German Student Challenges Racist Language in School Textbook, Sparks Debate

While Elias knows the meaning of the term "kanaké", he was far from imagining that it would be on the program of "Schroedel Abitur", a school textbook used for learning the "language" "kanakish" ("little nigger"). This "language" includes about 300 words, a third of the vocabulary is used to designate feces and sexuality, another third talks about car brands, "their models and variants", according to RTL. Ultimately, "kanakish" is full of a "vocabulary of about 30 words (used) in everyday life".

This irritates the Moroccan high school student. "At first, I wanted to say something, but then I let it go. I still regret it today. We dealt with the texts in the classroom without any criticism and my teacher used the word as if it was not at all insulting or racist." For Elias, "it is a division of society in Germany and non-Germans, with on the one hand those who speak a powerful language and people with language barriers. It emphasizes the superiority of one group over the other and is racist."

Another fact outraged the teenager. His teacher had designated him to read aloud, along with a Turkish student, in front of the whole class, a "kanaké" version of the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, adds the same source. "Our classmates accompanied this with a condescending laugh, remembers Elias. Yet we both speak German fluently, but we had to pretend that we did not master the German language in order, once again, to confirm a false stereotype."

The reaction of his school will be the straw that broke the camel’s back. The school believes that these textbooks are standard teaching tools. Offended, the young high school student launched a petition against the use of these manuals, which received a favorable response. "The book was not submitted for approval and should therefore not be used in class," said Sebastian Schumacher, spokesman for the Lower Saxony Ministry of Education, stressing that "there should be no place in school textbooks for clichés, resentments or even racism."