Germany’s first African-born MP to stand down after racist abuse
Germany’s first African-born MP to stand down after racist abuse
Karamba Diaby’s announcement he wants to spend time with family comes after bullet and arson attacks on his office
Diaby, of the Social Democrats (SPD), entered parliament alongside Charles M Huber, who sat for the Christian Democrats for just one parliamentary term. They were the first black members of the Bundestag and their entry was hailed as groundbreaking and historic by equal rights campaigners.
Diaby, who has a PhD in chemistry, was born in Senegal and moved to the then East Germany in 1985.
He has increasingly faced racist abuse in recent years. His constituency office in Halle, Saxony Anhalt, has been an arson target, and has had bullets fired through the window. Some staff have faced blackmail attempts to stop them working for him and have been subjected to and threats, Diaby said.
“In the last few years I’ve faced several murder threats. This has now overstepped the mark,” he said. “The hatred that the AfD sows every day with its misanthropic narratives is reflected in concrete psychological and physical violence. This endangers the cohesion of our society. We cannot simply accept this.”
We cannot simply accept this.
unfortunately by deciding "to spend more time with his family" he is doing exactly that. i understand it is not easy situation for him, but the rhetoric does not make sense.
The poster left out an important part of the article
Diaby said the racist slurs and death threats were “not the main reasons” for his decision, having frequently emphasised he would not be cowed by threats. But they are widely believed they have played a part.
Diaby proved over the last 11 years that he will not be silenced by hatred and violence. Lesser people would have given up a long time ago. Maybe 2020 when someone shoot up his offices or when they put it on fire... Dealing with this kind of hate and threat on a daily base must be so draining and exhausting. He is 62 now and his wish to spend more time as a private person with the people important to him is a valid one.
Nevertheless is this a loss for Germany and our democracy and unfortunately a win for the fascists of the AfD.
He is 62 now and his wish to spend more time as a private person with the people important to him is a valid one.
okm now it makes little more sense. well, good luck to him.
Another important part of the article:
But his announcement comes just weeks after he laid out a litany of hate messages he and his parliamentary staff had received.
His stated reasons for leaving would be more believable if there had been more time between the two announcements. I'm not saying he should stay longer if he doesn't want to; I'm just saying it might've been better if he'd gone public about the hate earlier.
You go stay in the arson/bullet target area before throwing this shit around, armchair politician.
Yeah no, this is one where I'll almost always say you got to go with your gut.
I don't have basis for this being the case here, but often time people are able to hold out when the threats are against them, but it's a whole other story if there starts to be credible threats against your family.
The rhetoric makes totally sense to me, he's facing a not easy situation as you say, he made his decision, but it doesn't mean that it is something to be accepted. In one case you have feelings, in the other the fact that a thing is not acceptable.
he literally did accepted it when he stepped down. that is what accepting "it" means in this case. it is the difference between words and actions.
and again, i understand if he is scared for his family or something and it is terrible, i am merely speaking to the logic of his statement.
if he said "it is with deep sorrow that i must now, in face of political terrorism, step down to protect my family" - that would be powerful message. saying "we don't accept it" when you are clearly accepting it just does not make sense.
Idk why people are acting like he’s insufficiently German, he’s lived in Germany longer than the modern country has existed
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The first African-born MP to enter the German parliament has announced he will not be standing in next year’s federal election, weeks after he revealed the hate mail, including racist slurs and death threats, he and his staff had received.
Karamba Diaby, 62, who entered the Bundestag in 2013 in a moment hailed as historic by equality campaigners, said he wanted to spend more time with his family and to make room for younger politicians.
In interviews, Diaby has emphasised an increasingly hostile mood in parliament and society, blaming the 2017 entry of the far-right populist AfD to the Bundestag.
“Since 2017, the tone in the German parliament has become harsher,” he told the Berlin Playbook podcast of the news magazine Politico.
“The hatred that the AfD sows every day with its misanthropic narratives is reflected in concrete psychological and physical violence.
Writing to party colleagues on Tuesday, Diaby promised to remain active in the SPD, especially in the 15 months leading to the election, saying: “We face big challenges and hard work.”
The original article contains 447 words, the summary contains 173 words. Saved 61%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
