What is the experience of the African diaspora in Germany? | Stories of Africans living in Berlin

this week on the 77% street debate when I moved here I called my dad and I was like daddy I don't think I can stay because people keep on staring at me I actually got attacked by a whole group of people I'm sorry I don't want people to touch my head sort of petting zoo we are discussing racism but you can contact someone only if you speak his language well it would be great to get to a place where we are unapologetic about who we are [Music] the 77% is now in Berlin I know it's strange for us to be in Europe but we've been talking to a lot of young Africans who are talking about the possibilities of living in the north and half and the question is is it worth the hype I'm going to be asking a couple of people here who actually live and work in Germany and I'm going to find out what their diaspora experience specifically as Africans has been and I want to start with a personal friend her name is Maureen we know her here as more she knows everyone but she's been here for quite a while some more when you move to Germany what might your expectations and the reality you know how they have memes what you expect so what was that like well the idea was to come here study do some work and then go back home but then you realized after you spend so much time creating a foundation here you immediately want to be a part of representing the diaspora and the African experience here and now it's become a bit like rebranding the African continent because like so many ideas that just no longer belong still or really exist in whatever is happening right now before we go into the ideas and sort of what's happening now what was the big point for you when you realized actually this is not what I imagined it to be or this is exactly what I imagined it to be people's perceptions of the African continent of Africans people's perceptions of how we do life here and on the continent being on the receiving end of Africans coming and not feeling at home I want to be a part of shaping that and changing that up as well okay so more his is just talking about the experience of being African and one of the biggest things for her is perceptions so I want to find out from you how was it like when you moved here how is it like so maybe I mean do people ask you if you have lions oh actually I think there are two sides of it I mean there are people that actually are beginning to understand that Africans actually well-educated Africans are actually intellectuals and there are other people that haven't actually had the experience to actually meet even an African so my experience was that the very first time actually was in Finland Oh before coming to Germany I met an old lady who we just wanted to touch my because it was something so strange but I think that it's also about how we engage with people when they react a bit strange because we also will react strange when we see something strange and so my experience was first how do I accept such a person who actually doesn't really know who an African looks like and how to actually engage with an African and I think when I give that that smile and that beginning was what's changed everything of course there are negative things we have to say that happens here in Germany there are people that are just negative for past experience but it's about time for us the next generation to change the mindset of these people okay let me speak to somebody who's been here while Clem occlude sir who's actually part of the CDU which is the conservative Christian party here in Germany so you're sitting in Parliament right now but 22 years you've had to build this reputation what was it like 22 years ago as an African I have to say that is one of the reason why I enter into politics because I've just realized that something was lacking in the society regarding the African community being one of the first African to be nominated as a candidate in a state Parliament in Hamburg is a signal to a society that we are not just Germans from origin but there are people from African descent also who are living here who are working who can be also into politics this being CEOs doctors and just put a spotlight from the positive aspect of the African community so that is I guess a wonder one of the reason why I am engaged this is the second time we are hearing it Maureen said it earlier perception and we're hearing it from the CDU member that racism was a thing and well I want to come to you what was your experience when you moved here I mean you're very striking quite tall where people sort of taken aback by you or were you taken aback by the people you met here like as a matter of how you present yourself on how like how confident you are because I think at first glance yes I'm someone that you don't see every day but then if you actually get shocked to me just like the other person I grew up arms mmm I'm fairly intelligent and you can communicate with me he's fairly intelligent I think so cause I actually think racism comes from a place of fear and a place of unknown and if you don't know something so you don't like it so it's a matter of people don't wanting to try something new so it's like we don't know this we don't want it but then more contacts more communication and honestly I think the gap is actually getting better people are more welcoming now but of course we have a few elements who are like I'll say they know but I think it's actually getting better for me I don't have really negative experiences when it comes to racism or maybe as you say I'm too striking maybe someone is too scared to do something to me or say something to me but I just want to open up the question to the rest of the people here because I've heard people as talking about racism and I don't want to assume is the African Diaspora experience in Germany linked to racism are you bound to have a racial experience if you're in Germany yes or no yes tell me about it I would be very surprised if no one has experienced anything based on their race living in Germany because mo has just said he's never had negative experiences okay I think first of all when people think racism they think this explicit I hate black people to get out of my country but there's small things that people don't realize they're being racist and I feel like everyone has experienced that and I feel like things even the touching your hair thing it can come from a nice place