Actually, Nasser Ahmed tries to laugh at racist gaffes. And most of the time, he says, he succeeds. In a new case, however, Nuremberg’s SPD boss, who has also been Deputy General Secretary of the Bavarian Social Democrats for three weeks, is likely to file a criminal complaint – after an anonymous postcard was received at the Karl Bröger Center, the SPD’s local quarter. It reads as follows: “Now we had legitimate hopes that after Tasdelen’s departure, a qualified manager would finally follow! No, instead another scumbag named Nasser! Great.”
Tasdelen obviously means Arif Taşdelen, who was General Secretary of the Bavarian SPD until January. He posted the postcard himself on Twitter with the comment: “Uninhibited racism. Unfortunately, this is the new reality in our country.” Taşdelen’s family has Turkish roots, Ahmed’s parents came to Germany from Eritrea as refugees from the civil war.
Nasser Ahmed was born in Nuremberg, he also tried to take this letter with humor at first, he says in the SZ interview. After all, someone took the trouble to write a postcard, which hardly ever exists these days. Taşdelen and he then decided to file a complaint this time – in order to publicly show boundaries. According to Ahmed, it will be the first personal complaint of a racial slur. “It hits me,” says the 34-year-old.
Ahmed spent a few years as a referee and linesman in football in the district and state leagues, so he had to listen to a lot. Monkey sounds from the sidelines, also remarks that he should “go home” where he supposedly comes from. He saw no reason to file a criminal complaint. Even in the south of Nuremberg, a significantly diverse part of the city of half a million, he never saw a need for it – admittedly he was often annoyed “about structural racism” on the way there. In the vicinity of the main train station, Ahmed says, he was sometimes checked up to once a month.
His mother, on the other hand, tells him about very tangible, brutal racism. She wears a headscarf and is repeatedly insulted for taking it off – after all, one is “in Germany”. Nevertheless, she always stuck to her view that this country offered her protection and a new home when fleeing war and dictatorship; and that the clear majority welcomed them, the verbal attacks coming from a “loud minority”.
When Ahmed became SPD leader in Nuremberg in 2021, he had received a lot of encouragement – but also racist heckling. Although a candidacy in the mayoral election in 2026 has not been decided for a long time, he was asked in forums whether he would rather be mayor in Eritrea. He did not file a complaint.