While it is definitely unfortunate that his origin was involved in this, this is one of two general arguments you hear in Germany and to some degree Switzerland

While it is definitely unfortunate that his origin was involved in this, this is one of two general arguments you hear in Germany and to some degree Switzerland whenever any kind of change is suggested. "We've always done it like this here!" or "We've never done it like this here!" pick one. Where "here" refers to anything from the country down to the department, depending on the topic.