(Increased) discrimination against South Asians in Berlin and Germany?
Hi guys, 28M Australian of Sri Lankan parentage living in Berlin for the past 3 years. Before that, I used to visit once every two years since I was 18. While my experience here has been overwhelmingly positive, I couldn't help but wonder if there has been an undercurrent in POC-directed racism here, and if this has also coincided with the right-uptick over the recent years. My encounters of such have been varied, and as follows:
Colourism and profiling:
At the end of last year, I'd been hunting for flats and had gotten almost no replies compared to my white peers with the same or worse credentials (especially if they'd German-sounding names). Then a mate suggested I use my mother's maiden name — which is of Portuguese origin. All of a sudden, I started getting much more callbacks — even to those that I'd written to before. Nevertheless, upon seeing me in person, there would would be a few lessees who were like "I didn't expect you to look like that" and never heard back from them.
Knocked back at the door of three dance bars at Torstraße and a club next to S-Ostkreuz. The former three have really German clientele generally — on one occasion I was with a male Canadian friend of Vietnamese background and we both got rejected; another occasion I was with a group of German mates and the bouncer actually singled me out, saying "Wir wollen deine Sorte hier nicht haben" and proceeded to allow my mates in. Thankfully, they stood up for me, saying "Wenn er nicht reinkommt dürfen, kommen wir auch nicht rein."
Microaggressions:
For a company mixer, we were asked to bring a dish from our hometown or homeland. I brought lamingtons (a type of Australian spongecake). A colleague said in a very exaggerated Indian accent: "Why didn't you bring your goat curry from Mumbai?"
I was dumbstruck and said that I'm actually from Australia with Sri Lankan background, to which he said in the same faux-Indian accent: "Isn't that the same ting?" (WTF?)
At a company happy hour, we were placing orders for drinks and when I suggested a particular cocktail, another colleague said: "I thought you Muslims don't drink?" I'm actually Buddhist by background and do drink, go to parties and such.
I'm not very PC and I won't pretend that Australia is innocent of racism, but back home, such behaviour would get you written up for a warning at least.
Been gaslighted by a few German and other white acquaintances when mentioning incidents like these, saying things like: "you're being self-conscious, there's no racism in Berlin, it's the most liberal/multicultural city on earth" etc etc.
Xenophobia:
Chasing my Hausverwaltung on the phone about plumbing matters recently, the agent pretended to not understand me at times (we were speaking German, albeit I'm not fluent and still have a strong accent) and kicked up a fuss, before hearing her mutter "Scheißausländer," under her breath before hanging up. My neighbours have told me that she's been co-operative about worse household maintenance before.
Was on a date with a girl in Beelitz. We were walking along the street from to a shop to pick up our bikes and behaving rather couple-y. A car which looked full of Assi-looking guys slowed down along us and they yelled in our direction: "Was machst du mit ihr, du Scheiß-Orientaler!". Worried that they would do something to us, we unlocked our bikes, jumped on and rode off. We speculated that this was because she looks very German — although ironically, she's Canadian of Polish background.
A handful of occasions I'm in the U-Bahn where when I've taken a seat next to them, middle-aged Germans have stood up and went off to sit in another end of the wagon, even going so far as to pull a disgusted look on their faces.
Getting snide comments about taking the locals' jobs (I actually took a pay cut to come to Berlin), if I work in tech (I'm in consulting), if I belong in a certain party or nightlife spot, if I beat my wife (?!), "where am I actually from" etc.
Overall, I've really enjoyed my time here, at least half my friends and peers are German and I've taken steps to integrate here, but I feel like the bigotry has gotten worse over the years and the election results have made me question if this has brought about an sentiment of antipathy against obviously foreign-looking folks. I never noticed this to the same extent in 2017 or even 2021. I wonder if it's depends on region as well — some Indian peers have told me that in Baden-Württenberg, they've been treated the same as native Germans.
How widespread is this? Can other PoC also corroborate this?