Angela Merkel, The Passionate Anti-Racist!

This is The ARCC of Change with Donzel Leggett, a podcast from the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition, an organization dedicated to eradicating racism and hate and spreading anti-racism. Listen as Donzel talks about relevant topics that will inspire you and help build your capability to take action and change the world. Because none of us are doing enough as long as racism still exists. And now, here’s your host, Donzel Leggett.

Donzel Leggett: Hello, and welcome to the third episode of Season 2 of The ARCC of Change with Donzel Leggett. In this episode, I will discuss the legacy of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and how she took action for anti-racism by welcoming brown, Black, and Islamic refugees into Germany while other EU countries would not. I will also welcome ARCC member Carolin Drunat to share her perspective as a member of the EU and German citizen on the war in Ukraine and Merkel’s legacy and impact on anti-racism. Now, let’s get started with our show.

So, I am Donzel Leggett, host of The ARCC of Change podcast and founder of the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition, or ARCC. Our vision at ARCC is to build a racism-free world. Our mission is to provide inspiration, education, and support for you to transform, practice, and spread anti-racism.

Now, this begins with our process for personally transforming yourself to be anti-racist. First, it encompasses erasing your ignorance about racism and hate. Second, educating yourself about anti-racism. And third, building the character and confidence to stand up, speak out, and take action to spread anti-racism and make positive change happen.

Over the last month, we’ve all witnessed the incredibly shocking and violent reality of the war in Ukraine. We all watched the buildup in rhetoric, then in troops and military weaponry on the Russian border with Ukraine, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin. We mostly doubted that he would actually invade. We thought, you know, maybe this is a show of force, somehow a mental game to get concessions from NATO and the United States.

Then he did the unthinkable, shocking most of us by actually invading and waging war on the citizens of Ukraine. Not just the military—the everyday men, women, even children and elderly. Anyone.

Many Ukrainians have stayed to fight for their country. But millions of women, children, and elderly people have fled, seeking refuge. A refugee crisis in Europe has been created, not seen since the Middle Eastern and North African refugee crisis of seven years ago, when civilians were fleeing ISIS, the Taliban, and the wars in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

The Ukraine war is sad. It’s sad for Europe. It’s sad for the world. It is sad and terrible for the Ukrainian people. It’s frightening for the Ukrainian people, for Europe, and for the world. It is an absolutely horrible, horrific situation, and our hearts certainly go out to the Ukrainian people. We all want to help in any way that we can.

But the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis that has followed illustrate three realities that I’ve noticed for myself.

The first is the cruel reality that power-hungry dictators don’t discriminate. They will maul, kill, and rape anyone in their way to obtain power, whether they look like them or share their culture. Power-hungry dictators don’t discriminate.

But number two, we see at the same time how this crisis has highlighted a European double standard in terms of who to help when innocent people seek refuge from these power-hungry and cruel dictators: those who look more like white Europeans and have cultures more similar to theirs versus those who don’t—the so-called “others.”

You see, all the refugees fleeing the violence in Ukraine are being welcomed with open arms in several neighboring European countries, except for those who are Black, brown, or Muslim.

Which leads to my third reality. It’s very clear that the Ukrainian refugee crisis is being handled tremendously differently from the Middle Eastern and North African refugee crisis of just seven years ago by every EU country in the region, with the exception of one: Germany.

Over four million and counting Ukrainians have fled their country to seek refuge in neighboring European countries. Countries like Poland and Romania have received millions of Ukrainian refugees and welcomed them with open arms—housing them, opening up their homes, giving them the food and clothing they need, placing their kids in schools, playing with their children, and helping them forget the war atrocities they left behind in Ukraine. They are treating them with dignity, care, and even love.

Many people in these countries are saying things like, “The Ukrainians are like us. They are good people—good people whom this evil guy, Putin, is attacking. They are refugees fleeing and running for their lives. The least we can do is treat them like family, like our brothers. We must open our homes and our hearts to them.”

Compare this to the Middle Eastern and North African refugee crisis, where millions of brown and Black people, almost all Muslims, were fleeing violence that was as cruel as Putin’s assault.

Many of these same countries across Europe closed their borders and crowded these refugees into camps like animals. Certainly, that’s not the treatment one normally gives to family or a brother.

Instead of saying things like, “These are good people like us,” what was said was, “These people are not like us. They’re terrorists. They’re criminals. They’re not refugees. They’re immigrants who come to take our jobs, take our services, live off us for free, take over and destroy our country. They want to convert us to Islam. We don’t want these others here.”

Many European leaders made public statements telling these other people—whom they called immigrants, not refugees, even though they were fleeing for their lives from war and persecution, from certain death in many cases—to stop coming. They said the refugees were not welcome and there was no room for them.

But the people were desperate. They were refugees. Their lives were on the line, just like the Ukrainians’. They were fleeing for their lives, the lives of their children, and the lives of their families. So these Middle Eastern and North African refugees kept coming.

The tone across Europe started moving toward a stronger and stronger anti-immigrant sentiment, refusing to recognize these people as political refugees and instead characterizing them as opportunistic immigrants. See, that’s an easier justification for anti-immigrant rhetoric, which really was anti-other rhetoric.

However, there was one leader who made the courageous decision to stand against this tide of anti-other rhetoric, against the tide of racism. That leader was German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Now, who is Angela Merkel? You know, I thought I knew. I think most of us, especially in the U.S., have a perception of who Angela Merkel is and what she stood for. But clearly, I know I had simply a surface understanding.

