Fatma, who works as a nursery school teacher in Berlin, said it begins first thing in the morning on her way to work.
“The other drivers give me a look,” she said. She dresses in stylish clothing, and wears a headscarf. “The instructor in my nursery teacher training program once said to me that she thinks the headscarf is unhygienic.”
Fatma said she graduated from her training course with “very good” grades, and yet it still wasn’t easy for her to get a job. What’s more, nursery school teachers are urgently needed in Berlin and throughout Germany. But she feels that the headscarf puts her at a disadvantage. “It really upsets me,” she said.
Hanna also lives in Berlin. “I don’t dare go into certain neighborhoods,” she said. She’s regularly targeted by “stupid comments,” as she puts it, whenever she takes the subway with her kids — because of her children and her dark hair. “People say I should go back to my country.”
Nothing random about racism
“Experiences of discrimination do not happen randomly,” said Aylin Mengi, who is co-author of the Racism Monitor, published by the German Center for Integration and Migration Research.
In one of the most comprehensive data surveys on and in Germany, researchers surveyed almost 10,000 people across the country.
The results of the latest report from March 2025 show that those who are seen by others as being or Muslims are most affected — regardless of whether they actually are or not. Some because they wear a headscarf, like Fatma. Or, because of their skin color, or because, like Hanna, they have dark hair.
More than half of people who are singled out in this way reported everyday experiences of discrimination at least once a month.
‘Racism is becoming more subtle’
Muslim women and Black people are most affected. According to the report’s findings, over 60% regularly experience discrimination in their everyday lives.
“We see that experiences of discrimination are unevenly distributed in German society,” Cihan Sinanoglu, the head of the Racism Monitor, told DW. “And we see that racism in Germany is becoming more subtle and adapting to social norms.”
Sinanoglu summarized the results of the study by saying that there is a widespread belief in mainstream society that ethnic and religious minorities are demanding too many political rights. “This shows that certain social groups are still being denied political rights.”
In Germany, people who have experienced discrimination are coming up against a mainstream in which racism remains firmly entrenched. “More than a fifth of the German population has entrenched racist attitudes,” said Sinanoglu.
Racism causes psychological suffering
According to Sinanoglu, prejudice and exclusion can have far-reaching consequences. ” increase the more discrimination and racism I encounter. And trust in social institutions declines the more discrimination I experience,” he said.
The authors of the study criticized the fact that political parties too often brush aside racism in Germany as a minority issue. “Every third family in Germany is linked to a history of migration,” said Naika Foroutan, head of the research center, at the presentation of the data monitor. “Discriminatory experiences affect a large segment of society.”
Foroutan believes that one insight that is all too often lost in the discussion about racism in Germany is that “a broad majority is against racism in Germany. People want to learn, and they want to be informed about racism.”
Ferda Ataman, the federal commissioner for anti-discrimination, sees the results of the study as a clear task for politicians. “Germany has some of the weakest anti-discrimination laws. The study clearly shows that people need to be better protected,” Ataman told DW.
Ataman’s demand was directed above all at the future German government, which the and the are currently working to form in Berlin.
This article was originally written in German.
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