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Racial controversy over Berlin street name

Berlin (Germany), 15 July (EFE) - (Camera: Clara Palma Hermann) The controversy over the name of a central Berlin street, which its critics say has discriminatory origins, has been revived in the wake of a global movement against racism, but there is no consensus on changing the name. The Mohrenstrasse in the heart of the German capital, takes its name from the "Mohren", a word with the same origin as the English "Moor", which fell into disuse more than a century ago and was used in the Modern Age to refer mainly to black-skinned people from Africa. FOOTAGE OF THE MOHRENSTRASSE IN BERLIN AND INTERVIEW SOUNDBITESTRANSLATIONS: TAHIR DELLA, SPOKESPERSON FOR THE BLACK PEOPLE'S INITIATIVE "Street names are real, they have a real effect, of course with the change of name we do not solve the problem of racism, but with the debate on street names we show how deeply rooted racism is in society, we make people talk about how racism is also a problem in Germany.""We are at the beginning of the revision of German colonial history and racism in institutions and structures and the willingness to deal with such issues in the majority society has yet to increase."MARITTA TKALEC, A HISTORY JOURNALIST, WORKS FOR THE BERLINER ZEITUNG NEWSPAPER"I'm in favour of keeping the old historical street names and dealing with them on a case-by-case basis, we'll find that they reflect conflicts that have accompanied the city and the country for decades and centuries.""There is no evidence that the name Mohrenstrasse has ever had a discriminatory meaning or that it has been understood in that way by the people of Berlin."