I'm a fair skinned black female, taking a trip to Germany in August for 2 weeks. Does Germany have a big/noticable problem with racism? <BR>I've been to London before, and have not had any problems...

<BR>Hey Naomi, i don't think there's more racism in Germany then there is anywhere else in the world. <BR>We went there a couple of years ago with a black friend of mine, and we had a great time. <BR>We never noticed any racisme, so i don't think it is a reason for you not to go there. <BR>There have been some trouble between the skinheads and the Turkish population in Germany(over 1.000.000 Turks live there), but that is over now i think. <BR>If i were you i would go there and have a relaxed vacation; don't worry about it <BR>and you'll be fine, i'me sure. <BR>Have a nice time in Germany,Leo.

<BR>Hey Naomi, i don't think there's more racism in Germany then there is anywhere else in the world. <BR>We went there a couple of years ago with a black friend of mine, and we had a great time. <BR>We never noticed any racisme, so i don't think it is a reason for you not to go there. <BR>There have been some trouble between the skinheads and the Turkish population in Germany(over 1.000.000 Turks live there), but that is over now i think. <BR>If i were you i would go there and have a relaxed vacation; don't worry about it <BR>and you'll be fine, i'me sure. <BR>Have a nice time in Germany,Leo.

Naomi, <BR>I am not a causasian. I just came back from Germany. I did not experience racism with people I had to deal with (ticket booth, stores, restaurants, hotels, etc.) nor any derogatory words, but... <BR> <BR>What I felt was that few Germans middle age people stared at me a lot for a LONG TIME. For example, I would sit at a restaurant and a middle age woman two tables from me would turn around (away from the people on her table she was talking to) and look straight at my face for more than a minutes. This was also so in Austria and German speaking part of Switzerland, but most noticable in Germany itself.

There was one experience last week in Germany that gave me chills of the images of the concentration camp. On a train between Buchloe and Augsburg, we got stuck in the same car with a group of teenagers, perhaps 9-10th grades. They were a very loud bunch, blasting radio in enclosed section between smoking and nonsmoking section. The other adults (Germans) and we looked each other with sense of "yeah, we have to put up with these kids" looks. <BR> <BR>At one station, a family of three, mother and what appeared to be her two daughters were waiting to get on the train. When one of these teenagers noticed this family, they shouted to each others "Gypsies!" Once the family was on the train, the kids attitudes were clear indifference, as though these family did not exist. I could see artificial poise on the face of the mother while walking past these teenagers, nothing that I could explain without knowing about nuances of current attitude toward Gypsies, if this family was indeed ones at all, in Germany.

During my visit in June I was rather confused about the attitude of the Germans in general. <BR> <BR>If you passed a local on the street and smiled or said hello (in any language!) they looked at you as if you had grown horns. However, when you were in a conversation with them one on one, for the most part, they were very helpful and nice. I enjoyed most of my conversations with the locals. I also found that they were willing to help with directions and explaining the food, etc. I did try to use as much of the german language as I knew which was not much at all! My sister did not use the language and didn't get as good a response as I did though. It was like, if you don't try to use my language, I won't try to use yours. <BR> <BR>All in all I found that people are the same all over the world, some people are just not going to able to see past their nose.