414
submitted 1 week ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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.

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.

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.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] [email protected] 183 points 1 week ago

This guy has been living in East Germany since fucking 1985. It saddens me to read this. Fuck the AfD.

[-] [email protected] 106 points 1 week ago

Fuck the AfD Voters...I've been destroying years of friendships, because it turns out they voted AfD. I'm sick and tired of these fuckers enabling these clowns. This is definitely not my Germany anymore.

[-] [email protected] 33 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

The friendship purge hurts.. it's tough to see that people you knew for years are lost like that.

I also feel kind of helpless with the current political climate. I don't get why people are so hateful and stupid otherwise they would see right through the BS Höcke et al are making up all the time >.<

[-] [email protected] 17 points 1 week ago

It sucks, for sure. As an American, I went through this back in 2016, and in the years since - with another notable wave occurring after January 6th.

It’s frustrating, but I genuinely do feel a moral duty to aggressively shun and abuse fascists, no matter how long I’ve known them or how I’m related to them before I found out.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

It's not just a moral duty, it's a damn duty for your country. Those idiots shouting "We are the true patriots" have lost everything both our countries stood for since we lost the war and you won it. The respect for people, the respect for different cultures, the knowledge that many of the laws our societes stand on are written in blood - hell, the respect to disagree and the ability do have different opinions.

[-] [email protected] 19 points 1 week ago

I totally sympathize. A lot of us Americans had to do the same thing back in 2016. I cut off contact with a lot of people and have never gotten back in touch.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

Keeping these friendships going could combat their radicalization, but I'm not faulting you, I also cancelled friendships over this.

[-] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago

I have no issue if political views don't line up, in fact I welcome discussions and I have been wrong many times on some topics. However, the line has to be drawn somewhere, and that somewhere is openly advocating for racism or other views, that simply cannot stand in a society that aligns with modern "western" views. (Too many individual points that we take for granted these days)

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Meanwhile these people say the same thing about immigrants.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago

If I cancelled all of the friendships I have with radicalized people, I would almost certainly have to isolate my little family completely.

I do try to talk time back over the line, but I don’t think I have ever succeeded.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago

I wish you luck, but that simply isn't possible with some, they are too far gone.

load more comments (5 replies)
[-] [email protected] 64 points 1 week ago

Nazis gonna nazi. Shameful.

[-] [email protected] 10 points 1 week ago

In Germany? I thought they got rid of those.......like........a while ago.

[-] [email protected] 33 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

After the war most Nazis were allowed to keep working in government (and elsewhere) cause who else knew how to run the country?

And it’s less they got rid of them, and more others came over and kicked their arse forcing them to “get rid of them”.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago
[-] [email protected] 12 points 1 week ago

That process was a bad joke.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I don't think so.

Only now are Nazis getting a foot hold again, at the same time they are getting a foot hold across the world. It is the after effects of the 2008 crash and Putin putting his thumb on scales where he can (troll farms and corruption).

The fact Germany doesn't stick out as more Nazi that France, or the US, or others, means the original denazification worked.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

What? France famously did not get rid of its own collabos, and the US was always fascist leaning even back then. Given how ridiculously aggressive the AfD campaigns, I'm actually more worried about their 16% than I do about the RN's 30%.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
[-] [email protected] 55 points 1 week ago

definitely related to the AfD's recent success during the EU election

[-] [email protected] 49 points 1 week ago

His constituency office in Halle, Saxony Anhalt, has been an arson target, and has had bullets fired through the window.

Weird that this doesn’t come up until the 10th paragraph of the article.

[-] [email protected] 31 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

It says it right underneath the title.

[-] [email protected] 7 points 1 week ago

That means an editor decided to draw attention to it. The journalist still buried it deep in the article.

[-] [email protected] 15 points 1 week ago

It was still mentioned at the top of the article and you missed it.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

For context the shots fired on his office were in 2020 and the arson was last year, while that is awful I wouldn't try to frame them too much as the cause for his retirement.

[-] [email protected] 38 points 1 week ago

This is just sad, will things ever change?

[-] [email protected] 11 points 1 week ago

Only if we do a better job teaching our kids to not grow up to be nazis, racists, or easy marks for manipulate dishonest politicians.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] [email protected] 18 points 1 week ago

While I applaud him for wanting to make room for younger politicians, I'm sure the death threats, arson attacks and bullets were greater factors. This world sucks.

[-] [email protected] 17 points 1 week ago

Germany needs more black politicians

load more comments (19 replies)
[-] [email protected] 17 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

In case anyone is curious, there's also Aramand Zorn, SPD (just like Diaby), Awet Tesfaiesus, Greens, and Harald Weyel, AfD, of all parties. Also happens to be the only native-born German.

Diaby is member of the SPD, their left wing on top of that which makes him a target for Nazis in the first place and his skin colour of course isn't helping. Neither is his constituency being in the east though do note that he didn't get into the Bundestag over the party list, he won a FPTP seat.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

I often wish people in these situations tough it out, because of they don't, who will make the difference? Stepping down gets you one news article and then everyone forgets.

I respect his choice though, and it's another kind of heroic to put yourself and your family's safety first.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 week ago

Sad he faced so much racism. I understand why he is doing this.

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2024
414 points (97.9% liked)

World News

37468 readers
1632 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News [email protected]

Politics [email protected]

World Politics [email protected]


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS