The new debate over race

Germans don’t like talking about race. But lately, anti-immigrant sentiment has been growing. In a recent book, Thilo Sarrazin, the now former member of the board of the Bundesbank, wrote that Germany has become “more stupid” due to its 2.5 million Turks, whom he calls “inbred.” Last week, Horst Seehofer, the premier of Bavaria, ignited further controversy when he said that Turkish and Arab immigration should end because Muslim culture prevents integration. And Chancellor Angela Merkel herself entered the fray on Sunday, declaring that multiculturalism in Germany “has utterly failed.”

Such comments reflect increasing hostility. A new poll found one-third of Germans think foreigners “come to Germany to abuse the welfare state”; 36 per cent said that “in a limited job market, foreigners should be sent home”; 10 per cent long for a “führer,” to “govern with a hard hand.” Meanwhile, in Berlin, a museum broke with tradition by displaying Nazi propaganda, including a poster about “the dangers of interracial breeding.”