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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Confronting Racism in Berlin, One Offensive T-Shirt at a Time | Confronting Racism in Berlin, One Offensive T-Shirt at a Time |
| (2 days later) | |
| Isaiah Lopaz is a black American living in Berlin. On a regular basis Germans ask him where he comes from. No, no, where he really comes from. He’s a college-educated artist and writer — who is frequently mistaken for a drug dealer. | Isaiah Lopaz is a black American living in Berlin. On a regular basis Germans ask him where he comes from. No, no, where he really comes from. He’s a college-educated artist and writer — who is frequently mistaken for a drug dealer. |
| The influx of more than a million migrants into Germany the past two years has forced the country to wrestle with issues of race, ethnicity and identity. Mr. Lopaz says that he feels that Berlin is home, but also that the issues the migrants face have been a part of his world since he moved to Germany nearly a decade ago. | |
| Mr. Lopaz, 36, found a creative way to address instances of racism: He took the offending comments and put them on T-shirts. He then directed a series of portraits taken by his best friend, Richard Hancock, around Berlin. I talked to Mr. Lopaz multiple times about the stories behind some of his T-shirts. His comments have been edited. | Mr. Lopaz, 36, found a creative way to address instances of racism: He took the offending comments and put them on T-shirts. He then directed a series of portraits taken by his best friend, Richard Hancock, around Berlin. I talked to Mr. Lopaz multiple times about the stories behind some of his T-shirts. His comments have been edited. |
| Mr. Lopaz, who speaks conversational German, used to have dreadlocks, and nearly every time he went out, he was approached for drugs. He would be at a bar or an art opening, and friends of acquaintances would ask him if he had drugs. In the summer of 2007, soon after he moved to Berlin, two people followed him around a grocery store before approaching him. | Mr. Lopaz, who speaks conversational German, used to have dreadlocks, and nearly every time he went out, he was approached for drugs. He would be at a bar or an art opening, and friends of acquaintances would ask him if he had drugs. In the summer of 2007, soon after he moved to Berlin, two people followed him around a grocery store before approaching him. |
| Mr. Lopaz’s maternal and paternal grandparents were part of a wave of black Americans who left the South for other parts of the United States in the first half of the 20th century. His parents grew up on the same street in South Central Los Angeles, and he was born and raised there. | Mr. Lopaz’s maternal and paternal grandparents were part of a wave of black Americans who left the South for other parts of the United States in the first half of the 20th century. His parents grew up on the same street in South Central Los Angeles, and he was born and raised there. |
| In 2011, Mr. Lopaz met two German women at a bar in Berlin. One of them, the director of a preschool, began quizzing him about where he was from and arguing that the United States had not been a country long enough to have its own culture. Then she told him, “And you have no culture because you come from slaves.” | In 2011, Mr. Lopaz met two German women at a bar in Berlin. One of them, the director of a preschool, began quizzing him about where he was from and arguing that the United States had not been a country long enough to have its own culture. Then she told him, “And you have no culture because you come from slaves.” |
| Mr. Lopaz, who is gay, has had a number of part-time jobs working in the gay night life scene in Berlin. He has also exhibited his work in galleries owned or run by gay Germans. | Mr. Lopaz, who is gay, has had a number of part-time jobs working in the gay night life scene in Berlin. He has also exhibited his work in galleries owned or run by gay Germans. |
| Mr. Lopaz worked as a D.J. at a gay bar in Berlin for two years and often heard racist remarks from customers. One night a man was angry that Mr. Lopaz didn’t have music by the singer Grace Jones and told him, “You should have it because you’re black.” The argument escalated, and Mr. Lopaz complained to his supervisor. But the supervisor was not sympathetic — instead, he told him that racism against blacks didn’t really exist. | Mr. Lopaz worked as a D.J. at a gay bar in Berlin for two years and often heard racist remarks from customers. One night a man was angry that Mr. Lopaz didn’t have music by the singer Grace Jones and told him, “You should have it because you’re black.” The argument escalated, and Mr. Lopaz complained to his supervisor. But the supervisor was not sympathetic — instead, he told him that racism against blacks didn’t really exist. |
| A white German who also worked at the bar later argued with Mr. Lopaz over the incident. Mr. Lopaz’s colleague told him that he, too, had faced hardship when called a “Nazi.” | A white German who also worked at the bar later argued with Mr. Lopaz over the incident. Mr. Lopaz’s colleague told him that he, too, had faced hardship when called a “Nazi.” |