Generation talk: “You can’t discriminate against old white men”

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Nathalie Benn: Earlier in the week, I published a commentary on sexualized violence for Blick and wrote in it: Young men have to change. That made you really ugly, Christian.

Christian Kolbe: Yes, I read the comment at midnight on my birthday and thought that this is not how keeping old white men in a drawer should be. We must stop humiliating men.

I: A comment about our generation has already surfaced. He said we are lazy, we work for a living, not the other way around. But I get it: generalizations can upset you.

piston: Generalizations don’t work. As you correctly wrote in your comment: dialogue is important. Everyone talking to each other. As you said, “Man with woman, man with man, woman with woman.” Only in this way can we get rid of sexism and violence.

I: You remind me of my peers who always say yes, but not all men are like that. Men immediately feel the need to defend themselves when I tell them things that disgust me. I’d rather have someone say, “I don’t belong here and I don’t encourage this behavior”.

piston: If you want dialog, you can’t put the whole group in one drawer, otherwise you risk breaking the dialog. There are many progressive old white men of my generation – now I use that term too. The one who, like me, performed for Christiane Brunner at the Bundesplatz 30 years ago. When I was still at university, I participated in women’s actions. Even then, “What are you doing here?” There were women who said And other women defending me. It only works if we solve problems together. The women’s movement has rightly fought against stereotypes and prejudices. But you can’t just create a new cliché.

I: And from your point of view I did that?

piston: Stop saying there shouldn’t be a new generation of old white men. This is an acronym that says: We are sexists and we are violent against women.

I: The term “old white man” is a construct. Such a man can also be a young man. The term refers to those who are blind to their own privileges. This is a term that is deliberately intended to provoke anger. I wanted to achieve this with comments. I wanted to start a discussion, I wanted to talk about it.

piston: It worked. We are discussing it.

I: Otherwise, I would have given the comment a different title. Basically, generalizations are not good. But look at the big harassment scandals of recent years: the assumptions about Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, the Rammstein singer, or Bild’s former editor-in-chief.

piston: Yes, I can see that.

I: “Old white man” is a collective term for people who perpetuate this system.

piston: I’m afraid the term triggers fears in many who close themselves off without discussion. It’s like SVP’s black sheep, where a group – outsiders – is slandered. It should not go in the same direction. Discrimination never works, even against men.

I: It is absolutely impossible to discriminate against older white men. They created the system, they are at the top of the food chain. You cannot structurally discriminate against older men like women.

piston: Not structurally, that’s true. However, it is possible to discriminate against men in individual cases. Men also suffer from bad bosses. And especially young men are exposed to violence. We all have to work to make progress in equality. It would be better if we talked to each other like we do right now, rather than everybody punching each other.

I: It is not enough for only half of the society to change to achieve real equality of opportunity. We also need men on board.

Source :Blick