Translation of Green Party in Kaarst Statement by Julia and Sharon

Official Statement

Background:
The Greens launched their poster campaign "There is only one reason to vote black" at the beginning of August 2009 as part of the "G51 - Time for Green" campaign in the town centre of Kaarst. It is part of a poster series that has been developed in cooperation with the agency Ocean8 and which is limited to this area.

Simultaneous to the "G51" campaign, the main goal of the Green Party's Kaarst office has been to break the absolute majority of the CDU (Christian Democratic Union). The "G51" campaign marks the preliminary stage of the regional elections and has been running since June 2009.

The "G51" campaign has hinted at the need to break the CDU majority in an abstract way. The current poster series aims to make this goal even more explicit, with the use of the motto "there is only one reason to vote black". Also this statement is intended to call upon people to vote Green instead of Black.

Contrary to opinions of certain individuals, there was no intention to make use of racist images through the depiction of dark-skinned buttocks. Similarly, with the choice of female buttocks there was no intention to make use of sexist images. The poster portrays two women hugging each other.

The Green Party in particular have politics which stand out for their commitment to tolerance, Weltoffenheit and equality. Topics like integration as well as "Women's political issues" are at the core of our work. The criticisms we have received regarding the racist or sexist nature of the images on our poster are therefore not teneble. If someone should have this impression we can only contradict them by refering to our principals. Indeed, this poster could be seen to be "anti-racist" since we have received exactly this feedback from people with a migration background.

We certainly agree that the poster "there is only one reason to vote black" is a provocative element in the election campaign. It is not intended to hurt anyone's feelings. It is intended to raise awareness of Green politics, what the Green Party stands for and the election goal ("G51"). Furthermore, it should shake people up and it provides a stark contrast to the posters of the other political parties, which tend to use standard images and tired slogans for their campaigns.

Alongside the well-grounded contents of the Green political agenda, the party stands for "sassy" ideas, innovation and - occasionally - unconventional election campaign methods. This poster represents a contribution to this.




Explanatory notes:
* CDU is the Christian Democratic Union - equivalent to the Conservative Party in the UK / Republicans in the US
* Black is the official colour of the CDU.
* Weltoffenheit is a German concept that is meant to symbolise inclusiveness, multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism.

(Translation by Julia Caroline Brilling & Sharon Dodua Otoo)