but this this right that they feel like to just go into your hair and touch it that is some form of racism just because I know they're looking at you with or curiosity doesn't mean that that's not racism I feel like there's explicit stuff and then there's implicit stuff where they didn't they would never do that someone that looks like themselves of course Phillip and I'm also curious if the racism is pointed because you're African would it be different if you were African American or if you were of Indian descent I honestly think the racism is not necessary just pointed on that and adding to what you said as much as you've said it try to make it in a very positive manner I honestly believe that it's not in that way it is the small things that make it worse because this one's below the surface you don't see them everyone pretends are not there but should make it worse I'm sorry I don't want people to touch my head sort of petting zoo I am sorry I don't want people asking me if I go to school on a on a lion if I don't know sit with the hyenas and I have a joke with them or something that is not the case if you want to know about me come and approach me in an open and honest manner and you can learn so we're in agreement that racism is part of the African Diaspora experience particularly in Germany now I want to hear personal examples what has happened to you that made you think that wasn't right so Shanna I want to hear from you I actually have a slightly different take I'm Jamaican and I feel as though bias is a part of the human experience and racism is just one of the ways that people expressed bias and one of the things that Germany has really called me to do because when I moved here I called my dad and I was like Daddy I don't think I can stay because people keep on staring at me and he said assume they're looking because they like what they see and so second doctor kuma is laughing so I want to find out what exactly he's thinking about why don't you think she is good to look at of course then what is the problem are you disagreeing with what she's saying that people don't necessarily look out of curiosity but rather because of a bias as she was explaining both it can be in my experience I've been here for almost twenty years now to be candid I have not experienced racism and that it all depends on our mindset what you focus on you are trapped onto yourself so to be candid I see the human being black/white doesn't play any role to me I see the person as you are and the way you arrived the way you the way you approached others that's how you're also going to be received don't you think that's a little bit naive though because I mean I could carry myself as a queen but if people see me as trash you should be hot you have self-confidence okay see I actually got attacked by a whole group of people in Finland actually I lost my shoulder because of that just because the people thought I was a Somalian who was just selling drugs and had triggered a what we call like this gang fight that I used to work for Nokia I can tell you the very first thing that happened and I'm saying it on TV the very first thing that happened the police that came in first had a racial understanding that oh yes is this useless African who has triggered this whole conflict so the report was differently we reported it and said it is a gang fight until Nokia is responded and said this is our stuff he was actually on a work mission then the story changed and so this is something that for me actually one of the reasons why I started being an advocate who was that I wanted to show to the world that it's not just only the people that sits down under a tree it has smoking and relaxing but also there are people that are intellectual who have the high intellect to be able to do equally the same thing that our fellow white brothers and sisters can do and so for me I would say racism it exists no excuse to that the only thing is we just need to have a different mindset and move towards that point whereby people can now accept us and realize that it is not because of what we used to think because of course all this comes from one fear and it also comes of ignorance when people are ignorant of the fact that you can be able to do some things definitely they build that hatred and of course that is where racism actually breeds okay so this conversation is not about racism so I just want to put a cap on that because listening to you experiences and do you all have backgrounds from different countries the immediate question is but why stay here answer if it's so bad why why not be somewhere nicer it doesn't have to be Africa but I mean being Jamaica right personally for me everywhere in the world comes with its own opportunity so I come from Ghana Ghana has its own opportunities and now I have the opportunity to be in Germany and personally for me the reason why I am still here first of all I moved here because of to join my partner but for me I also see the opportunity to develop myself for me my being here is to take advantage of the opportunity there the advantage of the language the skills the attitude towards work take advantage of it go back home and then give back to my community whether I'm going to excel in my own restaurant or also run and we couldn't take the idea back to Ghana and make it better so for me my being here is to be the best that I can be and I also think for all Africans who find themselves here I'd say that there's opportunity to grow there's opportunity to add so much value to yourself so yes there's racism but don't don't let that be your focus don't go looking for to be offended because you would be offended but they also need the maturity to rise above it develop yourself and when you when you've developed yourself definitely your competence will speak for you whether here back home okay so we've been talking about perception but in a social space but what happens when you have to prove yourself professionally Clem oh I wonder if this happened to you when you decided that you wanted to become a politician did people take you seriously I have to say that the beginning it was difficult but like you rightly said you have to prove yourself with the time and let people know that you are not just here as a figure but you have something to offer to the society I really appreciate point Moses has made before you know when we came here in this country myself include at the beginning we were thinking okay I'm gonna