It's May 4th today, the 65th anniversary of Denmark's liberation from German occupation in the Second World War. In one of those cases of bizarre irony, had the Germans retained control of Denmark, foreigners and minorities would be better off here. Germany fares better at integration according to EU studies on xenophobia. Dansk Folkeparti's inflammatory nationalism and thinly-veiled racism would never fly down south : it's not illegal, just largely unsupported. Germany made an active and targeted attempt to do something about racism, while Denmark, once one of the world's most open and free societies, has slid back to apartheid-like laws, minority-bashing politicians and Nazi-like cartoons. Isn't life strange?
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7 comments:
Dude! This is not an attempt to whitewash the Danish society or politics but... what??? Racism and xenophobia is thriving in Germany! Unlike Denmark, Germany has no-go areas for non-whites. Areas where it's dangerous to go. And that's just the violent racist gangs. "Common" racism is thriving all around the German society. I think it's a rather dubious claim that racism is unsupported there.
And as for the contra-historical part (if we pretend that racism is less prevalent in Germany than in Denmark). You're argument is along these lines: "If the Germans had won (retained the occupation), Denmark would be more like Germany and thus less racist". You're forgetting this: If the Germans had won, it would have been the racist Germans that won (the Germans also celebrate the surrender of the Third Reich). The statement should then be: "If Nazi-Germany was still occupying Denmark" and I doubt it makes sense to claim that then there would be less racism. Not in Denmark or in Germany.
Sincerely, and in much respect for you and your previous writings, this one blew. I know you can do better (you often do).
Love
Ole
Valid points but ... this post was obviously a bit tongue-in-cheek : I'm clearly not the kind of person who actually advocates occupation of anyone. In the spirit of the moment however, marking the liberation of Denmark from the Nazis, who were in many cases the embodiment of bigotry, it's hard not to notice how the tables have been turned. Germany as a country moved forward.
Yes, I am quite aware of the "no-go" areas in Germany. Some parts of Jutland are starting to feel that way too, what with all the open harassment by the Danish Front. Germany's no-go areas are also closely associated with the former DDR, and have to be seen within that context. What extreme hardship has Johnny Hansen had to endure to justify his swastika?
For all of the problems that Germany, Sweden and other countries have with the far right, and they DO have problems, far right politicians are being deliberately kept out of government because moderates understand that intolerance is wrong. Denmark is quite alone in that here, xenophobia has become the mainstream. We can't even call DF nazis anymore - doing so gets you labeled unconstructive and a refusenik.
So in that regard, I stand by what I said. In Schleswig, Dansk Folkeparti can do their thing with respect, their heads held high. In Holstein, a similar party would still be regarded as oddballs. Germany is trying to fight intolerance - Denmark surrendered to it.
A few weeks ago I commented on a blog on Zeit.de. The blogger had written about nationality. Some of the other commentators were seriously deranged and very, very hateful toward me because of my being Bosnian. I was quite surprised, but I guess it's the general situation online wherever you go. Sadly, those xenophobic sentiments (to put it mildly) can be found anywhere.
As for the right in Denmark, have a look at this:
http://p77.dk/radikalisering/69-radikalisering-danmark/249-forklaedt-som-racist-pa-facebook-racisten-bjarke-jensen
Carten, that's an amazing article!
@agger
Thanks for the link - it was a harrowing read. I spend a lot of time looking through obscure forums and groups, and I wasn't surprised with what she found - sadly these people have helped shape my opinion of Denmark, starting almost immediately after I arrived. But I also thought M. Hansen was extremely brave, and I can only salute, and thank her, for what she's trying to do. I felt like something of a chicken, writing anonymously while she's out there in broad daylight. Did she ever get around to publishing the follow up?
@agger - regarding shansen
I can respect someone who investigates the violent right-wing extremists, but I cannot respect shansen for putting everybody in the same basket and fabricating "evidence".
http://www.uriasposten.net/?p=15120
She has applauded the assault on Kim Møller, a blogger who may be islam-skeptical but who is completely non-violent. She have also published his address information knowing that many of her friends have promised him beatings. After all, it is not a coincidence
The right wing in Denmark has always openly declared their disagreement with not only extremists but also with liberals vs national conservatives vs. social democratic "right wing" etc. The left, however, has a tendency to either accept their "rotten eggs" or negligate them.
Shansen is one of those rotten eggs.
Collectivism is the foundation for extremism whether it is right-wing or left-wing. It is the inability to see people as individual living human beings and instead categorize them into simplified groups who are either "like us" (i.e. "real people") or not.
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