Ein Abend mit Mo Asumang

Am Dienstag, dem 23. Mai 2017, nahm der englische Differenzierungskurs der 9b zum Abschluss einer Unterrichtsreihe über den Zweiten Weltkrieg und den Holocaust an einer Lesung und Filmvorführung mit Mo Asumang in der Stadtbibliothek Essen teil. Die Fernsehmoderatorin und Filmemacherin las aus ihrem Buch “Mo und die Arier. Allein unter Rassisten und Neonazis” und zeigte eine Kurzfassung ihres Dokumentarfilms “Die Arier”. Die Schülerinnen und Schüler stellten dazwischen viele Fragen, zum Beispiel danach, wie sie ihre Treffen mit Vertretern des Ku Klux Klan, deutschen Neonazis oder Pegida-Anhängern erlebt hat und wie man selbst am besten mit rassistischen Äußerungen umgehen sollte.

… Und weil dieser politische Blick auf die heutige Situation in Deutschland und anderen Ländern der Welt Teil eines englischen (!) Kurses war, entstanden hinterher Briefe und Berichte über den Abend mit Mo Asumang in englischer Sprache. Hier eine kleine Auswahl:

LETTER 

Dear Mo,

My name is Lena and I visited your lecture with my school class. At first I thought it would be boring, but at the end I did not want to go home again. I really liked your book and the movie, too. You really shocked and impressed me at the same time with your open and brave way. You told us that you were afraid, but you did not show it. Lots of people see the problem of blatant racism and they do not do anything. But you did, though you were treated very badly. That really impressed me. The people who make racist remarks judge you even though they do not know anything about you and only see your skin colour. It really amazed me that you stayed strong and did not give up.

For me you are a very impressive woman and I think everybody can learn a lot from you. I hope your work will go on successfully.

Be blessed with success and happiness.

Yours Lena

BlOG ENTRY

A few days ago I was with my bilingual course and our teacher (Ms Heup) in the city library. We listened to a lecture by Mo Asumang. She told us a lot about her past, read a bit of her book ‘Mo and the Arians‘, and also showed us a part of her documentary. Mo describes in her book how racism feels on your own skin. She meets racists worldwide, neo-Nazis, Pegida followers, supporters of the KU Klux Klan and even chats on Nazi dating platforms.
I am honest: not everyone has as much courage as Mo. I will tell you now a little bit about Mo’s life. Mo Asumang is a German director, television presenter, actress and film producer. Her mother is German and her father is from Ghana. When she studied she also worked as a taxi driver. This job was not easy for Mo; she experienced many terrible things during this time. She for example had to drive a neo-Nazi. She noticed that he had something against her, because he spoke very aggressively and repulsively to her. When she opened the door for him, the man held her and beat Mo’s head three times against the roof of the taxi. This event made her think and she started to inquire about Arians.
When Mo went to neo-Nazi demos, some Nazis told her that she should grab her things and fly back to Africa. And some of them even offered to help her pack. Then Mo asked many people in the street what Arians actually are, but no one explained it right until she found out herself that Arians originally come from the old Iran and India. Now she wanted to look closer into this and made a short trip to the old Iran, where she then saw and talked to real Arians.
Finally she found out what she wanted to know and was very satisfied with the result. It was not easy at times for Mo, but I have very big respect for her, as I said in the beginning. She can be very proud of herself.

Palin 

LETTER

Dear Mo Asumang,

How are you? I am fine, but what you said in your presentation at the library of Essen really made me think, because before the presentation I never really thought about racism. I mean, it is often in the news and I knew that racism is present, but it often seemed far away and I never not felt racism. After watching your documentary and your presentation, I noticed that racism is still present even though we know that black people are no worse than white people. What shocked me most was the fact that neo-Nazis even try to get young supporters of my age or even younger children. The neo-Nazis manipulate the thoughts of these children and try to show them that black people are not good and that black people should travel back to their “own” country.

I really appreciate your braveness and that you talked to people who hate you! Not many people are doing this and these people just try to ignore the problem instead of solving it. You should be really proud of yourself!

I have to thank you that you opened my eyes and that you pulled me out of my dream world, in which racism played a small role. Thank you!

Marc

BlOG ENTRY

Last week on a Tuesday evening our course visited an event, where the TV host, film maker and actress Mo Asumang told us about her project. One day her colleagues, ARD journalists, asked her if she had ever heard of a band called “White Aryan Rebels”. They played a song to her, in which the neo-Nazi band sings: “This bullet is for you, Mo Asumang, this bullet is for you!” They aren’t the first people who threatened or offended her. Why? Because Mo Asumang is black. She always wanted to know why racists think they are more valuable than other people, for example black people. She wanted to know why they kill black people. She simply wanted to understand.

