Again and again there are debates and discussions about the racist N-word in Germany. So far, however, there are hardly any clear regulations. Munich would like to be one of the first cities to change that.
In the past, words like the N-word, the Z-word or the M-word were commonplace, but these terms are now perceived by those affected as hurtful and degrading due to historical circumstances. However, they are still often used in public spaces, be it for naming dishes or in company names.
Hardly any city has so far had an answer to how to deal with the persistent racist expressions and protects its black fellow citizens in such a way from the conditions that those affected perceive as discriminatory on a daily basis. It was not until May 2020 that Cologne became the first municipality in Germany to decide that the N-word was racist and therefore does not belong in the city’s public space, later other cities and municipalities joined.
City of Munich wants to ban N-word from public space – proposal as good as decided
The City Council of Munich is now following these examples. In a motion by the SPD and the Greens together with the Die Linke / Die PARTTEI parliamentary group, the parties demand that the N-word no longer be used in public spaces, particularly in urban areas.
According to the application, the background is that the N-word and its derivatives are “associated with suffering, discrimination, violence, inequality and dehumanization for black people and People of Color (PoC)”.
Given the division of power in the city council, it is extremely unlikely that the application will be rejected. However, the innovation will probably not have any real consequences and penalties either: “It is about setting an example against racism and showing that we will not tolerate this in Munich,” said SPD parliamentary group leader Anne Huebner to BILD.
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