The coalition agreement provided for the elimination of the term from Article 3. But this was met with criticism, including from the Central Council of Jews.
The term “race” in Article 3 of the Basic Law is currently being debated at the political level Photo: Jannis Große/imago
Dusseldorf afp | According to a media report, the traffic light abandons its plans to remove the word “race” from the Basic Law and replace it. The factions of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP were in agreement on this, the Düsseldorfer newspaper reported. Rhineland Post on Friday, citing coalition circles. “We agree on that,” they said unanimously.
In the coalition agreement it was agreed to remove this word from Article 3 of the Basic Law. The third paragraph states: “No one may be disadvantaged or favored because of their gender, their ancestry, their race, their language, their homeland and origins, their faith, their religious or political opinions. “No one should be disadvantaged because of their disability.” The traffic light wanted to eliminate the term “race” and add the prohibition of discrimination based on sexual identity.
In coalition circles it was now said Rhineland Post, by not eliminating the term, the semaphore responds to the concerns of the Central Council of Jews. Its president, Josef Schuster, has stated that he is against suppression because the word recalls the persecution and murder of millions of people, “mainly Jews.”
“The objections and suggestions are correct,” he said out loud. Rhineland Post from coalition circles. Furthermore, replacing the term is too complicated from a legal perspective: “There are significant concerns about which wording guarantees the same level of protection.”