Fortunately for me, about a month ago, I happened to come across a PBS broadcast about Angela Merkel, chronicling her rise to the German chancellorship and her critically important role in leadership, influencing both European and world history over the last 20 years.

But I was also enlightened—so enlightened—to learn something about Angela Merkel that has been underreported here in the U.S. She has been a strong and courageous standard-bearer for humanity and anti-racism. I didn’t know that. I had to learn more.

So let me recount what I learned about Angela Merkel. Let me recount her story from the beginning and then interlace that story with why I believe she is such an important role model for anti-racism.

Angela Merkel was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1954. At that time, it was West Germany. But her family moved to communist East Germany when she was an infant. That’s where she grew up, behind the Iron Curtain, part of the Soviet bloc.

After growing up, Merkel obtained a doctorate in quantum chemistry in 1986 and worked as a research scientist in her field until 1989. However, that same year, Merkel decided to enter politics in the wake of the revolutions in Eastern Europe following the collapse of the Soviet Union. She briefly served as deputy spokesperson for the first democratically elected government of East Germany.

Although, you have to admit, Angela Merkel was never a charismatic leader, even back then, nor did she have an especially engaging personality. She leveraged her incredible intellect, balanced with strategic insight and the ability to navigate politics and build political coalitions. Those were her strengths, and they were much more important than charisma.

Her strengths were actually accentuated, and she built greater respect, because she did not show emotion or passion. This allowed her to be viewed as logical, strategic, and intellectual, focused on results—which was perfect for a woman navigating the male-dominated German culture and political landscape.

The men didn’t see her as a threat, but they grew to respect her. Following reunification in 1990, Angela Merkel was elected to the Bundestag, or the German parliament, for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. She became the protégé of then-Chancellor Helmut Kohl, which allowed Merkel to be appointed minister for women and youth. Not too out of place for a woman in the German government. I’m sure the men thought that wasn’t so much of a threat.

Then, in 1994, she became minister for the environment, nature conservation, and nuclear safety—a logical placement for a quantum chemist, and perhaps not so much of a threat as she rose toward the highest political office. But she continued to build respect.

After her party lost the 1998 federal election, Merkel was surprisingly elected as her party’s general secretary, shockingly becoming her party’s first female leader and, only two years later, the very first female leader of the opposition in the German Bundestag.

No one saw this coming. But her quiet and highly intellectual style, her humble but towering strength, began to overpower the gender-based reservations that many men had about a woman leader. Ultimately, some men began to see her as a better choice than their male rivals.

Then, on November 22, 2005, history was made again as Angela Merkel assumed the office of Chancellor of Germany following a stalemate election that resulted in a coalition between her party and another party.

Again, it was her humble and intellectual style that gave her an advantage and allowed her to be viewed as the candidate who would face the least resistance as leader of the new coalition. The coalition deal was approved by both parties at party conferences on November 14, 2005, and Merkel made history as the first woman elected chancellor of Germany by a majority of delegates.

Even though 51 members of the governing coalition actually voted against her, she still became chancellor. Soon after she assumed the chancellorship, it became clear to everyone who voted for her, to those 51 who did not, to everyone in Germany, and to everyone in the European Union that Angela Merkel was the real deal.

In Germany, her impact was felt immediately. Merkel focused on reducing unemployment and oversaw policies that resulted in unemployment sinking to new lows. Her Energiewende program focused on phasing out nuclear power in Germany, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing renewable energy. She abolished military conscription, making the Bundeswehr—the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany—a volunteer military.

Big, big, big accomplishments. And she quickly became the leader of the European Union on the world stage.

In 2008, Merkel served as president of the European Council and played a central role in negotiating the Treaty of Lisbon and the Berlin Declaration, both of which helped solidify member countries’ commitment to the EU. Merkel played a crucial role in managing the EU through the global financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 and ensuring that the European debt crisis was handled effectively.

She negotiated the 2008 European Union stimulus plan, focusing on infrastructure spending and public investment to counteract the Great Recession. She also served as the senior G7 leader from 2011 to 2012.

And, as an aside, she was also able to help keep Vladimir Putin in check. Putin tried to intimidate her, especially during her first visit to Russia. See, he thought Angela Merkel was weak. He didn’t think there was any way she should be recognized as the leader of Europe. He thought she was overrated.

He had heard that she had a very strong fear of dogs. So he decided that when she visited Russia for the first time, even though it was absolutely against protocol to have dogs sitting with leaders of state, he would have his Rottweiler sit between himself and Angela Merkel for their very first meeting.

But you know what? Angela Merkel was a smart lady, and she knew Putin would try to do something to test her. She didn’t know exactly what, but she knew something was coming. So she prepared. She was ready for whatever Putin attempted.

And no matter how close that dog came to her, she never once winced, wavered, or hesitated, proving to Putin that she could not be intimidated.

Now, after those types of results, after her courageous stand against Vladimir Putin and proving what type of leader she really was, her popularity grew substantially in Germany.

In the election of September 2013, Merkel won one of the most lopsided and decisive victories in German history, achieving the best results for her party since reunification and coming within only five seats of the first absolute majority in the Bundestag since 1957.

The German economy continued to be one of the strongest in the world. She once again served as senior G7 leader. And in 2014, she became the longest-serving incumbent head of government in the European Union.

During her career up to this point, she had created a historic legacy in terms of achievements and firsts, putting her on the path to becoming one of the greatest leadership stories of the new millennium. Here are some of those firsts.

