And just to prove I'm not entirely a cantankerous old bloke, this should
intrigue at least some of you...
Jon Cloke (Durham)
----- Original Message -----
From: Marika Sherwood
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 9:19 PM
Subject: Fw: Afro-Germans Protest African Village in the ZOO
This is difficult to believe. Please email your protest!!!!!!!
From: Norbert Finzsch [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
I am a German scholar of African American History and member of H-Net
Afro-Am. Today I would like to direct your attention to something that is
going on in Germany which, in my opinion, requires the consideration of the
international scholarly community. It is with utmost indignation that the
African German community has taken notice of the plans to open an "African
Village" within the zoo of Augsburg, Germany. The opening of this exhibit is
scheduled for July 9 - July 12. 2005. "Artisans, silversmiths, basket makers
and traditional hairdressers are situated in an unique African steppe
landscape" according to the leaflets handed out by the organizers of the
show. The conveners obviously are oblivious of the fact that exhibits like
the one planned in Augsburg are organized within the German tradition of
racist "ethnographic shows" (Völkerschauen). A letter of reply by Ms.
Barbara Jantschke, PhD, from the Augsburg Zoo, directed to an African Swiss
citizen underlines the intention, to put Africans on display in the zoo
within "an atmosphere of exotism".
It is obvious that the conveners do not understand the historical
implications of their project. Even in Germany the impact of colonialism and
racism on African societies are nowadays debated in public. The way Africans
and African Americans in Germany are perceived and discussed, the way they
are present on billboards and in TV ads prove that the colonialist and
|racist gaze is still very much alive in Germany. This is the direct result
of forty years of German colonialism and twelve years of National Socialism.
People of color are still seen as exotic objects (of desire), as basically
dehumanized entities within the realm of animals. This also explains why a
zoo has been selected as site for the exhibit. It is necessary to remind the
organizers that in the history of "ethnographic shows" African and German
African individuals were used as object for anthropometric tests and
ethnological investigations of highly questionable scientific benefit. Many
of the artists who performed in these shows in the 1920s and 1930s died from
malnutrition and as a consequence of bad living conditions. The Nazis
employed a policy of eugenic control, resulting in forced operations to
limit the biological reproduction of African Germans or in downright
incarceration in concentration camps. Survivors of this policy had to gain a
living as performers in exotic shows. The Augsburg exhibit thus fails to
acknowledge the political and social history of persecution in Nazi
Germany. The African German community and concerned individuals like myself
call to your attention the need to protest against the opening of the
exhibit in the Augsburg Zoo.
Please direct your personalized letters of protest to Frau Dr. Barbara
Jantschke (Director Zoo Augsburg) at
[log in to unmask]
Thank you
Norbert Finzsch
Professor of History and
Provost of the University of Cologne
Anglo-Amerikanische Abteilung
Historisches Seminar
Universität zu Köln
Albertus-Magnus-Platz
Philosophikum
D 50923 Köln
Tel. ++49-221-470-2307
Email: [log in to unmask]
URL http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/histsem/anglo/
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