This disturbing sequence of violence has brought with it a simplistic program of racial hatred: "Freedom for us means foreigners outl Prosperity for us means foreigners outl Germany for the Germans means foreigners out!" These words are received by loud cheers from rightwing extremists. More disturbing. the rightwing German Republican Party and the Peoples Union have done well in the elections at the state level. Nationalistic parties have used immigration as a way to gain support among those who worry about the economy. Many German citizens have been deceived by those who blame imrmigrants and the political asylum law in the German Constitution. But the main problem is not immigration. It is racial hatred and xenophobia. This new wave against nonGermans is antiSemitism without Jewish people. In a Germany largely without Jews. European refugees and other visible minorities have become the new scapegoats for Germanys problems. In the more permissive climate of postcold war Germany. the antiSemitism and racial hatred that had been just below the surface has again come to light. Just as they did during the troubled Weimar Republic. these racists pick the most vulnerable. defenseless group of people to take advantage of popular frustration during a transition period.
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xenophobia immigration refugees asylum law