07.12.08
A tiny taste of racism
We’re in the middle of an apartment search. Unfortunately, our landlord needs her apartment back and has given us six months to get out. It’s not the best timing, but we’re doing our best to stay positive about things.
A realtor called me back today. I had called to inquire about an apartment, and she had a few others that might work. She described several which sounded good, and she said she would contact the landlords for me to set up the appointments.
An hour or so later she called. One of the landlords was nervous renting to a foreigner, and wanted to know what I did for a living and would only make an appointment if I could show proof of income. Neither of these things is illegal, unless she only requires these things from foreigners.
Neither the landlord nor the realtor has ever seen me. My accent on the phone was enough to tip them off. Unfortunately, I’ve seen countless examples of racism here. I’ve been in many a conversation where the subject of “those darn stranieri” gets brought up. I usually listen and then point out that I, too, am a straniero. At which point they quickly point out that I’m not the kind of straniero they’re talking about. They mean those stranieri that don’t have the same color skin as they do.
I know my little confrontration with racism was just that – very minor. And I imagine the landlord will apologize all over himself when they realize that they asked the “good kind of foreigner” for proof of income. But I can see where a bunch of seemingly little examples like this could build up over time and cause a whole lot of tension.
Naomi said,
07.14.08 at 2:01 am
What’s the positive version of racism? Is there such a word? We get treated specially here because we are foreigners, specifically Americans. Sometimes, people give us free coffee, discounts on prices, or invite us over for dinner simple because we are Americans. Surely, for us, the temptation will arise where we can take advantage of someone because of our nationality. It seems the opposite of what you’re encountering.
Katy Smelser said,
07.14.08 at 2:14 pm
This sounds SO familiar! Most of the time when the Germans talk about foreigners, they mean people with dark skin or with thick Eastern European accents. They don’t usually count us as foreigners, especially up here in the north, where we are few and far between. We had a renter once who complained to us about all the foreigners taking up all the apartments. He ranted on and on until Randy reminded him that he was renting his room from a foreigner.
Many years ago we were looking for an apartment here in Peine just a few months after the wall fell. There were a few times people thought we were “real” foreigners. Once when we went to look at some used furniture the woman asked if we were from “over there (the East).” When we said we had just moved from Hannover, she asked if we came from the “refugee” camp. Boy was she embarrassed when we said we were American. I guess she couldn’t picture “rich” Americans buying her mother’s (in good shape and over our budget) used furniture.
Bryan said,
08.21.08 at 5:41 am
We had similar experiences looking for our apartment last year and we quickly learned when we called someone to look at an apartment to say we were americans. There is no hiding the accent. More than one individual told us they would not rent to certain ethnic and nationality groups. One of those unfortunate realities of life here.