Savagethe21st:
lol not surprising since blacks are the minority. What about their entertainment industry, are blacks doing well there?. Cus i knw blacks esp Nigerians are doing well in British rap scene and in movies too.

Danielhouston:
I love your contributions and I appreciate them, but please let’s not derail this thread with topics of racism and tribalism. Yes, we know what we need to know by now.

Tomorrow I will share more information and stories about Berlin and Germany, that don’t include racism. We’ve touched on racism, it’s enough. We will shall learn more about Germany.

Danielhouston:


They mostly eat everything but they can’t cook everything. Their bread is hard like a rock and they love it. I hate that strong bread and buy the soft sliced bread. They eat lots of meat, sausages, pasta, pizza. Oh and they don’t cook with spices.

I always tell my friends when we’re having a get together “pls don’t make chicken, I will make it”. Their chicken is plain white chicken with no spices. The only thing they add is salt and a pinch of dry pepper. The day they saw me cooking chicken they were screaming. THAT’S A LOT OF SPICES!!! But they loved the taste.

I saw my flat mate cooking rice with chicken breast and he poured milk into it. I almost threw up. They also eat in small portions. So you better eat before you go to their house for lunch or you’ll stay hungry. They can eat 2 slices of bread with one egg and call it breakfast. They rather drink a lot of beer and wine.

One thing is for sure, Germans love to enjoy themselves. They love eating out in restaurants. They also love international cuisines because their own food is blah blah. So if you can cook, they will love to be your friend. They are always hungry and love to eat. In general, they eat most things we eat but they cook them differently.

Danielhouston:


Oh I can answer this one as I’m in Berlin. I believe Germany needs to see more black artists and talents. They really appreciate talent. In Berlin you can stand in front of the train station with a tea cup and spoon and play a beat. In 10 minutes, people will gather there and start dancing. Even those going to work will stop and dance.

There are black musicians here but most of them don’t have the talent they think they have. I meet them every time. I also know some black rappers. There’s a Nigerian group of rappers that are pulling wave here and host jam session at Badehaus in Berlin. There are some singers too. But it’s mostly the Black Americans taking up these spaces.

One thing I hate is the African musicians here tend to only do Raggae music. Whenever I hear there’s an African band playing, they’re singing Raggae. Germans are obsessed with Afro beat and Afro pop. They’re also obsessed with rap. They have something called Deutsche Rap. It is basically rap in German language. The Turks have taken over that one and it makes me laugh.
Germans want to be like black Americans so bad, they’re obsessed with black culture and music.

If you’re a musician coming here, be talented. Do the music and do it well. Don’t start sleeping with all the girls because you’re getting some attention. That’s one way to fail. Germany is not like the UK and you’ll probably never go international. Unless you expand your network outside Germany.

You can also play on the street. What we call “busking”. People will stop and listen to you and give you money or buy your CD. A lot of musicians make a living like that. They really appreciate talent, even if it’s not so good. Just don’t expect to get famous. Even German musicians are not famous outside their town.

Savagethe21st:
lol not surprising since blacks are the minority. What about their entertainment industry, are blacks doing well there?. Cus i knw blacks esp Nigerians are doing well in British rap scene and in movies too.

Kenn55:


Daniel, you are doing a good job. I agree with everything you said except where you say racism is worse than tribalism.

In tribalism, people of the same color, same country even similar cultures hate and discriminate against each other based on the fact they speak different language only.

In racism, people of different color, different country, different language and different cultures discriminate against others. Now look at the gap here. Everything is different, now compare it with tribalism where everything is the same except language.

If people in the same country can hate each other so much, what is the big deal in racism? Having experienced conc tribalism in Nigeria,As someone living abroad, i don't expect love from whites by default. If you are nice, good and fine. Ironically, i have not experienced racism yet

One thing i have noticed about racism abroad is that the chances of racists temporarily shunning racism to embrace the one the hate when you show you have something to offer is high. In tribalism, even if you like be the only solution to the problem, as long as your name is okoro or Ayodele etc, you can never get the chance to offer your solution, they would rather die.

