Berkley Center

Germans, I have discovered, are even more concerned about being politically correct than Americans are. Unless it is used in a strictly historical context, the term Gastarbeiter (guest worker) has been banned from all respectful discourse. It was once widely used to describe Turkish workers in Germany who helped to rebuild the war-torn country after World War II. But when these workers settled in Germany and chose not to return to their native land, Germans recognized the inappropriateness of the term. A new category, Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund (people with a migrant background), was thus developed to more accurately describe the approximately 2.7 million Muslim-Turkish residents permanently living in Germany. Over the past 60 years, German society has gradually shifted away from an expectation that temporary workers will return "home" and now focuses on the value of integration for individuals with migrant backgrounds.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, just how integration is to be achieved and what exactly it means remains unclear. Can integration incorporate many religions, styles of dress, and languages? The German government, in its National Integration Plan that was adopted last summer, listed the following as key factors for integration: equal participation in social life, accepting responsibility, command of the German language, education, and acceptance in the German labor market. Scholars have also offered many different definitions of integration which include acceptance of a host country's laws and values, sharing common goals with the majority of society, and contributing to society through activities like voting and volunteering. Notably, I have not heard assimilation directly equated with integration, and, at least on paper, there is widespread recognition of the value of complex multi-layered identities that allow individuals to be both Turkish and German simultaneously.

Yet the day-to-day realities that I have observed since my arrival in Berlin do not reflect what I would call positive progress towards integration. In early February, a fire broke out in an apartment building in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and killed nine Turkish immigrants who lived there. Immediately, Turkish communities suspected arson, and both German and Turkish officials called for a careful investigation into the cause of the catastrophe. In the aftermath of the fire, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan visited Germany, and during an address to a large Turkish audience he asserted "assimilation is a crime against humanity." This could be a difficult statement in any country dealing with immigrant populations, but it was a particularly provocative statement given the recent tragedy, and, as a German friend reminded me, because of the memories that ride on the shoulders of the term "crime against humanity" here in Germany.

I assume that Prime Minister Erdogan intentionally employed words which would evoke memories of the Holocaust, yet I fail to grasp any constructive value that such an action could have. Certainly, immense work remains to be done before Turkish-Muslims living in Germany are free from stereotypes and discrimination. Yet, Erdogan's comparison was unfounded. My experiences in Germany thus far have alerted me to the fact that significant problems still exist between individuals with migrant backgrounds and mainstream German society. But they have also convinced me that solutions to the current difficulties need to look towards the future and the common interests that transcend religion and nationality and apply to every individual living in Germany.