It's all fun and games 'til someone gets racist on Twitter...

[renee shah]

Özil reports Twitter user for racial abuse

PEPE ÍÑIGUEZ. Hamburg 06/19/2012

Real Madrid's German international Mesut Özil has reported the owner of a Twitter account for racial abuse, after the player was accused of not being German, according to the Bild newspaper.

The player's lawyer - Sascha Beumer – decided to take legal action after an unknown Twitter user posted messages using a private account during the Denmark-Germany game, stating that the player was not German and criticising his surname – which is of Muslim descent.

"Özil isn't German! A piece of paper doesn't change your origins", were the unknown user’s words in their first message, then adding that nobody with a non-German name should play in the German team.

Soon after, amid the protests - both online and offline -, Twitter decided to block the user's account from where the racist comments came from.

The Real Madrid player's father and agent - Mustafa Özil – totally agreed with his son's decision to report the incident: "it's important to say that you can't get away with saying things like that. This person has overstepped the mark".

Özil – who has played in all three of Germany's games so far in the 2012 Euros – was born in Gelsenkirchen (West Germany), while his parents come from Turkey. The Real Madrid player has always defended his German status.

Comments

[jenny-jenkins.livejournal.com]

It wasn't just the '80s. Overt patriotism (not nationalism - plain old patriotism) was frowned on, actively, until 2006 when the World Cup came to Germany.

It was literally the first time I saw flags everywhere (my mother and I passed through that summer on our way to Italy).

My mother was thrilled to marry a Canadian. She had a literal complex about telling people she was German and she sort of avoids it to this day. That attitude is passing.

Some still disapprove. In 2010 some Turkish-Germans in Berlin put up a 20 foot flag along the side of their building (biggest flag in Germany). It was stolen by left-wingers twice and they had to have someone sit up at night to guard it.