Berlin and Munich to ban the term “Schwarzfahren” over racism concerns

Munich and Berlin will no longer allow use of the traditional term indicating that someone is using public transport without a ticket. German cities have decided to ban the word “Schwarzfahren”, which literally means “black riding”, because people might perceive it as a racist insult. Cities in Czechia where the same term is used will not consider making such changes, though.

German transport companies in Berlin and Munich decided not to use the word Schwarzfahren anymore, as well as the term Schwarzfahrer (black rider). They plan to drop these terms altogether.

[...]

The word Schwarzfahren was also banned in Berlin. According to the German linguist Eric Fuss, however, the term Schwarzfahren comes from the word “shvarts” (poverty in Yiddish). So, it is supposed to describe people who are too poor to buy a ticket, not dark-skinned people.

Unlike in Germany, transport companies in the Czech Republic, where the Czech version of the term is also used, do not perceive this to be a problem.

“We usually use the term ‘passenger without a valid ticket’. Informally, people call this ‘black riding’, but no one gives it any racist subtext. However, we do not officially use this term,” ​​said Hana Tomaštíková, a spokeswoman of the Brno City Transport Company.