No way! It will never happen. I don’t think it is very likely that a brown man will become the leader of Germany, nor is this mayor even considering it. I just wanted to put it out there to see how it sounded. Still, the thought of a brown mayor in the heart of former East Germany raised my eyebrows. From AFP:

Altlandsberg in eastern Germany has long been known for its medieval church and its stork nests, but today it is known, above all, for its long-serving Indian mayor Ravindra Gujjula.

On Sunday, Gujjula will put his popularity here to the test for Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s ruling Social Democrats (SPD) in the state of Brandenburg, in a neck-and-neck race with the successors of the former communist rulers.

He presents himself as Germany’s “only mayor of colour” and he is also one of the country’s most appreciated town leaders. Last year, electors in this town of 8,875 residents returned him to office with 80 percent of the vote.

According to the article Gujjula’s political aspirations came from,

his parents; his father was a member of parliament for the Communist Party of India, his mother a feminist activist with the National Federation of Indian Women.

Gujjula’s popularity stems from his economic policies which seem to be driving the economy of his town quite well. His real concerns lie elsewhere though:

But it is the racism more than politics that most troubles the mayor, who has made it a point of pride to try to chase out the five far-right deputies currently in the state parliament.

“I’m nostalgic for a time when people of colour were completely safe,” he said, referring to the isolation of former East Germany: “A country where foreigners were always seen as interesting and original.”

That logic struck me as backwards from what I would have expected. I would have thought that isolation (as during communist times) increases intolerance.