spend five years ten years almost make money go back to Africa and do this and that and we are still here 20 years 30 years 40 years people are dying and unfortunately there are some people who didn't take the language seriously we are discussing of racism we are discussing our existence in this society but you can counter someone only if you speak his language if you have something to say to prove yourself so my advice to our community people is okay we have a problem the society we in in politics we are trying to do our best to fight it but we have a duty as Africans as blacks okay to to make our homework starting for their language we're talking we've been talking about putting in the effort going the extra mile really making sure that you're doing your own work to integrate but they're people who never had to and because they never should have been because they are German they're called afro Germans and Vanessa was one of them and I'm wondering is it frustrating for you to constantly hear oh your German is so good where you're from or your English is so great yes of course yeah but basically I stopped to take it very into me because like for me I'm don't focus anymore that kind of racism anymore I have different fights like different races were to fight like education working I'm an artist so I'm a makeup artist and a DJ and it's very hard my field to work into this field so that's my focus more if they ask talk to me like oh you speak very well for a black person in German I say yeah thank you I'm just Lockette because it takes too much energy so I don't want to take my energy for that and concentrate much more for the biggest fight I think that's for me important because I think for the new future I like the new generation because me I'm ready like to build up the new generation because my brother is like young and has the same face so that's why I stopped to focus like all about my hair about my color I focused more in the industry of work indication and all that higher thing so has this been your experience where people sort of invalidate your German nests because either one half of one side of you has roots elsewhere a Finnish Embassy and helical tone higher yeah it's my new ranch Hassan and when he starts in 30 mention here in Deutschland Schwarz let's make it all in in it so much we hear Cartman I will call skip act on penny house after he votes North Africa ha begins that four hours each mr. Qadir best African Asian music magazine vice mentioned gave me r4 pasture music is much more vast African music's want asses this is mega cow dammit he even said to understand is it a time to stop labeling people Africans Europeans because it seems that the world is so integrated and so mixed up that very soon everyone will look like a D and you what do you mean obviously if you start labeling people your Africa and your German your this you're actually excluding them from being everything basically because or anything you know what I mean in that sense that's the idea I think behind it and instead of saying oh you're African you it is when people for example ask me where you're from I don't nothing me to tell them from Kenya I said you know I'm a child of the world you know I love everyone the way I want to be loved and that's the important thing but as soon as you obviously start labeling people that also puts people at the point where they don't feel like they belong and that sense of belonging is important okay let me ask a different question let me ask a different question and let me redirect it to this side of the of the crowd now because I've been stuck there for a while the experience of the African Diaspora or the black diaspora versus a word was used in one of our debates white adjacent where you're not quite black and you're not brown is it different I'm I'm happy that you got to that question because I think what has been the ultimate experience for me and you asked earlier why do we stay in Germany and for me it's because immigration is for me a hero's journey and it has put me in full confrontation with my own biases and those biases are whether it's race whether it's gender whether it's sexuality or religion and so for me it's not so much our people being racist towards me I asked myself Who am I being racist towards because I do it even if I don't want to admit it even if it's not something that matches whatever my politics are the reality is that I'm also biased and I am not familiar with the term white adjacent or anything so I'm not sure if there's new and exclusive to the seventy-seven percent but I also want you to say because you asked earlier about proving yourself and we are living in a time where everything is up for revision everything is up to be redefined and no one of us has to prove ourselves anymore we don't need to prove that we can be a doctor that we can be a lawyer those professions are going to be ultimately changed because of technology so I think the work for all of us is to think how can I write the history that is being written right now speaking of writing Julia here is actually part of a magazine : um which is specifically for the African Diaspora at least looking at African issues is what we're talking about here sounding familiar this some of the issues that you're dealing with in your magazine a lot sounds familiar yeah actually we are not only aiming at the Diaspora itself but actually also at society as a whole because we think we agree with with you guys he said it before that that it is important that the image of Africa which is often too often talked about as a unit as if it was all homogeneous and the same and everybody from there is the same which is not the case it's got it's a huge continent and there's a lot of diversity as you can see here in the different opinions author and views and and there's a lot to talk about and we try to diversify and to give a more differentiated view on what is going on on the continent and also within the Diaspora itself yeah because we think it's important that people know about that so I'm gonna put you on the spot for a second please because you the only white person on this panel thank you you felt it so do you agree with some of the things that are being said have you been party perhaps to some of the charges that have been made have some of your friends and colleagues said these things and what can we do as a global society to correct some of these things we actually often have debates about that