Look at Obama for instance. He is black, his name is not Jones, Smith etc but a Kenyan native name. However, when the chips are down, in a country of paltry 12% black, he won an election beating his white challenger because he is the better candidate. Obama will never win an election in Osun state for instance as an igbo man or win an election in Abia state as a yoruba man. It does not matter if he was born and bread in Osun or Abia, speaks the language fluently or the most qualified to rescue the state, he will not get support.

There are lots of Nigerians abroad that have broken the barrier of racism by merit because they offer value more than their white host. They whites had no choice than to swallow their racism. They won elections even when they are minority, they head top organisations bossing the whites even with their tribal names etc
See, even you who have faced racism in Germany stand a better chance of leading a top organisation in Germany or winning an election in Germany when the chips are down more than you winning an election outside your tribe in Nigeria no matter how qualified and capable you are.

Bros, if you want to see how rugged tribalism is, just peep into nairaland politics section. I no say make you stay there for long ooo otherwise you won't know when you will join them and become one tribalists, Lol. The hate oozing out from our fellow country men fit boil beans. Racism dey learn work.

Bigpapa080:
You're doing a very good job here OP, we appreciate you and we are grateful for sharing your experience with us here.
What can you say about the state of Baden-wurttemberg, Frieburg to be precise ,never heard anyone talk about that place

GreatMage:
@Op
How blue is the sky?
How red is the sea?


Forget that sentence at the top just playing around...
So is it true that there's a club in Berlin where everyone is naked!!!!?
Heard politicians visit there regularly...


Pls don't take this the wrong way; I'm just curious

jesmond3945:
Infact racism now is subtle and you can feel it if you work in a place where as a black man you are the minority. Racism can be structural, [b]look at what is happening in UK were BAME doctors making 21 percent have 72 percent mortality rate [/b]or America were balvks are more in prison.

Danielhouston:
Hey guys, I just joined Nairaland. I’m a Nigerian living in Berlin, I studied here and have been living in Germany for almost 7 years now. I’ll be happy to tell you about life in Berlin and Germany in general. I’ve traveled around Germany and lived in Frankfurt, Cologne, Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, Kassel..,

salford1:

The first paragraph reminded me of life as a student in the UK working casual for Manchester United on match days. Those polish supervisors can be very mean. They are usually supervisors of those types of jobs.

The Africans not changing cities is very true for most, if not all developed countries. They would rather be drinking garri and stay in a city that doesn't offer them much instead of moving to a different city.
No be person like me. For here sef I have moved to different provinces n now moving back to gauteng province after this pandemic

Good thread. Offers alot of exposure about life in Germany as a black immigrant.

5gee:
Please permit me to weigh in on the issue of racism. I have lived in the UK for almost 10 years now. I have not experienced open racism. The most open, in my opinion has been people refusing to sit near me on trains unless it's a busy service, which I tend to like in the sense that I get to stretch my legs and wriggle around as I like.
What I can say is prevalent is institutional racism. In my opinion this is worse because it is hard to prove. If someone abuses you racially, you can reprt to the police and you will most certainly get justice if you have your evidence but in an institution when you are passed over for promotion or not given the raise you deserve then they can attribute several reasons to it. Sometimes you even question whether it is due to racism or something else. I have had my boss sing my praises to the high heavens but not matched that financially or even in sending me on training. A Nigeria I worked with kept saying the guy is a racist but I did not see reason. Eventually when it was time for redundancy, I was deemed not to have the required experience to work on the project available and so had to go. Mind you from day one in the company, I was doing the work of a senior and sometimes principal engineer even as a graduate and they were charging clients sometime about £80ph for my services while paying me as a graduate. All my appraisals were "exceeded expectation". Every year I will ask for training and be told either I "do not need it" or "there's not enough budget".
A friend of mine also told me about his experience at his company (A global renowned financial giant) where they had a ranking of performance of employees and consistently in the top 5 were at least 3 Nigerians but when it came to bonuses, they will give excuses on why they didn't get big bonuses, often saying although they did very well on the job but scored low when it came to behavioral aspect and people skills. What that effectively meant was that they either don't go out to eat with them or perhaps licked their asses. The Nigerian that did was rewarded. On one occasion, a person that reported to him was moved to another team as lead and bought back to his team to be his lead.
It is tough to accept sometimes. You see a lot of Nigerians as contractors in the UK, I believe it is mostly because they feel they have little chance of getting to the top management level and so going contract is the best way of making more money that they otherwise will not earn as staff and avoiding office politics altogether. Contractor - do your job, go home and you get paid your agreed rate, no need to bother about subjective appraisal. They will hire you because you know your job and when your contract ends, you move on o the next or if you have gathered enough money, start a business, buy properties, send your children to good schools, go on holidays.


