Enissa Amani: Why she is the role model that many need right now

Opinion

The AfD and right-wing extremists are dangerous and threaten our country. This was recently shown again by the “Correctiv” revelations about a secret meeting at which right-wing extremists gave free rein to their deportation fantasies. Someone who has been courageously confronting this threat for years is the Iranian-German activist and presenter Emisa Amani. With her commitment she has struck a chord in Germany, and the consistency with which she represents her positions against exclusion and everyday racism commands the necessary respect. Amani was even prepared to go to prison for her attitude (the star reported about it here).

She deserves that we all don’t leave her alone with her courage and honesty. This is proven once again by an incident that recently happened at the opera in Frankfurt. Amani was supposed to give a speech there on the topics of human rights, humanity and democracy. In the middle of her lecture, however, she was interrupted by heckling and loud shouts of “Stop.” She also posted the incident on Instagram.

While some of her followers were there and in some cases even had to leave because they couldn’t bear the situation, the speaker herself remained steadfast: she made her discomfort clear, didn’t allow herself to be silenced, and even spontaneously took the incident as a conclusion her speech: “That’s exactly the problem here.” Namely that some people don’t even want to listen when people with a migration background speak up.

On Instagram, Amani explained what approach she would have liked from the organizer. Namely, that the man who had interrupted her so disrespectfully should have left the room immediately. She then clearly accused the opera of this. And this approach is exactly the right thing to do: point out what is going wrong and follow the words with actions. Without violence, but clearly.

We should expose racism and speak out

You can think whatever you want of Enissa Amani as an artist. From their comedy, their clothing style or their personality. But her attitude is exemplary: she stands up for human rights at all times and does not accept discrimination, but instead raises her voice and does not lose courage. And that’s exactly what we should do: Anyone who hears a racist joke or discriminatory statements: explain straight away why it is so wrong. If you know AfD voters: start a conversation about the reasons and clarify the worst possible consequences. If you work as a teacher at a school: do anti-discrimination work there. If you have many followers on a social platform: Use your reach to have a clear voice. And don’t just let those who would be directly affected do it. We should all be more active, more vigilant and more consistent.

Enissa Amani’s prison protest would certainly have gotten more people to raise their voices and pull them along. It often takes a strong person to lead the way and show how it can work. It’s not for nothing that Amani has 1.2 million Instagram followers who are incredibly active and see her as a role model. Because she stands up for democracy. Because it is loud and stays loud. Because she doesn’t simply accept or dismiss a lot of things, but instead pays the necessary attention to every discriminatory incident, questions it and actively shows what consequences there should be or how things could be done better. Because she doesn’t get tired.

We should all take this as an example and raise our voices when we hear or see something that discriminates against a person and does not fit into a democracy. Anyone who wants to live in a democracy should help shape it at all times. With your own actions in everyday life and the daily decision to stand up for them when the time comes. And she has come now at the latest.