International weeks against racism
Racism shows itself in many ways
Racism and anti-Semitism have one thing in common: they devalue people on the basis of their appearance, name, culture, origin or religion. This can take on very different forms. We therefore ask: How do people experience racism and anti-Semitism in their everyday lives?
On March 21, 1960, 69 black demonstrators were shot dead by police in South Africa during protests against racist passport regulations. The event went down in history as the "Sharpeville Massacre." The United Nations declared the date the International Day against Racism a few years later.
In addition to anti-black racism, i.e. the exclusion, devaluation and discrimination of black people, racism has many other manifestations: Anti-Muslim racism, which is directed against Muslims and people read as such; anti-Sinti and Romani racism, which addresses Sintizze and Sinti as well as Romnja and Roma; anti-Asian racism, from which people suffer - increasingly since the outbreak of the Corona pandemic - who are marked as Asian; and anti-Slavic racism, as the disparagement of Eastern European people or people read as such.
Racism and Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism, as the devaluation of Jews and their construction into an enemy image, is a phenomenon of its own and not a sub-form of racism, but it shows great intersections with racist actions.
All forms of racism and anti-Semitism have one thing in common: they devalue people on the basis of their appearance, name, culture, origin or religion. Racism and anti-Semitism lead to certain groups being marked as not belonging and stigmatized as inferior, backward, criminal or threatening. Racism and anti-Semitism become visible in conscious or unconscious prejudices and stereotypes, exclusion, discrimination, and even hate speech and physical violence.
How do people experience racism and anti-Semitism in their everyday lives? How do partners of the Robert Bosch Foundation engage against discrimination and exclusion? On the occasion of the International Weeks against Racism, we talked to some of them and it turns out that the experience of racism has many faces!
How the Robert Bosch Foundation works against racism
Equal participation in the immigration society and the reduction of inequality are central concerns of the Robert Bosch Foundation. Racial discrimination opposes both. That is why the Robert Bosch Foundation is actively involved in combating racism and empowering people who have lived experience of racism.
- In the "Schuleo"-project, the Robert Bosch Stiftung is helping to reduce racial discrimination in schools.
- With the chatbot from "yana – you are not alone!", it supports a digital service that advises people who have experienced discrimination.
- In the "Support for Racial Justice in Europe"-program, it supports organizations of people with lived experience of racism in their advocacy towards political institutions at European level.
- And together with partners from science, it examines how racism manifests itself in Europe and what can be done about it.
In all of these examples, the goal is to contribute to reducing racism in our societies.
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