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Tchoukuegno: "It is to my advantage to be able to navigate safely through different worlds"
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Luis Oswald
I like to reinterpret dishes from my country of origin. So on my birthday I decided to bring plantain meatball skewers to the office, based on a recipe from Cameroon. But while I was preparing, I started to worry. Could the combination of plantains and meatballs be hard to digest for the colleagues inside? Would they refuse the Cameroonian food? And finally: Should I have cooked something that "German" stomachs are used to?
For many people, entering the world of work is a time of uncertainty. But as a black person or as a BiPoC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color), I once again experience a different situation than the majority society. Racism and discrimination are present in all areas of life. This is not just my personal problem, it is a structural one: A representative study from 2020 showed that more than 20 percent of the Germans surveyed have experienced racism at work.
For many BiPoC, starting a career and everyday work mean walking a tightrope between social expectations, the desire for self-fulfillment and cultural values.
At first glance, the easiest way for a pleasant working day to adapt to the majority society seems to be drowned in the crowd.
For me, however, that would mean denying part of my identity or even giving up in order to get a job and maintain a good working atmosphere.
And I don't see that.
Because cultural backgrounds and religious beliefs are important components of identity and have nothing to do with my qualifications.
Worries about applying
For me, the weighing started even before the actual work.
When I applied to companies and editorial offices as a student trainee during my studies, I asked myself a lot of questions: Should I send my application with or without a picture?
If I have the necessary qualifications, will they be recognized?
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I have often seen that this cannot be taken for granted. An example. I am at native speaker level in several languages. But when the job involved writing multilingual company texts or saying slogans in other languages, I was still not selected. The language level of a non-French person who had learned French was rated better than the language level of a native speaker from a French-speaking country outside of Europe. I had to put up with it.
As a BiPoc in Germany you learn quickly: Those who adapt as well as possible will be rewarded.
Again and again I have heard conversations, both at work and in private, in which people talked disparagingly about foreigners and Germans with a migration background.
As soon as the interlocutors noticed me, the tone changed and it was put into perspective.
I was different, they said.
So one of the, well, »integrated«, like »we«.
When asked who was meant by this "we", I rarely received specific answers, but rather shameful stuttering and excuses.
It was "not meant that way" - but no one could tell me how it was meant.
»The› we ‹excluded Germans with a visible migration background.«
Ridal Carel Tchoukuegno
However, I was aware of one thing: the "we" excluded Germans with a visible migration background.
At work, you don't trust them to be brilliant or good managers - unless they represent qualities, values or skills that are approved by "we".
In my own circle of acquaintances and in exchange with other BiPoC I hear again and again that they too have difficulty sending in applications with a picture or their "foreign" sounding name.
Some went so far as to list interests and hobbies in their résumés that they believed to be respected in the respective industry: tennis or hiking, for example.
However, this does not correspond to your actual personal and cultural interests.
The concern that made itself felt here in me and among my friends: that personal characteristics such as my skin color, or with others their braids or the hijab are used as an exclusion criterion.
On the grounds that it wasn't "professional" or simply "wouldn't fit".
So instead we adapt.
BiPoC in everyday working life: between assaults and overcompensation
Souzan AlSabah experiences every day the pressure BiPoC is under in everyday work.
She is the owner of a practice for systemic therapy and intersectional health.
Many of her patients have internalized the structural social devaluations in such a way that they have to constantly prove their competence in everyday work, says AlSabah.
"You have an infinite amount of strength to perform on the outside," she explains.
"BiPoC have an infinite amount of strength to demonstrate their competence to the outside world."
Souzan AlSabah
I too know this self-doubt.
Again and again I catch myself comparing myself to the majority society and questioning my own abilities.
I am prone to impostor syndrome, the fear of being an impostor at any time: to be exposed who only got into his position through quotas or lucky coincidences.
Therapist Souzan AlSabah: "Infinite Power"
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Private
But those affected can take action against such thoughts, says AlSabah.
"It is possible to integrate them into a life of self-determination and the ability to act." Conviction starts with self-conviction.
For me this means: I keep reminding myself that I am successful because of my hard work and good performances.
In this way, I also manage to enter rooms with the certainty that I fit and belong there.
Or to create my own spaces.
It was the same when I brought the Plantain Meatball skewers to the office on my birthday.
I put the initial worries out of my head.
There is nothing wrong with the skewers, on the contrary, they taste heavenly.
My colleagues finally found that too.
I even caught some of them in the kitchen a little more often than usual.
Intercultural skills - new perspectives
My mother often said: "The world is opening up - and those who do not open up are unlucky!" BiPoC have intercultural skills through living in different cultures.
I know that my experiences and ways of thinking create new perspectives in a pluralistic society and make previously unknown solutions tangible.
It is to my advantage to be able to navigate safely through different worlds.
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And not just to my advantage: companies that establish diversity in their ranks show higher profits, according to a study by McKinsey.
With high gender diversity, profit increases by up to 25 percent, with high ethnic diversity even by up to 36 percent.
Real diversity does not come from assimilation.
That's another reason why I don't feel like adapting anymore.
I prefer to enrich.
"In my applications I proudly mention that I am multilingual, move effortlessly between cultures and bring forward-looking ideas."
Ridal Carel Tchoukuegno
In the meantime, I prefer to send more applications and pitch more articles to editorial offices than too few.
Big names no longer intimidate me, but rather motivate me.
In my applications, I proudly mention that I am multilingual, move effortlessly between cultures and bring forward-looking ideas.
And as for the self-doubt, I'll take the advice of a good friend.
When I asked myself again whether I was qualified enough to take part in a junior journalist program, she said: “Why do you make the decision for others?
Companies know their criteria best.
Focus on your sphere of influence! «My motto now is to give myself a chance and not to push myself out of bounds.
But the individual power of action of BiPoC is only one side.
Beyond this individual level, companies in particular have an obligation to implement diversity on all levels.
Because the world opens up - and if you don't open up, you lose.