9
Most days Cem came by around ten in the morning. When I heard him turn the key in the door I was already in the kitchen, waiting for him. My mother must have made a copy of my keys for him.
“You won’t believe this,” Cem said and threw his coat over the back of a chair. His coat gave off a little of the cold outside.
I didn’t inquire, only waited as he put the coffee-maker on the stove and heated some milk.
“My dad went to a CDU meeting yesterday.”
Outside, thick snowflakes fell. I watched them through the window, unwilling to believe what he’d just said.
“He went where?”
“To the CDU. The Christian Democratic union . The conservatives.” When Cem thought he saw the appropriate reaction in my face, he continued: “It was about integration. When Baba read Der Spiegel and Das Bild he got scared. Of the Islamists, mind you. My teyze tried to explain to him that, statistically, he’d probably be considered an Islamist as well. But he didn’t listen to her. Said he wasn’t even a Muslim. Then he read an article by a CDU secretary general and wanted to hear my mother’s take on the whole affair. She said that he should take out the trash.”
“Did he do it?”
“What?”
“Did he take out the trash?”
Cem waved this off: “He went. To the CDU campaign rally. The room was packed. Only whites. In the middle of the room he spotted another kanack and tried to make eye contact with him. But the other one was embarrassed and looked away. The secretary general first praised the foreigners, saying they supply the export world champion with necessary skills. Due to the overidealized multicultural reveries of the Social Democrat / green coalition, Germany has lost a lot of time. The days of window dressing are over. Those who don’t meet their responsibilities as an immigrant should no longer expect tolerance. We will confront those who refuse to integrate. To that end we need a strong state—which is also in the interest of the immigrants observing the law. Baba felt like this was directed at him and nodded his head in agreement. And it went from there. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants who refuse to integrate, who—despite some of them being well educated—make the conscious decision to seal themselves off from their German environment. Xenophobia and Germanophobia winding each other up. And warnings of false generalizations or referrals to a successful integration somewhere else don’t help those Germans concerned about the progress of their own children. Especially with schools that hardly have German students anymore—and it’s the same for preschools. And it also doesn’t help those who are afraid of violent attacks when their children are on their way to school or in the subway. Not at all. Therefore, we have to make it clear that we are seriously confronting the growing resentment toward deficiencies in the coexistence of Germans and immigrants. We have to ask ourselves whether the sanctions that we pushed through are applied consistently or whether they will have to be increased—for example, when someone drops out of an obligatory integration course. Faith plays a big role for many immigrants, especially those from predominantly Muslim countries. As do social and cultural practices informed by faith. They have the same freedom of religion as we Christians do. But at the same time there cannot be a religious or cultural blank check when it comes to basic rights: gender equality and nonviolence in families. And if—as is proven by scientific studies—younger, religiously active Muslims in particular show violent behavior, Muslim organizations in Germany must take a firm stand on this. It is not enough to caution against Islamophobia. Successful integration demands plain language instead of window dressing, consistent action instead of exclusion. Cosmopolitanism, mutual respect, and law and order belong together. The coexistence of people of different cultures and religions requires a strong sense of identity. And this includes embracing our Christian tradition as a basis. Baba came home a broken man. Hadn’t known that it was that bad.”
“What now?”
“I don’t know. He spends all his time in front of the computer, looking for real estate in Turkey. Having been in Germany for forty-two years, he just now learned that he’s a Muslim.”