[philangist]

The author did claim in the article that he's a dutch citizen and presumably the police would know this since they confiscated his passport. I'm not sure about the status of the refugee crisis in Bavaria, but I'd wager a guess that most of the people illegally entering the region or trafficking drugs aren't EU citizens on a business trip.

The author wasn't just "checked" (which I assume happens to everyone on the bus), he was asked to get off the bus, searched again on a public street, heard disparaging comments made about him by a police office, and was again checked in the police station and asked to strip naked.

Of course I wasn't there and I don't actually know what happened, but from the version of events written here there's a very obvious and very uncomfortable conclusion to be reached. The thing about racism like this is that there's always an element of plausible deniability to it. No cop is going to come out and say "we're detaining you because you're black and you fit the profile", but when it does happen to you it's very obvious what's going on.

If anyone is curious, the author's image can be found on his company's website. He's David Asabina - http://en.solarswing.nl/our-team/

[ThePhysicist]

As I said in another thread, racism is a problem in Germany and you can't deny the fact that people in the police force might be racist or biased against certain groups of people. I just think the picture the author paints of the German police force is maybe a bit too harsh, which is why I tried to find a possible explanation. I can absolutely understand his anger though and I do not try to defend the actions of the police here.

[discardorama]

> racism is a problem in Germany

racism is a problem everywhere. As a non-white person, I can assure you that my compatriots are some of the most racist I've met.

[Drdrdrq]

Basing my view on the story he outlined I don't think he is too harsh on them - if anything, I admire him for being able to compose such a civilized letter. There are parts of it which are maybe a bit harsh (better-than-canine sniffing abilities - my words), but I wouldn't be able to restrain myself as much as him in a similar situation.