fclr 2020

Call for the online festival contre le racisme 2020!

Enough! – We won’t tolerate racism anymore!

The free association of students’ unions (fzs) and the Federal Union of Foreign Students in Germany (BAS) are calling for participants in the festival contre le racisme 2020! The fclr will take place for the 17th time and is a campaign against racism and xenophobia which has been held once a year at German universities since 2003. The fzs began in 2003 for the first time to organize a decentralized festival contre le racisme, which was to consist of many local events. Since 2005, the fclr has been organized together with the the BAS.

This year many „foreign-looking“ people had to fight against a worldwide pandemic besides the „normal“ everyday racism. It is heartbreaking, that in these hard times which require so much solidarity and social cohesion, there are still people who react with hate. Racist behaviours are unfortunately, even during the pandemic, an everyday story: on the buses, in the shops, everywhere! Even at universities!

And we, the BIPoCs, daily internalize the experiences of racism for the sake of a peaceful coexistence. Absurdly dependent relationships and social pressure force us to silence our feelings towards racist behaviour even among „friends“. It is too late, and we are chronicly overwhelmed, when we realize that we are experiencing racism on a daily basis. It makes us really angry and helpless that our peers are often indifferent to the situation.

And then, somebody asks: „How did we get to Halle? How did we get to Hanau?“

Well, indifference got us there. That’s why denouncing racism is the responsibility of all of us.

Racist behaviours are often relativized by saying that a racist mindset results from the fear of the unknown. Well, we don’t have no slight sympathy for this anymore because we must not tolerate any apologies for racism! And we will fight racism without any fear, forcefully and loudly!

Every time we remain silence, we become part of the problem.

So let us denounce racism and don’t let racists take our societies.

Whereas in everyday life racism often appears in a subtile way, in the current corona crisis we experience blunt hatred towards „Asian looking“ people. The cultural and ethnic diversity of a huge continent is suppressed or even completely ignored because of an indifferent and blurred misconception of „culture“. Racist offences manifest themselves in calling us „Corona“ or spitting at us because we are put on the same level with pathogenic organisms.

That does not only hurt us deeply, but also lets us question the steadiness of a humane society.

We hope that these hard times give everybody a chance to reflect on how we are linked to each other, and how much we depend on each other. After the pandemic, we don’t want the unequal world we used to have. Our overarching demand is a structural change of institutions, to rethink how we relate to each other, and to be conscious that in these globalized times, we also need global solidarity. As foreign students and students with migration background in Germany, we also carry the demand to our universities and ministry of education.

It is often believed that universities are fertile soil for multiculturality and they actually are enriched by cultural exchange and wisdom share. However, social inequality, elitism and racial stereotypes are constantly present in the universitary meritocracy. Unfortunately, racism is as well reproduced in the „temples of knowledge“.

The academic and social structures depend on daily practices, in fact they are the base of the practice and the experience. In other words, racism is not a phenomenon external to the universities, but it is reconstructed inside and institutionalized.

We, the students, afraid of a comeback of racism, xenophobia and many other kinds of discrimination, find in democracy and social commitment the only way to fight against intolerance. And we say it is enough.

Our demands:

  • We demand universities to be safe spaces to openly talk about racism.
  • We plead for universities which don’t serve as elitist filters of the state.
  • We demand the recognition of the strength of diverstiy and the importance of solidarity.
  • We ask for the support of our universities to encourage society to reflect on racism.
  • We want universities as catalysts of social changes, for equality and democracy. Not only in Germany but worldwide.
  • We want solidarity instead of fear!
  • We call for educational institutions which actively help us, in Germany as well as worldwide, to fight against unequal and racial structures!

This „festival contre le racisme“ (fclr) is a proposal of the organized student bodies (fzs) together with the Federal Union of Foreign Students in Germany (BAS) with the aim of giving a platform to discuss about, reflect on and tackle racism.

Here is a space where, from as many perspectives as possible, we can think of the world we imagine, and plan together how we are going to achieve changes.

You want to participate in the festival contre le racisme 2020?

The corona pandemic has taken hold of the world and much of our life has come to a standstill. Unfortunately this does not apply to racism. This rages on, nourished with statements like „Chinese Virus“, especially our „Asian looking“ people are affected. You can find frustrating examples under #IAmNotAVirus also in social media channels.

That’s why we want the „festival contre le racisme“ to take place despite the crisis. And for that we need your help! Let us show this year that we do not tolerate racism even and especially in crisis situations!

If you want to take part, please contact us under fclr@bas-ev.de.

Online fclr 2020: Event Formats

Special situations require special measures, that’s why we want to let this year’s festival contre le racisme take place online, from June 22nd to 26th (in case of many events extension up to July 3rd). To make this happen, please contact us until the Jun 07th so that we can send you the link to register your events.

This year you have to be very creative when it comes to the form of events. You could offer the following digital events:

  • webinars
  • workshops
  • concerts
  • performance
  • (improv) theatre
  • art
  • readings
  • performances in public space (installations, banners, footprints)
  • videos
  • screening
  • digital zines
  • pictures
  • information graphics
  • memes, …

In case of questions concerning the technical implementation of your ideas please feel invited to contact us anytime through fclr@bas-ev.de.