In an approving tone, Merz said the number of refugees fleeing to Germany had fallen since he took office in May, “but we still have this problem in the cityscape, and that is why the interior minister is working to carry out large-scale deportations.”
TBF, news does that when it’s quoting somebody else, in this case:
It’s reporting. Otherwise it would be Opinion.
And “racism” is not a good translation for the term “ausländerfeindlich” anyhow, which is what Germany uses in such cases.
So yes, Merz is a xenophobe and an idiot.
But that is racism. He doesn’t dislike non Germans in general (he has no problem with “German looking people” like people from France, Poland or any other white person), but with people with a darker skin tone. And saying, that we have a “Problem with our cityscape” and meaning non white people with it is literally the definition of racism.
They wouldn’t need to quote someone, they could contextualise. Because these comments are racist.
It is not xenophobe, it is racist. Why? Because it’s focused on visual expectations and outward appearances. Xenophobe would mean that Austrians, Swedes, French, white non-germans in general, would also be rejected. But “cityscape problem” and meaning near eastern and northern african looking persons rejects people based on visual, racial stereotypes. Also, it targets near eastern and northern african looking Germans.