She was her party’s first female leader. She was the first female leader of the opposition in the German parliament.

She was the first female chancellor of Germany.

Merkel was the first German chancellor since reunification to have been raised in the former East Germany.

She was one of the very few women to serve as senior leader of the G7, and she did it twice.

During her tenure as chancellor, Merkel was frequently referred to as the de facto leader of the European Union—the first woman to be viewed that way. For most of her tenure, Merkel was also viewed as the most powerful woman in the world.

After the 2016 election in the United States, she became a model for professional, rational, and intelligent leadership in the world, making a stark contrast with other leaders of the most powerful countries at the time. She came to be viewed as the embodiment of liberty, justice, and humanity. Many viewed Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, as the leader of the free world—a term historically bestowed upon the President of the United States.

There’s no denying that by 2015, Angela Merkel was one of the most successful, respected, and powerful leaders in the world, with an almost absolute majority in the German parliament, the Bundestag.

However, something happened that changed all of this and put her once rock-solid legacy in real doubt.

In early 2015, Middle Eastern and North African refugees, mostly brown- and darker-skinned people who also happened to be Muslim, began pouring into Europe in unprecedented numbers, quickly escalating the situation into a crisis. The refugees were mostly from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria—people fleeing wars, tyrannical dictators, ISIS, the Taliban, and conflict and violence throughout the Middle Eastern region.

There were horrific scenes from these countries: civilians who had been killed, stories of women being raped, and desperate people fleeing horrific war zones where civilians were being killed and mauled indiscriminately and mercilessly.

People tried to flee on rafts, walking hundreds of miles on foot through terrible conditions—anything they could do to get away. Many were women and children, but there were men as well, desperate to risk their lives to flee conflicts in their home countries, where they faced certain death, rape, subjugation, mutilation—you name it.

Many of these fleeing people didn’t make it. The news broadcast scenes of bodies on shorelines from collapsed rafts and people dying on the roads leading toward Europe.

Many European countries panicked at the sight of these mostly Islamic immigrants coming to Europe. Sympathy for the refugees’ suffering was not enough to overcome the nationalism, Islamophobia, and racism that began to take hold. Many European countries began closing their borders to what they called immigrants, not refugees.

Those who made it to European borders were turned away or herded into camps with terrible conditions to keep them contained and segregated from the native population. As European countries became tougher about denying entry and placing refugees in immigrant camps, they sent messages telling people to stop coming to Europe.

But the numbers of people fleeing the Middle East and North Africa only increased. The crisis didn’t appear to be stopping. There were more people at the borders and more people filling the camps. Terrible stories of inhumane treatment were reported. Conditions in the camps, which were already bad, deteriorated further, resulting in violence as some refugees preyed on others for precious survival resources.

Unscrupulous predators then began preying on desperate refugees, promising to smuggle them into European countries and across the borders for whatever money they could scrape together. This resulted in human trafficking and even mass death. There was one report of a refrigerated boxcar discovered in France with more than 60 refugees found dead.

But even with these terrible tragedies, very few European countries would open their borders to the refugees. It was a terrible situation, and there appeared to be no way to make it better. No rectification was in sight. No light at the end of the tunnel.

Then, on August 31, 2015, German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a fateful statement that I’m sure seemed like simple common sense to her at the time. Maybe she didn’t even see the explosive impact it would have—not only on this crisis, but also on her and her career.

It was a simple statement, but it also ended up being one of the bravest and most impactful statements any major world leader has made in this century: a statement against bigotry, hate, and prejudice, and in favor of humanitarianism and anti-racism. Because she backed it up with action.

What were these words? Wir schaffen das, which translates to “We’ll manage this.” In other words, Germany will figure this out. We will manage through this. We will take care of these refugees.

Whether she was conscious of the impact of her simple statement or not, she quickly became aware of the magnitude and controversy her words created.

There were many who said, “Yeah, she said, ‘We’ll manage through this’—Wir schaffen das. What she really means is that the German people will have to sacrifice. They’ll be the ones who have to deal with this. It’s going to be bad for the German people. She said the words, but the German people will pay the price.”

But she didn’t back down. In fact, she backed up her words with action, proclaiming that Germany’s doors were open. One million refugees entered Germany in a year, making Germany the country with the fifth-highest number of refugees in the world. Over the next four years, 1.7 million people applied for asylum in Germany.

The far-right movement in Germany rallied against Angela Merkel and was joined by other nationalist European Union movements and world leaders who warned that Islam would rise and European countries would face an Islamic takeover. They claimed crime would rise massively in Europe, driven by these “other” people, and that ISIS would quietly enter Europe among the immigrants and turn Europe into a terror zone.

Almost immediately, there were terrorist attacks across Europe, with at least two major attacks taking place in Germany, all credited to ISIS. And crime—especially violent crime—did rise, as the far right had warned.

Merkel’s Wir schaffen das and her actions in support of it mobilized and further radicalized Germany’s right-wing extremist circles, which targeted asylum shelters with arson attacks and assassinated politicians with pro-immigration views. No other country in Europe saw as much severe and fatal right-wing violence in 2019 as Germany.

To better manage the crisis and slow the flow of illegal immigrants, Merkel helped negotiate a deal between the EU and Turkey to stop the flow and focus on those seeking legal entry and refuge.

But by then, the damage had been done in the court of public opinion. Over the next two local election cycles, her party lost a significant number of seats.

Angela Merkel clearly understood that, in the eyes of the German people, she had become the problem for her party. She was blamed for the immigrant crisis. So she decided not to seek reelection for a record fifth term. Her fourth term would be her last.