during our lunch breaks and stuff so I've heard my colleagues experiences as well and of course it's kind of hard and touching also me being a German person to hear that these things happen but it's also very important to acknowledge these and to know that this is happening and to realize yeah of course there's differences and these differences I think exists in every society at least so far and we have to deal with them in a way and we have to do our best to kind of make make people feel welcome and feel okay being as they are and do whatever they want to do yeah at the beginning of this conversation I asked is it worth the hype you know all these people who are crossing the Mediterranean for reasons that are unknown to us some of them are is it worth it to live here and I want to ask you Moses you talked about living in Finland earlier and you alluded to the fact that you're going in so do you think that you will ever go back to Ghana is it an option for you I do you even are you even considering that that's a very tough one I tried it once so when I was working with Nokia I decided that it's about time to go back home and guess what they threw me to Nigeria because Africa is home so I was working in Nigeria for two years but I can tell you that I felt like I'm still missing something and guess what I returned and I'm now of course in Germany because here is home for me I have to be very honest here is home for me I go to God I go to Nigeria go to Kenya more on a visit because I feel more comfortable here as home and again I mean to what she talked about you know we need to write that history it's not about people you know we kind of being part of that history that is being written by others we need to write a history so we need to be part of changing the whole mindset yes we might have to do three times more than a normal average person would do and I'm going to switch a little bit I mean one thing I want to say is that we are all going to be biased one way or the other I was just saying something to my brother if we would hear and especially those in the Diaspora if we hear that there is a migration from one country and I don't want to mentions particular countries we have some countries that when you hear the citizens I'm crossing border the people actually living in the Diaspora even are the ones that are so passionate saying we don't want them to come to our country and then you ask yourself but you're living in another person's country and so what we see is definitely when fear takes charge people become bias and so for me what is important is that for us to take away that fear we need to prove we need to also integrate and we need to make sure that people feel comfortable with us so for instance if we are in Germany and we don't abuse the system but we actually improve the system definitely people feel comfortable and those biases will start to fade away but if we see that we are coming and abusing the system definitely there is a level of hatred that will come in so for me here is home I want to come back to you Kumar as we wind up looking at the future and with you at CD you were saying that Africa's population is doubling we're getting younger and younger globalization is not going to stop anytime soon so what is a CD you doing to ensure that in 2050 another one of your representatives is not standing here with a young African asking the same questions I have to admit that the German government through the Chancellor is doing a lot you guys you guys maybe have heard about master plan for Africa or compact we have master plan for Africa and compared with Africa these are programs and that are supposed to help the development economically in Africa someone makes already the point what push our youngsters from Africa to country Germany it's a lack of opportunity lack of job so we try every time to send money back home and this money is going into consumption not into investment so we have to start building someone make the point entrepreneurship first years ago myself we initiated the night of African entrepreneurs every year taking place in Germany in Hamburg you know to empower our community so that they can replicate that also back home I think that the German government is doing the writing that will take a little bit time but we have to acknowledge that we African we have to get involved in the process and not set as you know sitting beside and criticizing but we have to get engaged involved to help push this opportunity back home I want to close this debate with a person I opened it with Maureen you've been here over a decade as we said looking at the future what are some of the things that she would like young people to experience when they visit not just Europe but the general north and miss fear that will have changed your ideal for the - well it would be great to be to get to a place where we are an apologetic about who we are to get to a place where we can continue to contribute to the well-being of society to get to a place where we're not repeating and re-establishing what we stand for who we are where we're from it would be great to have more allies to have these conversations with because Africans are not the ones to have these conversations on the earth you know we have friends we're building relationships we're building families with Germans with Europeans so it would be great to to graduate from this level of conversation that we're still having or star prone to go back to yeah well at the beginning we asked what is the African Diaspora experience in Germany the answers have been complicated non-binary exhausting at times refreshing and it's a conversation that needs to keep happening thank you to my panelists who join me here today place I call a second home and from Berlin we see shoes [Music] you [Music]

Channel: DW The 77 Percent

Views: 400,830

Keywords: DW, DW Africa, Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Jamaica, Togo, Tanzania, Adi Amati, Maureen Mutheu, Moses Acquah, Emo Rugene, Akiko Yamoto, Shoshannah Richards, Ansela manful, Clément Klutse, Julia Bittermann, Germany, Berlin, African diaspora, african, diaspora, Africans in Diaspora, africans in germany, Africans in berlin, the 77 percent, dw africa 77, xenophobia, racism, xenophobia in south africa 2019 today, beyond the rock news, beyond the news, south africa and nigeria, edith kimani

Id: 0HsyUc6lfc4

Length: 26min 0sec (1560 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 06 2019