Learning about Afro-Germans

Kaitlin Kramer

JOUR 30803

2/20/14

            I am either utterly naïve or just simply unaware about the fact of African Americans being a thriving demographic in Germany. Before this presentation, I couldn’t even tell you what an “Afro-German” was. (Afro-German: Black Germans defined as German citizens and members of the Black African community) Thanks to an intriguing presentation brought by Cynthia Chapa, TCU Professor of German Studies, I am now a bit more knowledgeable about the subject.

            There is not an exact number of how many blacks are currently living in Germany, this because the German census does not ask for race. I don’t really understand why that is, because it seems that asking that simple question would show Germany’s diversity, or lack there of.

Professor Chapa gave a rough estimate of the African American population being around 500,000 of the entire population of Germany, which is 82 million. That’s a pretty small chunk, but still, it’s even more than I imagined it to be.

            Professor Chapa’s presentation gave us a little history lesson regarding black movement into Germany. We learned that during the Holocaust, approximately 20,000 to 25,000 blacks were exterminated by the hand of the Nazis. Wow! I guess that I forget about all others that were affected besides Jews.

However, it does seem that blacks were treated a little bit differently during this time. I learned that black men and women played a big role in the entertainment industry. Nazi soldiers would often be presented jungle themed shows with the actors being black people.

Thank goodness for people such as the brave Auma Obama, novelist Paulette Reed-Anderson, and Theodor Michael who made waves for African Americans living in Germany. Today, there are more opportunities for Afro-Germans because of the brave people that have gone before and laid the groundwork for African American people to thrive in Germany.

Afro-German Blog

Kaitlyn Petrando

Writing for Strat/Comm

February 21, 2014

When entering the room to hear speaker Cynthia Chapa I did not know what the topic was going to be about.  What I did know and notice was about how the luncheon had now turned into a non-luncheon because the lunch providers mixed up the times.  Cynthia Chapa handled it well and threw in many jokes about the forgotten lunch to get the talk going. She immediately began talking about the history of African Americans in Germany and how they were a source of entertainment.

 Germany to this day does not have a census that asks for race.  Since the census does not include race, the exact population of Afro Germans is unknown. Studies have been believed to show that the population is steadily growing. (I must say that I have been to Germany for a short time and I did not particularly notice any Afro Germans, so this was the first time I was hearing and being educating on the interesting subject). Obviously as Cynthia kept talking I realized just how prominent and influential Afro Germans are.  Cynthia then began to talk about Auma Obama, who is President Barack Obama’s half sister.  She grew up in Kenya and became interested in studying German. She followed her interests and left Kenya to go all the way to Germany. She continued her German studies and lived there for 16 years.  Auma published a memoir titled “And Then Life Happens.” She made a great impact on Germany while she was there and continues to have much success.

Although I had to leave the non-luncheon early, I learned quite a bit and began talking and asking about Afro Germans to my friends and family. They were just as interested as I and it started a great talk.

Black Germans, Are you Serious?

Madeline Dow

Writing for Strat. Comm.

2/19/14

          Tuesday, February 4^th, Dr. Cynthia Chapa presented to a variety of TCU students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members about the unknown Afro-German race. She called her speech, “Afro-Germans: A Dawning Awareness,” which was highly appropriate given the information and untold stories about this rarely spoken about race.

            Although Chapa’s presentation went on for over an hour, she explained to us that she had only scratched the surface of the Afro-German race, which is now an emerging topic. Chapa’s passion and expertise about the topic was ever apparent and allowed for her to capture the attention of her audience. She went to a seminar in Berlin in 2011, and has been interested in this study ever since then. She began discussing the topic with the headline, “Black Germans? Are you serious?” which I assume was the subconscious thoughts of almost everyone in the room.

            Chapa discussed Auma Obama, who is President Obama’s sister, and her life struggles and successes in both Kenya and Germany. Audience members appeared to be enthralled by this story as she discussed Auma’s experiences with stereotypes about the way she dressed, spoke, and interacted with other in Germany, while studying abroad. Chapa then led to narrate the stories of several other Afro-Germans who have had much success before exploring the history of German colonialism.

            Most of the crowd was either wide-eyed or heavily disturbed after hearing the multitude of oppression that the Afro-German’s encountered during the Holocaust. We were told that the race had to band together to keep a low profile so that they would not be the next targeted race. We were then told about their roles as circus characters and how they were treated like zoo animals.

The stories told by Chapa during the luncheon truly intrigued and enlightened the audience members to further their knowledge to understand more of these underground races.