Then, when her popularity was at an all-time low, an even more devastating crisis hit Germany and the world: the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unlike many other leaders around the world at the time, Angela Merkel managed the COVID-19 pandemic extremely well from the beginning. She led Germany with her calm, strategic, intellectual focus, urging people to be patient and follow the protocols. As a result, Germany did not suffer as much economic damage as most other G7 countries.

As the pandemic began to abate and came more under control, it became clear that Angela Merkel had managed Germany through the COVID crisis better than many other countries. It also started to become very clear that her Wir schaffen das—her promise to manage the refugee crisis, or the so-called immigrant crisis for which she had been blasted and blamed as a failure—was actually correct and was working out.

The terror attacks that had rocked Germany early on had stopped. There had not been another since the rash of attacks across Europe and Germany in 2016. The spike in crime stopped, and last year, crime in Germany sank to an 18-year low.

More than 10,000 people who arrived in Germany as refugees since 2015 had mastered the German language well enough to enroll in German universities. More than half of those who came as refugees—of the 1.7 million who filed for refugee status—were working and paying taxes. Among refugee children and teenagers, more than 80% said they had a strong sense of belonging to their German schools and felt liked by their peers.

By the time she neared the end of her fourth and final term, which she had decided to end because of her unpopularity as German chancellor, the once de facto leader of Europe—the leader of a country with one of the highest approval ratings for a democratically elected leader—had been forced out for doing the right thing.

She had been attacked by the media and in the court of public opinion for supposedly ruining Germany. She had been blamed for the rise of the radical right in Germany and for other problems.

She had been blamed for all these things, all because she did the right thing and welcomed the others into Germany.

Angela Merkel had ultimately been redeemed and proven right. And the German people noticed and gave her credit. Her favorability ratings within Germany had returned to roughly where they had been at the height of her popularity, around 80%.

Germany, as a country, had exited the COVID crisis stronger than many other countries. And although the country still struggles with immigration internally, the overall situation was trending toward a more united Germany than America was toward being a united United States.

With her success in managing both the COVID crisis and, ultimately, the refugee crisis by doing the right thing, she returned to her de facto position as leader not only of Europe, but of the free world.

Yes, the leader of Germany represented justice and humanity for all—not only for the “we,” not only for the “us,” but also for the “them” and for the “others.”

This seemingly unpassionate, unemotional, statuesque Angela Merkel, whom many nicknamed Mutti because of her conservative appearance and language, which reminded them of a highly respected but strict mother, broke from her measured way of doing things and went against political expediency. She risked her career and her legacy to say and do the right thing when many other leaders stayed quiet and did nothing.

Through her words and actions, she proved herself to be a passionate anti-racist. This is perfectly captured in the following quote from Merkel, which I’m going to share. She gave it during International Women’s Day a few years ago, when she was speaking about anti-racism, anti-hate, and Germany’s responsibility to be a leader in this area because of its history of racism, the horrors of the Holocaust, and its role in instigating two world wars.

Merkel said: “We must never forget and actively create a new reality for Germany, from persecutor number one in the world to the leading refuge for those who are persecuted.”

Angela Merkel stood in the face of criticism. She lost her popularity and her once rock-solid legacy as one of the greatest leaders of this century, male or female. She suffered personal threats. She was blamed for hate groups gaining power in her country and even blamed for terrorist attacks.

And yet, as I said, she still did the right thing. On the world stage, at the highest level, Angela Merkel proved her mettle by standing up and speaking out in her controlled and understated way—some would even say unpassionate way—with Wir schaffen das. But most importantly, she took passionate and determined action to spread anti-racism and anti-hate.

In the next segment, we will welcome one of ARCC’s founding members and our first director of marketing, my great friend Carolin Drunat, a German citizen who will share her perspective on the impact of Angela Merkel, Wir schaffen das, the situation in Germany and Europe, and why she is so passionate about ARCC’s mission to create a racism-free world.

Visit us at joinarcc.org. Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and like us on Facebook.

All right, welcome back to The ARCC of Change with Donzel Leggett. In the first segment, I talked a lot about what’s happening in Europe with the current war in Ukraine and the impact that Angela Merkel has had on Europe over the last 20 years.

I mentioned that I would be welcoming Carolin Drunat. Carolin is one of the people who helped start ARCC. She is a board member, but she was also one of the very first people I called to ask for help in getting the ARCC organization going. She was our first marketing director. She helped build our overall plan to launch the organization, and I am so happy to call her a friend.

I’m extremely excited to have Carolin join us today and share her very unique perspective on what’s happening in Europe right now. But even more importantly, she’ll share her perspective on the impact of former Chancellor Angela Merkel on the world, Germany, and Europe.

Carolin, thank you so much for joining us. How are you today?

Carolin Drunat: Hello, and thank you very much for inviting me to this episode of the podcast. Thank you so much. I’m doing fine.

Donzel Leggett: Excellent. It’s good to hear. And the family’s doing well, too? All family members doing well?

Carolin Drunat: Yes, everybody is doing well, from the biggest one to the smallest one. My name is Carolin Drunat, as you mentioned. I have a French name, so, as you can hear, bonjour to the French culture and hello to all Germans who often hear or speak the language.

I’m happy that we have the chance to talk together in these very strange and weird times.

So, a bit about myself: I’m living in the south of Germany and speaking French due to my family history. My father is from France, and my mother is German. So I really grew up between both countries, and I’m very happy to have the chance to live between different countries and learn about different perspectives, religions, cultures, and everything around them.

