Press
An attempt by the SPD to take action against racist slogans on Sylt ends in a shitstorm. The party is forced to correct its statements.
Sylt – Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the incidents as a “disgrace for Germany” and spoke of “disgusting” slogans. The racist chants in a classy bar on Sylt caused a great stir in Germany. The SPD, the Chancellor’s party, wanted to take a clear position, but missed the right note.
The SPD attempted to take a stand against the racist party roaring on Sylt with an Instagram post. However, this mainly led to incomprehension and criticism, whereupon the party corrected its statements. The party had originally written on the platform under a black, red and gold banner: “Germany for the Germans who defend our democracy.” After numerous negative reactions, the post was finally deleted – a drastic measure in the area of social media. A party spokeswoman confirmed the content of the message, which is no longer available, upon request on Friday evening.
The SPD corrects its statements on the Sylt scandal: “We would like to sincerely apologize”
Instead, the party published (spelling as in the original) the following words: “We have just published a post in which we strongly condemn what we all saw in a video from Sylt. We did not manage to find a tone that would resonate with everyone. We would like to sincerely apologize for this. We want to make it clear that we do not want to leave this country to right-wing extremists and hate preachers.”
On Friday, a video from Sylt was widely circulated on the Internet, causing outrage nationwide. It shows apparently wealthy young people chanting “Germany for the Germans – foreigners out!” to the song “L’amour toujours” in front of a bar on the North Sea island. The bar distanced itself from the incidents and announced legal action. The police’s state security department has begun investigations. Similar cases have repeatedly come to light in recent months.
Racist scandal on Sylt: Professional consequences for those involved
For some of those involved, the racist yelling has already had professional consequences. The advertising agency group Serviceplan Group announced on Instagram on Friday evening that it had dismissed an employee who was involved in the incident without notice. “We do not tolerate racism in any form within our agency group,” the company said.
Hamburg influencer Milena Karl also announced that she had fired an employee who was involved in the incident. “Apart from the already abhorrent content of the video, I was shocked, hurt and disappointed to see that one of the people in the video was employed by me,” she wrote in an Instagram story. She immediately terminated the employment relationship and expressly distanced herself “from all people who appear in this video.” “I am a migrant myself and as an expectant mother, everything that can be seen in this video represents a society in which I do not want to raise my child.”
A conflict researcher classified the Sylt video as Ippen.Media and says: “Privileged people are more likely to be misanthropic.” (rjs/dpa)