Is she Turkish? Is she German?
Aylin also pointed out that this may even widen the gap in society, because it appears as if people with a migration background are put into a never-ending confrontation which puts them into a position where they have to justify themselves and explain their rootes. She also mentioned that by constantly inventing new terms, we lay the focus on someone’s rootes when the focus should actually be that it does not matter where someone is from[20].
Which term is the right one then?
We have to always keep in mind that identity is such a personal concept and that certainly not ‘one size fits all’ no matter if it comes to terms or clothes.
This became very clear when I asked my interviewees how they would like to be addressed or how they would refer to themselves.
Instead of using migration foreground, for example, they would describe themselves like this, when someone would ask where they are from.
“I personally do not have a strong connection to my migration history, but I think it is important to ask people how they want to be addressed.“ – Marina [21]
“I always say that I have roots in Turkey.” – Aylin [22]
“I say that I come from Greece but live in Germany. I have no problem with being called a ‚foreigner‘ if the tone suggests that it is not meant in a discriminating way.“ – Nikos[23]
“I say I was born and raised in Germany, and my grandparents come from Turkey. I strongly reject terms like ‘foreigner.'” – Melissa[24]
And can it help fight discrimination?
All of my interviewees agreed that words create our reality to some extent. Therefore, they believe that political correctness is a very important step towards creating a more open minded and non-discriminative German society. However, it became evident during my interviews as well that racism and discrimination still exist, on a larger scale but also unfortunately in some of my interviewees day to day life. They believe that this can only end if political correctness is being backed up by actionable steps to help fight those issues such as more inclusive integration policies and more German courses. [25]
To sum it up…
To conclude, we can see that political correctness is a very difficult issue in Germany and that there are many layers to it. However, what I found by talking to people who are actually affected by politically correct terms in their day-to-day life is that they all believe in the concept. They all agree that political correctness holds great potential but also see that they disagree with certain terms and would not claim them to describe themselves. Hence, we always have to be careful, especially when generalizing that one term is the only correct one because what stuck out to me in all of my interviews is how much of a sensitive and personal issue identity is.
However, my interviewees do believe it can be useful to fight racism and discrimination in Germany if it is being backed up by the actual integration process and on actually becoming an open-minded society for different cultures and backgrounds because “you can be politically correct and still deep down discriminate”[26], as Nikos said.
We have to understand that political correctness is not the end goal, it might be a way of getting us to a more open-minded society, but it is just a means which we use to accomplish that.
The goal should be equality and embracement of diverse cultures and people.
Sources:
[1] Anwar, Andre. (2024a, May 7). Schweden regen sich über Entsorgung Alter Langstrumpf-Bücher auf. augsburger. https://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/panorama/Pippi-Langstrumpf-Schweden-regen-sich-ueber-Entsorgung-alter-Langstrumpf-Buecher-auf-id42204096.html
[2] Thomann, Klaus-Dieter. “Der „Krüppel”: Entstehen Und Verschwinden Eines Kampfbegriffs.” Medizinhistorisches Journal 27, no. 3/4 (1992): 259–60. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25805036.
[3] Jakob, L. (2020a). Echoes of trauma and shame in German families: The post-World War II generations. Indiana University Press.
[4] Meiritz, A. (2015, November 18). Die grünen machen geschlechtsneutrale sprache zur pflicht. DER SPIEGEL. https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/die-gruenen-machen-geschlechtsneutrale-sprache-zur-pflicht-a-1063228.html
[5] Interviews with all of my interviewees (7.06.2024/ 11.06.2024/ 5.07.2024/ 11.07.2024)
[6] Interviews with all of my interviewees (7.06.2024/ 11.06.2024/ 5.07.2024/ 11.07.2024)
[7] Interviews with my interviewees (7.06.2024/ 11.06.2024/ 5.07.2024)
[8] Nickschas, J.-B. (2022, March 9). Ganze AFD Verdachtsfall: Ein Urteil und seine möglichen folgen. tagesschau.de. https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/afd-beobachtung-verfassungsschutz-101.html
[9] Interviews with my interviewees (7.06.2024/ 11.06.2024/ 5.07.2024)
[10] Interviews with all of my interviewees (7.06.2024/ 11.06.2024/ 5.07.2024/ 11.07.2024)
[11] Koohestani, F. S. (2021, June 2). Wie bezeichnet man menschen mit Migrationshintergrund Richtig?. jetzt.de. https://www.jetzt.de/gutes-leben/wie-man-menschen-mit-migrationshintergrund-richtig-bezeichnet
[12] Interviews with all of my interviewees (7.06.2024/ 11.06.2024/ 5.07.2024/ 11.07.2024)
[13] Liebig, T., & Stanat, P. (2021, January 29). Leben in der Einwanderungsgesellschaft: Good bye, Migrationshintergrund. Aktuelle News: Nachrichten aus Berlin und der Welt. https://www.tagesspiegel.de/politik/good-bye-migrationshintergrund-4225300.html
[14] Interviews with all of my interviewees (7.06.2024/ 11.06.2024/ 5.07.2024/ 11.07.2024)
[15] Interview with my interviewee 4 (11.07.2024)
[16] Interview with my interviewee 2 (11.06.2024)
[17] Interview with my interviewee 4 (11.07.2024)
[18] Interview with my interviewee 3 (5.07.2024)
[19] Interview with my interviewee 3 (5.07.2024)
[20] Interview with my interviewee 1 (7.06.2024)
[21] Interview with my interviewee 2 (11.06.2024)
[22] Interview with my interviewee 1 (7.06.2024)
[23] Interview with my interviewee 3 (5.07.2024)
[24] Interview with my interviewee 3 (5.07.2024)
[25] Interviews with all of my interviewees (7.06.2024/ 11.06.2024/ 5.07.2024/ 11.07.2024)
[26] Interview with my interviewee 4 (11.07.2024)
Image:
Dell, M. (2018, April 19). Matthias Dell – “politische korrektheit” Als Kampfzone. Deutschlandfunk. https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/matthias-dell-politische-korrektheit-als-kampfzone-100.html
