Assistant Professor of German Jennifer Hansen-Glucklich
Associate Professor of German Marcel Rotter
Associate German Professor Marcel Rotter and Assistant German Professor Jennifer Hansen-Glucklich penned a Letter to the Editor of The Free Lance-Star on an editorial cartoon that compared anti-racist protests to the infamous German pogroms known as “Kristallnacht”—or “Night of Broken Glass.” Read more.
Protests cannot be compared to Kristallnacht
It was with great dismay that we saw the June 3 editorial cartoon in The Free Lance–Star, a comparison of the infamous pogrom of Nov. 9, 1938, in Germany (often referred to as “Kristallnacht”—or “Night of Broken Glass”) with the anti-racist street protests of June 2020.
By its very definition, an editorial cartoon sheds light on a societal issue poignantly, quickly, and without the need for a long explanation. We were struggling to find an interpretation that would not be racist.
Do you really believe that protesters and looters are the same group of people?
This cartoon betrays at best an ignorance of history, and at worst a total lack of compassion for the plight of victims of racism in this country.
Marcel P. Rotter
Associate Professor of German
Jennifer Hansen–Glucklich
Assistant Professor of German
University of Mary Washington