An awkward comment coming from anyone who isn't black. And awkward too if he is black! And such a sweeping statement too. Stupid of him to say it. However, regarding Gunter Grass, I'd be surprised if any 17-year-old in Germany at the time was completely untainted by Nazism. It's so easy to look back on history with the wagging finger of accusation. I wonder what social 'truths' we espouse today which will be frowned upon by later generations. It's not as if Grass espoused Nazism in his literary output or even held to it when he 'grew up'.

I've just been reading up a bit more on the Gunter Grass controversy. It's not so much his youthful links to Nazism that are the problem (as I said, it would have been hard to avoid it growing up where and when he did) but the fact that he tried to hide it and, some say, denied it.