Do Germans want more white professionals in the national football team? Filmmaker Philipp Awounou has been criticized for the question in his survey. Now he explains why he commissioned it this way.
The author of the documentary “Unity and Justice and Diversity”, Philipp Awounou, has defended the survey quoted in his film and criticized by national coach Julian Nagelsmann, among others. According to the survey, around one in five Germans would prefer it if more white players were playing in the national football team again. “There should have been a clear connection straight away: why was this survey carried out and what is the background to it. I think that is very understandable. And I think that Mr. Nagelsmann and other people also understand why we did it in the context of the film,” said Awounou on the ARD program “Hart aber fair”.
During the research for the documentary, they came across racist statements about the national team, writes Awounou. “And as disturbing as sentences like ‘I would prefer it if more white players played for the national team again’ may sound, in order to examine racist attitudes, you have to ask about racist attitudes. This is a normal process in scientific opinion polling.”
Philipp Awounou wanted clarity through survey
Awounou also writes: “If the WDR had not collected the data in collaboration with Infratest Dimap, we, and I as the author, would not have had any clarity as to whether we were reporting out of touch with reality or were giving the wrong weighting by giving (too much) space to a spectrum of opinions, even though it is hardly accepted in society as a whole. If the approval ratings for the racist theses we asked about had been negligible, we would have removed the corresponding statements from the film.”
National coach Nagelsmann criticized the survey on Sunday in drastic terms. “I hope I never have to read such a crappy survey again,” said the 36-year-old at the DFB press conference before the European Championship friendly against Ukraine. National player Joshua Kimmich had already warned on Saturday that the question should be viewed critically.
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Source: Stern
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