Di“e“-verse culture?

• „ Chinelo, did you know, that despite well-intentioned gender language and anti-discrimination campaigns, there are some employees in human resources who don't even know the geographical difference between Macedonia, Croatia and Serbia? Or know the difference between a Vietnamese and an Indian? Can you believe, that there are people, who are asked for decades what the political situation is in Ghana, even though they originate from Nigeria? That there are employees from, for example Asia, who hardly have access to german teams because of cultural differences, because the differences are not explored with curiosity but via essays, papers, theory, then often somehow get accepted and smiled at with politeness, yet not conversed into the intestines of our human consciousness? Did you know that people like me (client referring to her mixed blood = Cafe con Leche, Caffe Latte, Crema, Mousse au Chocolat or Caramel - to name a few names she was given on numerous occasions) are tired of others thinking they know what is right for my skin color, culture or origin? Do you know that there are students/employees, who have an obligation to their families abroad and because of that reason alone come across as more serious, maybe more insecure in interviews due to being taught not to be too outspoken or even outgoing? That they simply can't help but being stern at times, because they have to, in order not to disappoint at home? So as not to divide entire families who give their life's overall earnings in order to give these students the possibility to study under better circumstances than the countries they were born in? Did you know that they might not go out at night obliged to make their families proud? Obsessively enroll in their studies due to responsibility towards those trusting in their career goals (many provide financial aid for whole generations abroad) whilst on the same hand being dubbed as boring by their fellow students for not participating in social activities? Did you know, that you have to work not twice but three times as hard as a "black, colored, black people of color, mixed race - call it what you want" in order to get recognition in the german corporate sector, at schools or universities? Do you know what it's like to have to explain yourself all your life, to have to apologize for not drinking alcohol at an evening event (by choice or religion) or not being amused by raunchy jokes (simply because you don't know them, due to a different cultural concept)? Do you know that, there is sometimes a gap between working women without children and working women with children? That a working mother may not have to deal with prejudices in her job (this has indeed gotten a lot better in the past decade) , but in her private life? Can you imagine, that men who want to take parental leave are still called "softies" by their male colleagues, even though there is hardly anything better than parents who enjoy spending time with their children? Isn’t it shocking that women think about when to get pregnant because they are worried that they will not be promoted once carrying a child? Have you ever tried asking leaders to explain the word „different, diverse culture" in concrete terms? Try asking them what is different?“

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I have limited myself to questions that particularly stood out due to their number. I I know that organizations look with pride at data analyses that give them the opportunity to get an objective overall picture. BUT, here we go again another BUT: we should learn from life, from real people (no offense to any scientists/analysts publishing papers based on big data) and carefully put principles together in order to really make things work! Data is always biased. Collecting data means filling labeled boxes. Who labels them? How do you label and based on which cultural knowledge, which brain concept, ethnical heritage in order to sum up to a global diversity guide?
What we need is a culture of curiosity - real feel rather than studies, essays or papers on „diversity culture“. I’d say it’s actually all said with the sentence: learning by doing. Find role models, the real deal, give them a voice, listen, get lectured by those in the know. Remember: who taught you how to ride a bike? Could you even ever acquire riding skills, if you’d never seen a bike before and there’d be no-one around to explain what it is and how to make use of it?
Thanks for reading

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