“Tell him his w!cked grandfathers s0ld our fathers” — Nigerian woman recounts how she confronted rac!sm in Germany

A Nigerian woman living in Germany has recounted how she confronted the parents of a German student after their son repeatedly called her child a “slave” at school.

According to the woman, her son returned home one day and told her that a German classmate had repeatedly referred to him as a slave.

“My son came home to tell me that his German classmate called him a slave. I told him that when he says that again, tell him that it was his wicked grandfathers that sold our fathers.”

She said she encouraged her son to confront the boy instead of remaining silent, and the boy eventually stopped making the comments.

However, the situation escalated after the German student reported the incident to his parents, who subsequently contacted the teacher and complained about what the Nigerian boy had said.

The woman said her son came home and told her that the boy was still calling them slaves.

She then decided to go to the school herself to address the matter.

“When I went there, I said, ‘Yeah, what happened?’ And the woman was saying, ‘Your son said that we are wicked. We are wicked, and my son’s father, they are wicked. It’s an insult. Your son doesn’t have to insult our fathers.’”

The Nigerian mother said she immediately asked the woman to first explain what her son had said to her child before focusing on her son's response.

“I said, ‘Please, can you tell me what your son said? Because I think your son said something to my son before he said that. Can you tell me what your son said?’”

According to her, the woman refused to disclose what her son had said, while focusing on the Nigerian child's response.

The woman said she then challenged the parents for defending their child without addressing the alleged provocation.

“I noticed that most things our children do in school, most of them are what they hear from their parents. Because if you come to school and start defending a son that has been saying nonsense to another child, and then you don't want to say what your son said, then you are hypocrites.”

She said she remained calm throughout the confrontation, despite the seriousness of the matter.

“I was not shouting. You know they thought that every time we shout, we are too aggressive. I don't go there being aggressive. I might be smiling, but I will be hitting the hammer on the nail.”

The woman said she repeated the words used by her son to explain why he had responded to the German boy.

“I said, ‘Your son opened his mouth and said that we are slaves.’ I said, ‘It's okay.’ But I repeated what my son said and explained it to her.”

She claimed the woman became emotional and started crying as she explained the historical context behind her son's response.

“I said we are slaves because you're wicked. I repeated the exact word that my son used. I even put my own to balance it very well and said, ‘Your wicked fathers, which you are being wicked now, remind us that your wicked fathers enslaved our fathers.’”

She said her message was that the history of slavery should not be used to demean African children, especially when children of different backgrounds now sit together in the same classroom.

“And what happened now? Those slaves are in the same class with your child and you can't do nothing. You cannot do anything about it.”

The woman also advised Nigerians living abroad to learn the local language, even if they are not fluent.

“Guys, please learn how to speak German, even if it's broken bottle, even if it's worn down, no get hurt. As far as they understand what you said, learn how to speak it no matter how.”

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