“Approach Others With Pride and an Open Mind”

Tolerance Day at ProSieben is all about tolerance. Model Sara Nuru is one of the faces of the campaign, and knows from her own experience how to overcome intolerance.

Ms. Nuru, was does tolerance mean to you?

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That we accept each other as we are. It's not origin, skin color, or religion that count, but character. I get involved in Tolerance Day because I myself grew up in a tolerant environment, and I know how valuable that is. But tolerance takes both sides.

How do you mean that?

You can only expect people to accept you if you do the same to them. When my parents moved from Africa to a small town in Bavaria in 1986, at first people gave them sidelong glances. But because my parents made the effort to seek personal contact, they were soon accepted by people in town. From them, I learned to see other cultures as enrichment.

You were the first non-white baby to be born in the Erding hospital. What role has skin color played in your life?

Luckily, I never experienced racism directly, other than a few stupid comments at school, but glasses-wearers and redheads get those too. I always tried to be proud and open about my heritage. And a big smile is often the best way to confront prejudice.

So that means that you’ve always been this self-confident, even before winning in “Germany’s Next Top Model”?

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Naturally the win was a great confidence-booster for me. It was a big sensation to be the first dark-skinned girl to win. It also shows me that our society is getting more and more tolerant, and that a different skin color no longer needs to be an obstacle.

You work to help Ethiopia.

It was always important for my parents that we know about our roots. But still, Ethiopia was a strange place for me for a long time. In my work as ambassador for "People for People" aid for Ethiopia, I help people in my family's home country, and am leaning much about my own identity.

Full commitment for tolerance:

ProSieben stands for diversity, both in terms of programming as well as the people behind it. As an opinion-maker with wide reach, the station promotes an open society, for example with the "Tolerance Day" campaign.

With this big month-long TV and internet campaign developed entirely in-house, ProSieben promoted respect for diversity. Regular TV spots and a social media campaign brought attention for the topic before and after the event day on April 8 (see left box). Using humor instead of browbeating, the event encouraged young people to think about it. Motto: "Enjoy Difference. Start Tolerance." Stars like host Aiman Abdallah, choreographer Detlef D! Soost, and model Sara Nuru supported the campaign. The UNESCO partnered with ProSieben. "In my view, tolerance is the basis of human relationships. Making a statement as a broadcast group is an elementary need for me," said Andreas Bartl, Member of the Executive Board (German Free TV). Employees got involved as well, and in video statements on the Intranet they reported on their feelings about tolerance.

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A model on the go
  • Sara Nuru was born to Ethiopian immigrants in 1989 in Erding, Bavaria as the third of four sisters. In 1999 the family moved to Munich. In 2009, she was the first dark-skinned participant to win the ProSieben reality show "Germany's Next Top Model." Since then Sara has worked as a model for international labels and magazines.
    She also works as ambassador for "People for People" aid project for Ethiopia.
  • Education that entertains How tolerantly do we really treat each other in Germany? And what are the limits of tolerance? ProSieben looked into these questions on Tolerance Day. The science magazine "Galileo" reported on the daily life of Turks in Germany, and tested whether Germans with and without an immigrant background would pass the citizenship test. Lifestyle magazine "taff" tested how people in a large German city reacted to a woman in burqa, and interviewed celebrities with foreign roots. ...
  • ... At 20:15 the film "The Wave" looked at how group dynamics can degenerate into exclusion. Then, a ProSieben documentary asked the big question: How tolerant is Germany? A visually obvious immigrant and a German performed the same tasks. Each looked for a roommate, hitchhiked, and met a girl on a blind date. "Germany is more tolerant than many people say it is. But there is still much to be done," said comedian Murat Topal, who played the immigrant.