A party that is not a party

The European most colourful Whit Sunday. That is the Karneval der Kulturen whose 16th edition took place in Berlin from June 10th to 13th. Four days – and three nights – of celebration aiming at underlining the value of the ethnic and cultural diversity of Berlin. On Sunday afternoon, more than ninety floats paraded through the streets of the town. They were created by people of any nationality and animated the street parade from Hermannplatz to Yorckstraße.

Together with the people (around one million) who danced and celebrated in Kreuzberg, the Turkish quarter, there also was Mayor Klaus Wowerei, testifying Berlin hospitality. Wowerei represents a perfect and concrete image of tolerance, because he is the first leader of a German State who has  openly declared his homosexuality.

Even if in the interviews given to the press Wowerei highlighted the Offenheit, the openness, of the town, the problem of integration is not so easy to solve. According to a survey published some days ago by Eurostat and regarding 2009, 59% of those who acquired European citizenship live in Germany (12%), France (18%) and United Kingdom (26%). However, if we analyse the ratio between the immigrants who obtained German citizenship and the whole population, Germany ranks 19th, behind Italy and below the EU average.

After all, we cannot forget the words pronounced last October by Chacellor Angela Merkel who denounced the failure of multiculturalism and defined as “an illusion” the idea of leaving in peace with foreigners. Although Berlin represents – for some aspects – a positive example of integration, and this is proved not only by the Karneval but also by the constant migration flow coming from European countries, the town has to face some challenges. Berlin, indeed, has a population of 3’400’000 and 450’000 people still do not have German citizenship. Besides, the law of the State of Brandeburg says that children must go to schools in the neighbourhoods they live in. Almost 850’000 foreigners live in Berlin and some neighbourhoods are inhabited mostly by immigrants (like Kreuzeberg). In such a context, there is the risk of creating classes whose level is lower than that of the classes attended essentially by pupils with German origins.