By Gunnar Schupelius
Astrid-Sabine Busse was accused of racism from within her own ranks. This is unfair and despicable. The party executive is remarkably reticent. This is particularly bitter, says Gunnar Schupelius.
School senator Astrid-Sabine Busse (SPD) got into heavy water. She is at the head of an administration that has been run by the Social Democrats for 27 years, but is now said to be solely responsible for all mistakes.
In the coming school year, 1000 teachers would be missing, she is calculated. But she is not to blame for this, but her predecessor Sandra Scheeres (SPD), who is already enjoying her early retirement.
The CDU wants to apply to the House of Representatives for a disapproval of Ms. Busse’s conduct of office and is speculating on the support of the left, the Greens and even the SPD, in whose ranks they have zeroed in on the senator.
Criticism is the right and duty of the opposition, but the fact that one’s own front does not stand up for defense is bitter. The large left wing of the SPD plays a destructive role, from which Ms. Busse is shot at with great caliber: she is accused of nothing less than racism.
An expression of opinion from an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung from 2009 is held against her. There she had spoken about the problems of integration in the schools. Literally and laconic, she had said about Arab families: “They just stay with each other. You don’t even have to integrate here anymore. You take over the neighborhood and you let yourself be pampered.”
This quote has now been dug out to pillory buses on “Twitter”. There, for example, the former SPD State Secretary Sawsan Chebli writes: “The education senator has never hidden the image she has of Arabs and Muslims. We are all potentially dangerous, radical, lazy.”
Chebli claims that against better knowledge. Ms. Busse is anything but a racist, everyone who knows her knows that. She has always been tolerant and she is known for speaking up about problems. “We are Arabized,” she said in November 2018. “You still get your spouse from your former home country. Another parent who doesn’t speak German.”
She described the conditions in the “School on the Köllnische Heide” from her point of view. There, out of 103 children who started school, only one spoke German at home.
The federal government even got involved. The integration officer at the time, Annette Widmann-Mauz (CDU), spoke of an “urgent call for help”. She called for “early language tests and language support as well as making parents more responsible.”
However, the children who have not previously spoken enough German benefit from language support. Is it racist to draw attention to their problems?
No, accusing Ms. Busse of racism is unfair and vile. And no one on the SPD board of directors will correct the distorted picture that is now emerging of her. SPD leader Saleh is silent, Giffey explained that she is sticking to buses, but did not address the allegations.
The Governing Mayor would have to defend her senator aggressively. Her decision to put an experienced headmistress at the head of administration was understandable. Now Ms. Busse is burned there. And the SPD leaves them out in the rain.
Is Gunnar Schupelius right? Call: 030/2591 73153 or email: [email protected]
