Perceptions and Experiences of Racism in Germany

Against the background of the worldwide protests against police violence and racism after the violent killing of the African-American George Floyd in the USA, this survey examines how racism is perceived in Germany and what experiences people with a migration background have had with racism in Germany. For this purpose, both people with and without a migration background are interviewed. The study asks about the prevalence of racist prejudices in the everyday life of the interviewees, about experiences with racism in different areas of life, about the feeling of security, recognition and well-being in German society and about trust in politics, political institutions and the police. In addition, respondents are asked how they assess the current use of politics in combating racism and in which areas more should be done.<br>1. Social participation and recognition: life satisfaction; fair share in life; factors for success in society (open); assessment of personal acceptance as an equal citizen, of personal possibilities to influence German politics and justice in Germany; trust in institutions (judiciary, federal government, media, police, authorities); attachment to the community/city of residence, the region, the federal state, Germany, the country of origin and the country of origin of the parents; personal feeling of security in Germany.

2. Living together in Germany: frequency of contact with people from a different ethnic background; assessment of living together with people from different ethnic backgrounds; reasons for problems in living together with people from different ethnic backgrounds in Germany (open); treatment of people from a different ethnic background compared to people from a German background (worse, same treatment or better).

3. Problem perception of racism in Germany: agreement with various statements about racism (most people in Germany do not differentiate according to the colour of someone´s skin, there is now too much talk about racism in Germany, which makes the problem bigger than it actually is, the racism debate is characterised by hysteria and oversensitivity, meanwhile there is also racism against white Germans in Germany, I´m not sure if I don´t sometimes act racist by mistake, racism nowadays only occurs in isolated cases, an action or statement can also be racist if it wasn´t meant that way at all, people from different cultures enrich Germany); perception of racism in Germany as a problem; perception of the frequency of violence against people with a different ethnic background as a problem in Germany; assessment of racism in Germany in comparison to other European countries and in comparison to the USA; assessment of racism in Germany today in comparison to the 1990s; future expectations with regard to the increase or decrease of racist prejudices and racist behaviour.

4. Definition of racism: assessment of racist situations (e.g. asking a non-white person where he/she originally comes from, addressing a person with a different ethnic background in simple German, etc.); groups of people affected by racism (people with a different skin colour, people who do not speak German without an accent, women with headscarves, people who visibly wear religious symbols or who belong to a non-Christian religion, people whose name sounds non-German); racist behaviour according to groups of people (everyone/individuals, majority of the population, educational institutions, police, media, parties, people whose name sounds non-German). (people with a different skin colour, people who do not speak German without an accent, women with headscarves, people who visibly wear religious symbols or belong to a non-Christian religion, people whose name sounds non-German); racist behaviour by groups of people (each individual, majority of the population, educational institutions, police, media, political parties, right-wing extremist individuals or groups); frequency of racist behaviour by groups of people; perception of racism in different areas of life (at work, in shops or in the service sector, in the housing market, in public, in leisure time, in the health or care sector, by offices or authorities, on the internet or in social networks, at school or kindergarten, by the police); assessment of the appropriateness of racial profiling.

5. Experiences of discrimination: question about the original country of origin; suspected reasons for the question about origin (appearance, accent, name, headscarf, clothing, because of accompanying persons, because of statements in conversation); appearance as a reason (hair, beard, face, skin colour, eyes or eye colour, headscarf, other item of clothing, other (open); personal experience of racially motivated discrimination according to areas of life and in the personal environment or by unknown third parties.

6. Anti-racist measures: opinion on renaming street names that contain terms perceived as racist or are named after racist perpetrators of violence; opinion on revising words perceived as racist in books; assessment of the work of the federal government in combating racism; assessment of measures against racism by institutions and areas (education, police, offices or authorities, working life, internet or social networks, raising awareness among the general public).

Demography: age; sex; migration background; federal state; school education; employment; net household income (grouped); household size; number of children under 18 in household; city size; religious affiliation; party preference; own country of origin or country of origin of parents; own continent or continent of origin of parents; wearing a headscarf in public (women only).

Additionally coded: serial no.; visible migration background named as reason for question about origin; weighting factor.