Germany’s first African-born MP to stand down after racist abuse ( www.theguardian.com )

Diaby, of the Social Democrats (SPD), entered parliament alongside Charles M Huber, who sat for the Christian Democrats for just one parliamentary term. They were the first black members of the Bundestag and their entry was hailed as groundbreaking and historic by equal rights campaigners.

Diaby, who has a PhD in chemistry, was born in Senegal and moved to the then East Germany in 1985.

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.

“In the last few years I’ve faced several murder threats. This has now overstepped the mark,” he said. “The hatred that the AfD sows every day with its misanthropic narratives is reflected in concrete psychological and physical violence. This endangers the cohesion of our society. We cannot simply accept this.”

UnfortunateShort ,

That's what happens when a government is either too corrupt or too incompetent to tackle the real issues. Things get worse, people get mad, populists rise and, at some point, try to grab power.

I really hope todays politicians get the message. The problem is not that populists are there. They won't just go away, no matter how hard you campaign against them. The problem is that you give them power by failing your country and the people within.

captainlezbian ,

Idk why people are acting like he’s insufficiently German, he’s lived in Germany longer than the modern country has existed

Kusimulkku ,

Doesn't look like a typical German, I guess

captainlezbian ,

I know next time I think of a German I’ll picture him. Oughta piss of some afd jackass in the process

Kusimulkku ,

Are you Google's AI?

captainlezbian ,

Unfortunately no, nobody was willing to pay me that much to be wrong all the time

14th_cylon ,

We cannot simply accept this.

unfortunately by deciding "to spend more time with his family" he is doing exactly that. i understand it is not easy situation for him, but the rhetoric does not make sense.

DessertStorms ,
@DessertStorms@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

hOw WiLl wE EVer stOp rAciSm IF thE viCTims Of RaCisM aRe nO lonGER WilLiNg To Be cOnsTanTly EXPosEd To raCIsm??!!11223 🙄🙄🙄

southsamurai ,
@southsamurai@sh.itjust.works avatar

No need to be shitty about it.

14th_cylon ,

https://lemm.ee/api/v3/image_proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.kym-cdn.com%2Fphotos%2Fimages%2Foriginal%2F001%2F979%2F400%2F031.jpg

DessertStorms ,
@DessertStorms@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Lmfao

I mean, it's your own shitty take I paraphrased, so... ¯\(ツ)/¯

andyburke ,
@andyburke@fedia.io avatar

You go stay in the arson/bullet target area before throwing this shit around, armchair politician.

Irremarkable ,
@Irremarkable@fedia.io avatar

Yeah no, this is one where I'll almost always say you got to go with your gut.

I don't have basis for this being the case here, but often time people are able to hold out when the threats are against them, but it's a whole other story if there starts to be credible threats against your family.

Axusse ,

The rhetoric makes totally sense to me, he's facing a not easy situation as you say, he made his decision, but it doesn't mean that it is something to be accepted.
In one case you have feelings, in the other the fact that a thing is not acceptable.

14th_cylon ,

he literally did accepted it when he stepped down. that is what accepting "it" means in this case. it is the difference between words and actions.

and again, i understand if he is scared for his family or something and it is terrible, i am merely speaking to the logic of his statement.

if he said "it is with deep sorrow that i must now, in face of political terrorism, step down to protect my family" - that would be powerful message. saying "we don't accept it" when you are clearly accepting it just does not make sense.

Axusse ,

I get your point. Unfortunately not all humans are good in speeches.

I'm Italian and we had Falcone and Borsellino facing the mafia, of course it is another topic, but they were brave. They accepted the challenge and they put their lives in danger and the life of their family. There are also many other politicians over the world that just didn't surrender against injustices.

But you have to be strong and brave, and you have to know exactly who you are fighting against and what are you fighting for. So it's just understandable that he gave up and it is also understandable that he didn't find a nice speech to pass a strong message to the people.

Actually I wonder, do you really need a strong message when the facts speak for themselves? (Of course yes, because people need it, but would be beautiful if they weren't needed at all)

14th_cylon ,

someone else pointed out in other comment that he is 62, i guess that is a moment where you might want to reevaluate how you spend your remaining time. it is a shame he had to do it, but good luck to him.

norimee ,

The poster left out an important part of the article

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.

Diaby proved over the last 11 years that he will not be silenced by hatred and violence. Lesser people would have given up a long time ago. Maybe 2020 when someone shoot up his offices or when they put it on fire...
Dealing with this kind of hate and threat on a daily base must be so draining and exhausting.
He is 62 now and his wish to spend more time as a private person with the people important to him is a valid one.

Nevertheless is this a loss for Germany and our democracy and unfortunately a win for the fascists of the AfD.

14th_cylon ,

He is 62 now and his wish to spend more time as a private person with the people important to him is a valid one.

okm now it makes little more sense. well, good luck to him.

grue ,

Another important part of the article:

But his announcement comes just weeks after he laid out a litany of hate messages he and his parliamentary staff had received.

His stated reasons for leaving would be more believable if there had been more time between the two announcements. I'm not saying he should stay longer if he doesn't want to; I'm just saying it might've been better if he'd gone public about the hate earlier.

norimee ,

The attacks on him and his office were public knowledge and in the news for years.
Only the extend of hate mail and threats they held back and took to the public now.

autotldr Bot ,

This is the best summary I could come up with:

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.

In interviews, Diaby has emphasised an increasingly hostile mood in parliament and society, blaming the 2017 entry of the far-right populist AfD to the Bundestag.

“Since 2017, the tone in the German parliament has become harsher,” he told the Berlin Playbook podcast of the news magazine Politico.

“The hatred that the AfD sows every day with its misanthropic narratives is reflected in concrete psychological and physical violence.

Writing to party colleagues on Tuesday, Diaby promised to remain active in the SPD, especially in the 15 months leading to the election, saying: “We face big challenges and hard work.”

The original article contains 447 words, the summary contains 173 words. Saved 61%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

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