First things first, this question is not just about me in person and it ties up with a previous question posted by a German with Portuguese background.
Unlike most Germans with foreign roots, I came here as a Syrian refugee back in late 2015. I think a lot of people in Germany and elsewhere remember that date for its symbolic meaning.
Legally I’m German only since May this year. Didn’t notice any major differences in my day-to-day life since then. I still go to work, come back home and eat the same crappy food etc.
Everytime I meet someone new, they ask me the typical “Wo kommst du her” or the more formal “Woher kommen Sie”.
Mostly it’s “Was fürs Landsmann bistn du?” tho or they directly speak Turkish to me and I don’t understand a single thing lol.
(This actually happened several times btw.)
I get that I don’t look typically German at all. So I don’t even try to argue that I’m German. I still, even tho I do have the papers, answer that I’m Syrian.
This discussion is a big deal within the (loose) Syrian community in Germany because, you see, more and more Syrians are getting naturalized on an unprecedented scale. (see: https://www.reuters.com/world/number-syrians-becoming-german-citizens-tripled-2021-2022-06-10/)
So what are your thoughts on this? Why are we still considered Ausländer or in some cases Kanaken despite being Germans legally?
This is gonna sound controversial but to put it more simply: Is it our non-european looks or our religion? Would it be more “digestable” for a European Christian to become German than an Arab Muslim such as me?
(Im not even religious btw but whatever)
1 comment
“Where are you from?” is a different question than “What’s your nationality/are you German?”. One is about your origins/heritage, the about what you identify as now.
Some people find the “where are you from?” question offensive either way, especially if they look non-German but have been born and spent their entire life here, it can be really annoying and feel racist to be asked that all the time. But in many cases it’s asked without any bad intent and out of honest curiosity, especially if you have an accent or other mannerisms that make it obvious that at least you weren’t born here.