from Delphine Takwi
I am the cityscape of Mr. Merz.
I have lived in Germany for over twenty years.
I have never taken a cent of welfare.
I work. I pay taxes. I do my bit, every single day.
And yet I am a cityscape.
I studied here.
I have earned my place here.
I have no criminal record, no debt to this society
and yet I am a cityscape.
I speak German, English, French, Pidgin English and Creole.
I use these languages to build bridges, not walls. I support colleagues, friends and newcomers,
who are looking for their way in this country, which is also my home.
And yet I am a cityscape.
I am a daughter.
I am a woman.
I am a mother.
And yet, according to Mr. Merz
that which “changes the face of the city“.
Yes, I am the cityscape.
The city looks like me because I am a part of it.
I belong here.
We belong here.
Our faces are the faces of modern Germany,
working, raising families, paying taxes, building communities, shaping the future.
So if this cityscape is what scares Mr. Merz,
then he should know:
We are not the problem.
We are the proof
that Germany is more,
than his imagination allows.
If my presence changes the face of the city, then the city should change.
Because Germany is changing - it is diverse, and this change is not a threat.
He is progress. He is life. He is us.
And the Germany that we are helping to shape is bigger, stronger and more human than the fear in Mr. Merz's words.