Fight racism, says Boris Becker
BERLIN: Former German tennis star Boris Becker has called for a fight against racism after a far-right member of the country’s parliament described his son Noah as a “little half-negro” on Twitter.
“It is time to rise up, raise your hand and take to the streets. Here and throughout the entire world,” Becker wrote in a guest column for the Sunday newspaper, Welt am Sonntag.
Racism should no longer be tolerated, Becker said, adding that nobody was punished, nobody was forced to make amends and in the end the issue was silenced.
Jens Maier, a Bundestag member of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, had attacked Noah Becker, 23, after a magazine interview in which he complained about being the “eternal son” of a famous father and claimed he had been attacked in Berlin because of his skin colour.
“It seems the little half-negro simply got too little attention – that’s the only explanation for his behaviour,” said the tweet posted by Maier last week. The tweet was later deleted and Maier claimed that a member of his staff had sent out the message.
However, in his column Boris Becker said Maier “knew exactly what he was doing”.
“This is what the AfD always do, it’s their trick. Putting something out into the world and then distancing themselves from it,” Becker said.
Noah’s mother Barbara has an African-American father and a German mother.
Noah is reportedly planning to take legal action against Maier. – dpa