Currently, I’m living here and on maternity leave, as we welcomed our second child into the family in January this year. Little Felix is now about two months old, and big sister Anna is now two years old. My husband and I are living here in Freiburg, very close to three countries. We’re based in Germany, one kilometer from the French border and only 32 kilometers from Switzerland. That makes us very happy to be in the middle of Europe, as you can see.

Donzel Leggett: Well, congratulations on little Felix and, of course, Anna, who I think is two years old now. You’re obviously very, very busy with a busy household, so we appreciate you taking the time to be with us.

I remember meeting you for the first time—I want to say in 2019, over the summer—when a friend of mine, a colleague, and I took a trip to Germany. We got to meet you for the first time, and ever since then, we’ve continued to build our friendship.

I remember you telling me about the unique perspective you’ve had, which you mentioned briefly: being both French and German and experiencing Europe. Maybe you could tell us a couple of things that are unique about that experience—growing up in Germany, having family in both France and Germany—and how that has helped shape you.

Carolin Drunat: Yes, of course. I think the biggest thing I learned from growing up between two countries and two different cultures is that everyone asks me, “What country did you travel to? How far did you go?” And I say, “Well, nearly—I never moved out of Europe.”

Then everybody looks at me like, “Why?” Yes, because I have family all over Europe. You spend your time with your family, and you’re not traveling all over the world because you only have so much time to travel. If you have to decide, you often decide to see your family rather than go far away.

That’s when I recognized that the situation is quite different. There’s also the experience of celebrating the same things. Christmas is the same, but it’s so different in both countries. Whenever I explain to one side what I’m doing in the other country or what I’m celebrating that year, the others smile, learn, and listen because it’s so different.

That makes me think that we’re so close here in Europe, but we have so many little differences, which makes it great. We try to live both sides.

When I was in my early twenties, I was coming back from a very long trip on holiday with my French friends. I was homesick and crying when I returned to Germany. That’s when I noticed that the French side of my heart was so much stronger than I had ever thought. I wasn’t happy to be back home at that time.

Donzel Leggett: Wow. Very, very, very interesting perspective. And with both France and Germany, as you mentioned, there are very different countries and cultures. There’s certainly a perception of both outside their borders, but there’s a very strong perception of Germany because of the two world wars and Germany’s history.

I remember when I was there in 2019, you encouraged me to go and learn. One of the places I went was the— I think it’s called the Documentation Center. You said, “Hey, you should go there and learn about what happened leading up to World War II.”

You were telling me that it would help me get a better understanding of what happened, but also change my perceptions of Germany. People here want to learn about this. They have to learn about this.

Maybe you could tell us a little about how Germany and its people have tried to address that history and that perception, while racism still exists in some shapes and forms. Could you talk to us about the importance of recognizing that and continuing to learn about the past?

Carolin Drunat: Sure, of course. Let me start with my own education. Both of my grandparents, from France and Germany, taught me that it’s important to be tolerant, to be open and equal, and to look at every person as a person—not to judge based on color, race, religion, or something else.

I think this is where my parents met each other when they were younger, even though it was more complicated and new for Europe at that time to have a connection between two countries.

As I got older, I saw that education throughout Germany teaches us about history and that Germany has a special role and responsibility for what happened. This is something we have to fight for: what happened in Germany, especially during the Second World War, was cruel and terrible. We should not forget. We have to see it, highlight it, and remember that it must never happen again.

We, as the next generation and the generations after that, are still responsible for changing mindsets. We have to practice and live with that history, both in relation to ourselves and to Germany.

In every school subject, we had to deal with the Second World War and the special role Germany played. We are responsible for remembering what happened over the years. This was reinforced through every class trip and every opportunity we had to talk about it and highlight it, because there are so many things we should not forget.

Germany has a special role in educating itself and others around us—our friends, networks, and families—about what happened. We have to highlight it and take care of ourselves and others, especially now, seeing the situation in Ukraine and all the refugees. We have a role in helping them.

Donzel Leggett: Yeah, that’s an important point, and I’m going to get to that—the situation around Ukraine—in a second. We also want to talk about Angela Merkel.

One follow-up question I have is this: I don’t know if you’re familiar with what’s happening in the U.S. right now, but there’s a movement in which many states are starting to pass laws to censor teachers in public education and prevent them from teaching anything that could hurt students’ feelings.

In other words, teachers can’t teach about racism if the history shows that, for instance, for 100 years—400 years—there was slavery of African Americans. And then, for another 100 years after that, there were very strict segregation laws, cruelty, and people being hanged, lynched, and terrorized.

They can’t teach this because it potentially will hurt the feelings of white students. So it’s basically trying to erase that history, which seems to be the exact opposite of what Germany is trying to do in its schools.

Do you think this is a dangerous path for the United States to go down, and why?

Carolin Drunat: Of course, it’s dangerous, because I think it is part of the history of the country where you’re living. And there is also a big part of the community that has been hurt, especially when talking about racism in the U.S.—the Black community.

It is not right to hurt them again when they have already been hurt over hundreds of years. It needs to be equal. If somebody does something wrong, you need to talk about it to avoid making the same mistake a second time. You need to teach the next generation what happened and why the situation is so complicated, to avoid doing the same thing again.

I think this is about being open and transparent and educating children in the right way.

You do the same thing with your kids at home. When they do something wrong, you talk with them about the problem and try to help them avoid doing the same thing next time. You also try to teach them to consider everybody’s feelings.

