LL-L "Ethnicity" 2010.12.28 (03) [EN-NDS]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 28 December 2010 - Volume 03
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From: Marcus Buck <list at marcusbuck.org>

Subject: LL-L "Ethnicity" 2010.12.28 (02) [NDS]



From: "Stellingwerfs Eigen" <info at stellingwerfs-eigen.nl>

Vandaege in de Liwwadder Kraante:

http://www.lc.nl/friesland/regio/article12884381.ece/Duitsland-erkent-Ost-Friesen-wel

Mit een vrundelike groet uut Stellingwarf,

Piet Bult



I want to give some context for all people who do not follow German minority
politics closely:
In May 2010 the German Ministry of the Interior issued a brochure about the
national minorities in Germany. But the Ministry got confused and mixed up
national minorities and language minorities. They completely left out the
Eastern Frisians who are members of the national minority of the Frisians
but of the language minority of the Low Saxons (the Low Saxons on the other
hand are considered Germans from an ethnic point of view). This upset the
political party "The Frisians" (website with press release about the topic:
<http://87.106.89.234/> <http://87.106.89.234/>) who try to represent the
interests of the national minority. They filed a complaint with the
ministry. In their press release the party suggests that the ministry made
this on purpose because the state has adopted obligations to support the
national minorities financially. The allegation is that the ministry wants
to keep the number low so they have to pay less (the language minority has
60,000 members while the national minority has 560,000 members).

My personal opinion is that the allegation is not correct. The ministry just
messed up because they don't care much and are sloppy. There's no evil plan
to "minimize" the minority. Although the reality is not much better. The
official answer of the ministry was that the Eastern Frisians are "of
course" part of the Frisian national minority and they offered to fix their
mistake. But that doesn't change much about their lack of support for the
Eastern Frisians. And about their lack of support for the North and Sater
Frisians, who are financially supported but not in a way that even remotely
secures the survival of the Frisian culture and language.

I think it's a good thing that "The Frisians" exist and that they do some
activism, but the stage they choose is not the best choice. Taking a badly
designed brochure and based on that accusing people that they want to erase
a minority makes them an easy target for ridicule that can easily be ignored
in the future. Would be better if they looked at the bigger picture. State
institutions do not spend enough to ensure the continued existance of the
national minority although they signed treaties to protect the minorities.
And what's "protection" worth if it does not mean to secure the continued
existance of the "protected" group?

Marcus Buck



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