Tribalism is different @ Kenn55. At least you can find your tribesman too to help you or there is your tribesman too who is tribalistic.
Someone talked about Adoke, each state in Nigeria has a Minister and must also be represented in various agencies so tribalists will favour almost every tribe in Nigeria.
On the issue of BAME doctors/health workers, I believe there are several contributory factors to the disproportionate number of deaths which may not necessarily be due to racism.
My theory is that
1. There are a higher proportion of BAME health workers in the NHS than White when compared to the population and these people are more likely to put their life on the line while on duty than their white counterparts. There were reports on some white doctors abandoning their jobs for fear og COVID-19.
2. Lifestyle - Our lifestyle, especially the food we eat is not healthy. An average Nigerian will want to eat eba and other starcy and oily food but not put in the corresponding exercise in to mitigate the effects. our forefathers ate these kinds of food because they lived an active life. They went to the farms and burn off all the excess calories and ate less processed food but we the younger ones just want to eat and sit behind a computer. The whites are generally careful about unhealthy diet and take exercise serious. In London during lunch time, I see a lot of white people jugging and rarely see blacks doing same (me inclusive).
There are other factors as well.

insightful01:
This is nice thread. Seeing the life in Germany like you are seeing a movie.

But op, are you telling me is not possible to work and save large amount of money to buy a house as a black person.

Danielhouston:
Sundays are Ruhetag. Meaning: quiet day, no noise making. Just for people to spend time with their families and have a peaceful moment at home. You can go out and have fun but keep it quiet.

This is also a day for parks and biking. People go to lakes, hiking, running, swimming etc. people also visit their parents/kids on this day. Most people are at home sleeping after a weekend of partying.

The parks are full in the summer, this is also the day we hold carnivals and festivals on the streets. We have a cultural festival similar to Nottinghill carnival and the main event is on a Sunday. But in general, Sundays are quiet days in Germany. The trains also stop running from 12:00 am. So if you’re out late, you may want to use a taxi or a late night bus.

However, some clubs are still going on and people inside don’t even know what day it is. Those clubs also don’t have mirrors in the toilet, so you cannot see yourself to know how wasted you look. You just know it’s Monday morning when some people start changing to their work outfit. Oh yes, some people change in the club and go to work on Monday morning from the club.

jesmond3945:

See the statistics BAME doctors 19 percent White doctors 81 percent
Mortality BAME doctors 72 percent White Doctors 28 percent
While in patient deaths there are more white than BAME deaths. So your theory is not valid.

Acuna91:

Nice one op.... E bi like say nothing like church there in Sundays abi

5gee:
]Thank you for this. Please explain how racism is responsible for that as I am unable to link the 2.

jesmond3945:
Institutionally BAME were placed in a disadvantaged position in the fight against COVid. If a BAME called in sick,he is likely to be sacked.

5gee:

This cannot be true else the NHS should be ready to ready to cough out huge sums at the employment tribunal. Even in normal times, you are entitled to sick leave. But thanks for you explanation.