It is another gorgeous day in Germany, unfortunately I had
to spend most of the day indoors. Despite the train strike, we were able to
find a train that was running that would get me to Heidelberg on time for my
lunch time talk. So what have I been talking about so far on this trip? My
first two talks in Freiburg and Stuttgart focused on antidiscrimination policies
in the US and Europe. My main point in the first talk was how individuals from MEP
Glyn Ford to the head of the Migration Policy Group, Jan Niessen were able to
work with EU institutions to develop and ultimately pass what would be called
the Racial Equality Directive. The talk is based on my book, Legislating Equality (Oxford University
Press, 2014), but I also talked about how civil rights legislation developed in
the U.S. 50 years ago and how it has become institutionalized in corporate
cultures by personnel managers who worked to develop internal regulations, like
making sure that jobs were broadly advertised, that would allow them to avoid being
accused of discrimination. For this part of the talk I draw on Frank Dobbins’
book, Inventing Equal Opportunity.
During the Q&A it was clear that the audiences were
interested in learning about how issues of discrimination were playing out in
both the U.S. and Germany, particularly issues of racial profiling. Some shared
their own experiences of discrimination, and wondered what it would take to
change attitudes, or the way that people are conditioned to respond to people
of different backgrounds and/or women. I talked about the development of
training programs, but also institutional structures which made it difficult to
discriminate, or made it easier to uncover discrimination. Some key issues we
discussed included disparate impact and the need to collect data to determine
indirect discrimination.
In the discussions I have had with my hosts, there is a
strong interest in American politics, particularly the start of the
presidential campaign season. Apparently Angela Merkel has said she is
supporting Hilary Clinton, which is interesting that she would state a
preference so early in the campaign. Merkel has had a difficult relationship
with President Obama, so I’m sure she is looking forward to a change in the
administration.
My talk in Heidelberg focused on the politics of
immigration, which is a hot topic right now due to the drowning of approximately1,000 asylum seekers in the Mediterranean. I spoke for about 20 minutes on
issues related to immigration legislation and immigrant integration. This was
my biggest audience so far, about 75 people were there for the lunch talk. It
was a very engaged audience, during the Q&A they asked a range of
questions, including how we can integrate immigrants who come from countries
that are not democratic. One man used the example of the Balkans, and I wish I
would have thought to remind him that most Germans didn’t have a problem with a
return to democracy after WWII. In terms of the drownings in the Mediterranean,
I talked about the need to focus on the humanitarian crisis, but that for the
long-term, the EU needed to agree on a series of measures working with the
transit countries that goes beyond detention as well as addressing the
conflicts in places like Libya that are causing the surge of refugees. Often in
these kinds of situations, I’m seen as a representative of the U.S., so there
were questions about how the U.S. has dealt with democratization in places like
Afghanistan and Iraq. There were several comments about history, and how
Germany has always had migrants like the Huguenots, Italians and many others
going back centuries. I spoke with a local reporter after the talk about border
issues faced by the U.S. and Europe as well as which country I would choose to
go to if I was a refugee – my first choice would be the U.S. but if I didn’t
have that option, I would choose the UK, I feel like I would fit in well in
London.
Due to the rail strike, I took a bus from Heidelberg to
Frankfurt airport and flew to Hamburg. I had a better experience in the airport
this time, but I was surprised that I never had to show my ID before boarding
the plan, just my boarding pass. As I drove to my hotel, I noticed that Hamburg
reminded me more of Paris than other German cities. Even my hotel had a
French-themed brasserie where I had dinner. More talks tomorrow!
Here are a few shots of Heidelberg, unfortunately I didn't have much time to see the city.
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