When they hurt a friend and the friend is crying, you need to teach your children to empathize. Why is the friend crying because of their behavior?

It’s not okay to just close your eyes and say, “We’re protecting the white kids,” while you’re hurting the Black kids. They’re equal. So where is the difference? There is no difference. That’s a big reason why I don’t think this is good.

I can tell you that at 16, I visited the concentration camp of Theresienstadt and prepared a 30-minute briefing about what happened, based on our reading and research, to share with my classmates. Nobody was laughing or having fun that day. Everybody was shocked and crying.

Of course, it’s a very hard subject to talk about. But it’s good, and you have to be careful about the age of the children you’re talking to. Still, you have to teach it because it’s important to remember what happened. We cannot close our eyes.

Donzel Leggett: I really hope this is one of the most listened-to podcasts we’ve ever published, because what you just said is so powerful and so true. I think for anyone listening, it would be a wake-up call.

I agree with you. It’s very dangerous to try to whitewash history and pretend it didn’t happen. That makes it much more likely that it will happen again. There’s no reason why we should allow that to happen. It’s one of the reasons why I think we’re facing what we’re facing in Ukraine right now.

But let me get to Angela Merkel, because I think it was very surprising for me to learn more about her.

I mentioned earlier in the podcast that I obviously knew who she was. I saw her as a highly respected leader—a scientific, methodical, strategic, unemotional leader who was very focused on economics, order, and things of that nature. I saw her as not really a people-oriented leader, but a strategic, highly thoughtful, analytical leader.

Then I saw a special about her a month and a half or two months ago, where I learned so much more about her and how she has been a major influence when it comes to people. A lot of what you just talked about relates to changing Germany’s perception of the world.

What is the perception of Angela Merkel now that she’s been out of office for several months in Germany? I’d like to hear your thoughts—not even so much on her as an anti-racist, which we’ll talk more about, but on the impact she had on women in Germany and on the view that women leaders can be powerful. What impact did she have on you and your thought process as a female leader in Germany?

Carolin Drunat: It’s a long question, but it’s a good one. Let’s start with the fact that she was our leader in Germany for over 16 years. There’s a whole generation that has never seen another person leading Germany. That’s something we need to understand, especially because she was a woman.

This gave the generation behind her the feeling that we are quite a strong and open society. But she was the first one, and that’s important to understand. She was also from eastern Germany, which was something very special.

When she started her career, she was an unexpected person to lead the CDU and to hold the position of chancellor. And she made it. She surprised every man in her party, to be honest, because nobody had her in mind. Nobody thought the people in Germany would elect somebody like her.

She wasn’t someone who looked like a superhero or a glamorous star. She wasn’t wearing high heels, and she was definitely not a show star. She was brilliant. She had something in her mind, and she had character.

I think the older men in Germany learned a lot from her, especially because Germany is a very male-focused society when we’re talking about careers, jobs, and leadership. That was good. We opened up minds in Germany and started changing the mindset.

Something else she fought for, which is interesting, was a quota for women in leadership positions in industry. Germany needs a quota for women in leadership. That’s crazy, but we need it because it doesn’t happen on its own. It’s not because Germany doesn’t have enough good women with a great mindset who are able to work. It’s because of the structure of society, which is very conservative and old-fashioned. It’s good that we’re in this process of change.

I think everyone can look at her as a good leader over the years. Another interesting thing was the emotional side she shared in 2015 when she said to Europe and the world, Wir schaffen das, meaning, “We can do it.” She was saying we should help and open our doors and borders to nearly a million people from Syria—refugees whom nobody in Europe wanted to help or take in, people who needed a chance to live a normal life without war.

I think this was one of the moments in her career when she had everything to win or everything to lose. And she won a lot because she did the right thing. She helped people.

I know from my friends’ network that many people started German courses, helped with translation, and gave up their free time to help with integration. A friend of mine is a German teacher, and she gave classes and courses to teach German to the refugees. Another friend works in the social sector and helped two hours every week with all the work people needed to do to find a job, find a home, enroll their kids in school, or whatever else was needed.

I have so many good examples of people who were enthusiastic about helping integrate and support Syrian people. That was good.

What shocked me at the time was that so many European countries, especially in eastern Europe, said no. They didn’t want to help or take people from Syria. Some said they would accept only 200 people. What is 200 people? We’re in Europe, and we have the capacity to help more.

I felt that we couldn’t leave a single person on the street. It shocked me to see that other countries were not doing the same thing Germany was doing.

What she also did, of course, was help bring about the rise of the AfD, a far-right-oriented party that grew stronger by saying it wanted to defend Germany against the others. “The others” means everybody who doesn’t look German. But what is German? If a German looks at me, they think I’m German. If the French look at me, they think I’m French. Nobody mentions that I’m neither one nor the other.

So what is really German?

I believe these people don’t know what they’re fighting for. They’re afraid, and they have no idea what they’re talking about. If they were in the same situation—if they had lost everything they had and loved—they would be happy if somebody gave them a hand to help and support them.

But this is the situation we have, especially in eastern Germany. There are many people taking to the streets and defending Germany against the others, the refugees coming in. Of course, that’s not something we can accept.

Since 2015, we’ve had this movement in Germany, and we have to be careful that these people, with their voices and their mindsets, don’t become stronger. We have to educate people and remind ourselves that they are people who are not accepting others and are not tolerant. They can destroy an entire society with that mindset.