She told us that she had tried to interview a few people during a demonstration, but there she only got comments like “Go back to Africa”. She discovered a document from the Nazi time called “Aryan certificate” (Abstammungsnachweis). In this document, the Nazis describe which people are supposed to be German. Racists and neo-Nazis refer to this document even today. Then Mo Asumang wanted to know what the term “Aryan” means. She found out that the word “Aryan” comes from a French author who used this word in his book and the Nazis took this word and changed its meaning. In reality, the “Aryan” people live in India and in Iran. The word “Iran” evens means “Country of the Aryans”.

Mo Asumang told us that she travelled to Iran to see some Aryans and talk to them. After that, she went to the USA in order to talk to members of the Ku Klux Klan. She interviewed a member about his convictions. After she had gone back to Germany, she met a former Nazi, who does not want to be one any more, because there is big psychological and physical stress for him. Mo Asumang showed us this in form of a film. After that, she read a little story from her book which she wrote about this very impressive project, too. Last, we could ask her questions and after two hours an exciting evening ended.

Henry

LETTER

Dear Mo,

A few days ago I visited the presentation of your book “Mo und die Arier“, during which you told us about neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and what you experienced with them. You also showed us a part of the movie you made and told us about how you got in touch with them and where you interviewed members of radical racist groups. It all began with a song of the “White Aryan Rebels” in which they sang: “This bullet is for you, Mo Asumang”. After you heard this song you wanted to understand why you had become the target of hatred, so you began to meet and interview members of radical groups. From my point of view this is very brave of you, because often it could be dangerous for you and  most people would just say that others should do it and back off because they are too afraid. But you showed courage and didn´t back off. Another thing I found very impressive is that you don´t confront the racists with the same hatred they confront you with. You just wanted to understand them, not hate them because of what they did. You remained friendly, even if they said very bad things to you. If others were be in your situation, if they were told that they should be murdered, they wouldn´t react like this and would be afraid, but you overcame your fear and tried to understand the racists by talking to them. I think that shows what an impressive personality you are.

Yours sincerely

Lina

BLOG ENTRY

`Dein Vater ist ein Gen-Entführer´

The dark-skinned TV host, film maker and actress Mo Asumang interviewed neo-Nazis and racists to find out about the real meaning of `Aryan´ and had to hear many unfair insults. It all started when Mo went to university. In addition to studying, she worked as a taxi driver to earn money, but one night a man she was driving home called her names because of her skin colour and tried to kill her. Luckily, she could escape, but since then she has been thinking about `Aryans´ and why they don`t like dark-skinned people like her that much.

Mo Asumang first visited an NPD demonstration against foreigners in Germany because she wanted to talk to `real Aryans´, but the protesters insulted her and pushed her around. After she had walked with the people for a while, the NPD members came to Mo and asked her shyly whether they could take a selfie with her because they realized that she is a nice person though she has dark skin.

This afternoon was only one step of her journey to find out about `Aryans´. She took another in the USA where she met a man who calls himself an Aryan and who claimed that black people, for example Mo´s father, who mix with white people, were `gene hijackers´. Despite of this, he even hugged her at the end of the day.

The most scaring interview Mo Asumang did was one with a member of the Ku Klux Klan in a forest in the middle of the night. She went there almost completely alone, only accompanied by a camera man, to talk to the disguised Klan members about Aryans and the aims of the Ku Klux Klan.

Mo Asumang also met Chris, an ex-member of the Nazis, who had been a neo-Nazi since he was nine years old. A few years ago a girl asked Chris why he was a Nazi and that was the trigger for him to decide that he didn´t want to be a Nazi any more. In addition to meeting a new friend with whom Mo is still in touch, she found the real Aryans, but they aren´t blonde and do not believe in racism and segregation. The real meaning of being an Aryan has nothing to do with skin or hair colour. The Nazis just used the word `Aryan´ for propaganda purposes, but there are no real Aryans in Germany. Mo Asumang found Aryan people in Iran and they explained that the idea of being `Aryan´ is religious and cultural but not racial. The term was used as a self-designation by Indo-Iranian people.

From my point of view, Mo Asumang is a role model for all people, because she never gives up on fighting against racism and even risks her life by trying to persuade others. She has made a very impressive journey, including some scary events, for example talking with racists who had weapons in the back of their car or getting blackmailed and threatened to be killed, but she stayed calm all the time. I really enjoyed the evening and I think you should read through her book `Mo und die Arier´ as well.

Sarah

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