follow usFamily tree research?
In Stuttgart, young people are rioting in the streets. The authorities now want to find out where the perpetrators come from. The gain in knowledge? Zero.
When riots broke out in Stuttgart in June 2020, I asked myself: Where does this come from? What triggers young people to go on the rampage through the city, damaging other people's property and attacking police officers? It is still incomprehensible to me when I try to understand this behavior. Regardless of the motives behind the aggression of these young people, there is no excuse for this behavior.
The fact that the issue of the origin of these people is now the dominant topic in public is at least as difficult for me to understand as the riots themselves. Above all because it gives the public discussion a false weight. Certainly, the aspect of origin can be addressed, but if the only interest is to find out whether the parents and grandparents of the alleged perpetrators are German or not, the discussion goes in a fundamentally wrong direction.
Focus on genetic origin of perpetrators is wrong
The question does arise: what knowledge do the investigating authorities gain when the family tree of the alleged offenders is determined? I suspect the gain in knowledge is small. Above all, it does not help to find the causes of this behavior and to create possibilities that something like this will not happen again. A less emotional debate - whether the term "pedigree research" is used in this context or not is irrelevant to me - would certainly help more than focusing on the genetic origin of the perpetrators. Especially since we have been having a global debate about racism in the police for weeks.
What do family trees of the perpetrators have to do with solving the grievances?
In my view, it would be important for the state to try to investigate the causes of such riots, for the perpetrators to receive their just punishment, and then for opportunities to be created so that such riots do not occur again. But please: what do the family trees of the perpetrators have to do with solving these grievances? It is a mystery to me.
As someone who was born and raised in Germany, this issue affects me in some way. When I imagine that my son could be in a similar situation, with the police investigating his family tree: absurd!