What would Mirrianne Mahn have said?
But the local politician of the Greens stayed away from the Frankfurt city council on Thursday.
So it was up to others to present the motion to outlaw racist terms that they originally penned, which, after being rejected by the coalition partner FDP, would probably otherwise have disappeared deep into the obscurity.
With Nico Wehnemann from the “fraction” someone had been found who enjoyed playing the through ball – and ensured a lively debate and a vote by name on deferral.
Much to the gnashing of teeth of the Greens.
Martin Benninghoff
Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.
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In motion NR 198, the “fraction” demanded that the terms “Negro” and “Mohr”, which were perceived as racist, should be outlawed here as an exception in order to eliminate all ambiguity.
In the application there is only an explicit footnote, in the text itself the terms "N*Wort" and "M*Wort" are encoded.
For the FDP parliamentary group leader Yanki Pürsün, the request to ban two words has practically no effect: "Does that really change anything about the reality of life for people who are discriminated against?"
The coalition, which also includes the SPD and Volt in addition to the FDP and the Greens, is now to draw up a more comprehensive anti-discrimination motion.
The Greens parliamentary group leader Dimitrios Bakakis announced this at the end of the debate.
It had become harsher after AfD city councilor Markus Fuchs dared to formulate the N-word - and ÖkoLinX city councilor Jutta Ditfurth had insulted his party members as "Nazis".
Fuchs called it "magical thinking" and "infantile" not to say the words even in the context of a political debate.
Ditfurth tried to be objective in her speech on this emotionally charged topic: She tried to provide historical evidence of the racist origin of the two words: "Both terms should be outlawed." It was about "biologizing supposed inferiority in order to dominate people". A similar argument was made by Michael Müller of the Left Party, who objected to claims that the N-word was neutral. This misjudges “their historical background and the importance of language”.
The speech by BFF-BIG city councilor Haluk Yildiz brought sharpness into the debate, as he explained that people who were discriminated against could not buy anything with the "ostracism of words". When he addressed the alleged discrimination against Germans as "potatoes" and asked whether the "K-word" should also be banned, he received angry heckling. "It's a shame what I've heard here," said Jumas Medoff from the local immigration office.
The Greens had stayed out until now, until Bakakis vented: “Are you trying to divide us?” he asked Wehnemann.
That would not work.
Which is only partially true: because the Volt party, which is known to be involved in the coalition, had already sent a message on Wednesday: "This postponement of the application is very hurtful for black people," it says.
The coalition must show that it is serious about fighting racism.