Abstract
This chapter focuses on the question of inclusion for Students of Color in the US German Classroom and the impact that the intercultural method may have upon marginalized students when German culture is essentialized and portrayed in a stereotypical fashion. It also engages with a critical analysis of culture and the division between culture and language, as well as the racialization that occurs for Students of Color at American colleges and universities. My central argument outlines how the emphasis should be placed upon the educator rather than the student and that, despite the popularity of buzz words such as “inclusion,” “diversity,” and the “inclusive classroom,” German curriculum objectives are not meeting the needs of marginalized students.
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Notes
- 1.
Despite the stigma of the word “Rasse”, I find it important to bring this word back into usage because for me it signifies a refusal to acknowledge not only the presence of racial discrimination and stereotypes within German-speaking cultures, but also that race as a socio-political identity concept was born out of early German cultural studies. Banning the word “Rasse” due to discomfort with its association during the Nazi period shows a degree of privilege that is often only afforded to white, elitist persons. In other words, rather than confronting the reality of “Rasse” and racism, the word falls out of use allowing ignorance and censure when claims of racial discrimination are voiced. By ignoring the concept of race, racism and other race-based discriminations are perpetuated and preserved.
- 2.
Edward T. Hall and Clifford Geertz are two central figures in the early discussion and development of intercultural communication and training. Geertz defined culture more in terms of symbols and history, denoting it “a web of symbols that people use to create meaning and order in their lives,” later clarifying this as “an historically transmitted pattern of meaning embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men communicate, perpetuate and develop their knowledge about and attitudes towards life” (Sorrells, p. 4). While I take a bit of issue with his use of “men” in the above quotation, the definition is more solid and reflects the historical nature of culture and its complexity.
- 3.
One only need read Emine Sevgi Özdamar’s “Mutterzunge” (1990) and the numerous poets who wrote Gastarbeiterpoesie to encounter the ongoing negotiation between native culture and language with that of the target or new culture and language, particularly when a person moves to country where the target language is spoken.
- 4.
See diagrams, Can-Do Statements, 7.
- 5.
In November 2018, the FBI released its report on hate crimes in the United States. Their report shows an increase in crimes against persons who are Black or African American, as well as Jewish religious background. In addition, 29 deaths of transgender individuals were noted, the highest number in a single year. Overall number of hate crimes rose from 6063 in 2016 to 7106 in 2017 for single bias hate crimes. See https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2017 for the full report and tabulated data.
- 6.
There are a couple of exceptions to the lackluster portrayals in German textbooks for US students. Weiter geht’s provides a socio-critical lens to German culture and stereotypes, as well as highlighting the words of German POC about living in Germany while still being viewed as a foreigner.
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Merritt, A. (2020). A Question of Inclusion: Intercultural Competence, Systematic Racism, and the North American German Classroom. In: Criser, R., Malakaj, E. (eds) Diversity and Decolonization in German Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34342-2_10
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