Donzel Leggett: Wow. I’m not even sure how to follow everything you just said and put it into context, except to say again that anyone who hasn’t learned much about Angela Merkel and how she leads or the impact she’s had should share this podcast and encourage their friends to listen.

It’s a true and incredible story of what leadership can be. You don’t have to be flashy. You don’t have to be the person who gives the most fiery speeches or dresses the fanciest. But you have to have character. You have to have character and courage.

I’m not sure Angela Merkel understood at the time, when she was chancellor and said Wir schaffen das, what impact it would have or how it would fire up people on the right to fight against her and negatively affect her popularity.

As you said, there were people who rose to support her, gave German lessons, and did all kinds of things. But it also ignited a fire among the far right, just as what happened in the United States after the first African American president was elected. It increased the strength of the right, and they’ve continued to grow.

The difference in Germany is that after the first several years of far-right growth, Angela Merkel and her party were able to stem the tide. It’s still there, but after gaining a bunch of seats in the Bundestag, the parliament, the far right has now lost some seats. Before she retired, Merkel’s popularity was also restored.

What do you think has been different? Was it really just her handling of the COVID-19 crisis, or was it something else? After she opened the doors to millions of immigrants—millions of the others—and the far right started to rise, why do you think Germany is one of the few countries that has been able to stem the tide of the far right and not allow it to take over the government as much as it has in other parts of the world?

Carolin Drunat: It’s another very long question, but I’ll try to put it together. Let’s start with what was driving her.

It’s interesting, because I’ve just seen a fresh interview with her where she was asked the same question. She answered that she never thought about the negative impact it might have. She said that, in that situation, it was not a strategic political decision. It was simply driven by humanity.

She was just saying it was important to help the people. It was an emotional decision that she made as chancellor, based on her character and her feelings for human beings who had lost everything they had in war.

It’s very interesting and important to understand that the most powerful woman in the world, from one of the most powerful countries—Germany is very small, but still very powerful—was able to make a decision based on her heart.

She made the right decision to help people. She wasn’t calculating how many euros it would cost. She wasn’t counting the euros first. She was saying, “We need to help, and there is a way because we are one of the strongest societies and we have enough resources to do it.”

It can’t be the case that we cannot help. Everybody can help.

Donzel Leggett: Thank you, thank you, Carolin, for again providing a unique perspective. That was a difficult question, but I felt it had to be asked.

One other question: You mentioned the “others”—mostly brown and Black people seeking refuge from places like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Levant region of the Middle East, and North Africa. They were viewed as the others, mostly from Islamic countries.

But we’ve also noticed that after Putin and Russia’s terrible invasion of Ukraine, millions of people have been seeking refuge from Ukraine as well. So this is the second major refugee crisis in Europe in the last decade.

In several countries, Poland probably stands out as one of the largest recipients of Ukrainian refugees. Many people have opened their homes, helped Ukrainian children get into schools, helped people find jobs, shared their food, and welcomed people into their homes. They’ve been open citizens of the world, saying, “Welcome to our country.”

I’m sure there are some areas where the situation hasn’t been so good, but most reports we’re seeing suggest that Ukrainians are being welcomed in several of these eastern European countries—with the exception of people who are Black or brown.

There are many students who were living in Ukraine and studying there who came from African countries, Middle Eastern countries, Asian countries, and elsewhere. They have been detained and treated differently in several of these countries.

And, of course, we know that during the crisis five, six, or seven years ago, it was similar. You mentioned that several European countries refused to take people in. If refugees reached their borders, they were put in overcrowded camps with a lot of desperation and crime.

What are your thoughts on what we’re seeing? What do you think will have to change in Europe for these attitudes of “us versus them,” or the “others,” to change?

Carolin Drunat: As I mentioned, it was also very strange to me that mostly eastern European countries refused refugees from Syria in 2015. I’m happy, and I was very surprised, to see how open they are to people coming from Ukraine.

What we hear a lot is that people in Poland, especially, feel that Ukrainians are their brothers. Around 90% of the refugees from Ukraine who are going to neighboring countries are going to Poland. I think people feel there isn’t a big cultural difference. They don’t see a big difference in skin color or religion or something else.

Of course, because the two countries are so close, it makes it easier for people to feel that these are their brothers and that they need to help.

What I think is really important is that there are currently millions of refugees in and from Ukraine, with many moving out of the country and most of those crossing into Poland. Now Poland is encouraged, and people are learning that they can help and that they can do it. It isn’t a question of skin color, religion, or something different.

We need to see what we have in common. Now they’re learning that they’re able to provide help and that they can do it. It should encourage them whenever we have a bad situation again. I hope it won’t happen soon, but we never know.

I hope they learn from this positive movement and that they will never again close their borders when people with a different skin color, religion, or culture need help—even if those people come from farther away.

I hope they’re encouraged by what they’re doing and see that they are capable, friendly, and good people. They’re saying, “These are our brothers and sisters. This is our family. These are our neighbors. We have to help.”

I hope that this positive spirit will stay and continue whenever somebody else needs help.

Donzel Leggett: Wow. Thank you again. This has been fantastic learning for everyone listening to the podcast.

I want to go back and talk about the fact that you were one of the first people I called when I started the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition and asked for help. You very quickly jumped in, got involved, joined the organization, and took on leadership roles to help get the organization off the ground.

What has being a part of ARCC meant to you?

Obviously, this is similar to what you just talked about in terms of what Germany is trying to do under the former chancellor’s leadership: creating a new reality and trying to address the past instead of continuing to be, as Angela Merkel put it, the world’s leading persecutor and then becoming a leading refuge for those who need to seek refuge because they’re being persecuted.

At ARCC, we want to create a racism-free world. You’ve played a major role in the organization and helped us get to where we are.

What has being a part of ARCC meant to you? How has it helped you? And why would you recommend joining or becoming part of ARCC to others?

Carolin Drunat: Thank you, Donzel. I was really honored to be asked to be part of this organization. It’s something I want to work for from the heart, because we’re not at the end of this journey. We still see racism, and we still see people against the others, whatever that means.

I think every country has its own history and its own problems with racism. It depends on the different circumstances. In Germany, it may be directed against brown and Black people, Muslim people, or Jewish people. In the U.S., it’s more connected to the history of slavery. In France, it’s more directed against Arab people.

Every country has its own problems, and I believe that wherever we look, we’ll find the same hate and the same fight against the others. I think that must stop, because we’re just one world. We’re all human beings, and we have to be more tolerant.

That’s what I really love doing, and that’s why I think it’s so important to continue the work with ARCC, support it, and grow the network. We need to understand that racism exists everywhere, although its expression differs depending on the place and the circumstances.

We need to fight to become more tolerant and to accept each other so we can have a friendlier and more peaceful world.

Donzel Leggett: Now, you’re a married career woman and a mother. You have a lot going on that you’re trying to manage. You’re not someone who has tons of time on your hands. You have to fit this into your life.

You’re an everyday person trying to deal with all of this. How have you been able to dedicate time to helping lead ARCC while also spreading anti-racism within your personal network, whether in Germany or with your family in Germany and France? What types of things are you doing personally?

Carolin Drunat: Yeah, of course I’m pretty busy in my role as a mother now, and I definitely understand how much free time I had before. When that time is gone, you understand what 30 minutes in your life can mean.

Whenever the kids are sleeping, I can ask myself, “Do I really need to clean the windows, or is there something more significant I can do?” It’s a very simple question for me. Sometimes less important things need to wait until I have some free time to do the right thing.

I don’t care that much about cleaning windows. I think it’s more important to do something where I can educate myself, be a positive role model, and be a good mother by educating my kids. They’re still small, of course, but I want them to grow up to be good people.

I’m also spreading the message of ARCC to all my friends. When I see how many listeners the ARCC podcast gets from time to time because I share it on Instagram and send it around, I’m happy. I know they’ll do the same: they’ll listen, think about it, and, whenever there’s a discussion where a strong position is needed, they’ll know what to say and won’t be afraid to stand up.

Donzel Leggett: Thank you so much. What a great message.

Again, I can’t express to the audience how thankful I am for my friendship with Carolin and for her sharing these rich learning experiences with us. For many of us who are part of ARCC or listen to the podcast, a large majority of our audience is in North America, particularly the U.S. Gaining this perspective is extremely unique for us.

Is there a single message you’d like to leave the audience with, Carolin?

Carolin Drunat: This was a very hard topic to talk about. This episode of the podcast isn’t an easy one, especially with the war coming so close here in Europe.

But I want to finish with a little smile for all of us, looking forward to a friendlier and more tolerant world. Let’s take a deep breath, smile, and say goodbye to each other. I hope to see you or hear you listening to the next podcast on the ARCC journey.

Donzel Leggett: Wonderful, wonderful. Thank you so much, Carolin, for everything.

Again, I want people to know that Carolin was one of the original people who joined me in getting the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition off the ground. She took it upon herself to help build, in partnership with several others, our initial plan to launch the organization and build awareness around the world.

Carolin was doing much of this while living in Germany, while most of the team was in the U.S. She was dealing with time-zone issues, staying up late, and working odd hours to fit in all the important work we needed to get done.

If there’s one person I can tell you showed true commitment despite having a very busy life, it’s Carolin. As she mentioned, she’s a mother of young children with a career and all sorts of other things happening. But she found a way to say that this work was important. Even though ARCC’s initial work was based in the U.S., she saw the importance of being involved, bringing the message back to Germany, and finding ways to make our messages unique and applicable to people in Europe.

I want to thank you, Carolin, from the bottom of my heart, for everything you’ve done to get this organization off the ground. I want to thank you on my behalf and on behalf of the audience for sharing your unique and powerful perspective on anti-racism and the need for it in Europe, the role Angela Merkel has played as a role model for women and men, and what women can do and should be expected to do.

You’ve also shown us what anti-racism needs to look like across the European continent and around the world.

Thank you so much. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon. And, as you said, I can’t wait to see you again and hear all the great feedback on this podcast. I’m saying this is one of the most special and powerful episodes we’ve done.

Thank you, and you take care, Carolin.

Carolin Drunat: Thank you, Donzel. Take care.

To find The ARCC of Change podcast with Donzel Leggett and learn more about the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition, or ARCC, please visit joinarcc.org. You can also subscribe to The ARCC of Change with Donzel Leggett on your favorite podcast-hosting sites.

Donzel Leggett: I greatly look forward to our next episode and another opportunity to inspire you to become part of the movement that will change the world by eradicating racism once and for all.

Until next time, stay safe and continue to ask yourself, “Am I doing enough?” And remember that none of us are doing enough as long as racism and hate still exist.

Thanks for listening, and goodbye.

The ARCC of Change podcast with Donzel Leggett is brought to you by the Anti-Racism Commitment Coalition. To learn more about ARCC, donate to our cause, and join the coalition, visit joinarcc.org.