Everyday racism: an issue at 42 as well?

Coders with over 40 different nationalities study together at 42 Heilbronn. Different cultural identities come together here. Does living together work? Yes, with some reservations: Students have also felt uncomfortable here due to carelessness, and the boundaries to discrimination are fluid. Reason enough for us to address this. As a first step, we invited Cansu Yapici to the Fireside Chat in February to discuss everyday racism.

In order to be able to understand everyday racism, personal experiences of those affected are an important first approach. See Cansu. In 2012, at the age of 20, she decides to wear a headscarf. Unlike her mother, unlike her sister. The reason is pragmatic. She prays five times a day and the headscarf is compulsory. So why shouldn't she wear it permanently? The way she is perceived from the outside changes abruptly. Cansu was working at C&A at the time. On her first day with a headscarf at the checkout, barely an hour after starting work, a customer wants to put a pair of trousers back at the till: Her name was Bauer. B-A-U-E-R, the customer spells slowly and clearly. The sub-context is clear, women with headscarves speak German, they are categorized at the bottom. Cansu answers her in fluent German.

Microaggressions in everyday life: “But you speak good German...”

Cansu Yapici classifies situations like this as microaggressions. Microaggressions are actions and statements that use negative stereotypes and generalizations. “This makes it clear to people: 'You don't belong',” she explains. Cansu is a scientist at the Fraunhofer Institute and campaigns against religious discrimination. “These are everyday statements that are not always meant in a malicious way,” says Cansu. But they do have an effect, especially when they become more frequent.

Microaggressions at the 42?

The problem is widespread. According to a recent EU study, almost every second person from African countries of origin has felt discriminated against in the last five years. According to scientific findings, discrimination affects all areas of life and does not stop at universities. Not even at 42 Heilbronn. At the end of last year, three students complained about insensitive, essentially discriminatory behavior by fellow students. As CEO, Thomas is initially surprised by the stories: “I lived in the USA for over ten years, in the coder environment of Silicon Valley. The discussion about discrimination is much more advanced there. I wouldn't have thought that we would have to raise awareness of it here first.” One initial measure: the Fireside Chat with Cansu, in which over 50 students took part.

Aha moment: “As a woman with a headscarf, I have to take responsibility.”

Cansu herself never really wanted to be in the public eye on the subject of the headscarf. Quite the opposite: “I just wanted to live a normal life,” says Cansu. When the ECJ ruled on the headscarf ban in the workplace in 2020, she had had enough. She made her first big post on LinkedIn. 83 comments and a fiery discussion. Her explanations were well received and she had an aha moment: “I realized that as a woman with a headscarf, I have to take responsibility and take a stand on my appearance and my identity.” Since then, she has mainly been active in “academic bubbles” - where everyday racism is not rarer, but more subtle.

Her core recommendation to change things: Give those affected space and listen first. It's about engaging with people and really putting yourself in their shoes. Thomas agrees with this: “After all, the best way to learn is through the heart.” There also needs to be an atmosphere of trust in which those affected dare to address microaggressions. Cansu: “The worst thing is when those affected accept such situations and put up with discrimination and microaggressions.”

42 Community without discrimination

42 Heilbronn has taken the first step. “We want to work, code and study together here without discrimination,” says Thomas. In order to achieve this, Thomas believes that students also have a great deal of personal responsibility. In future, they will have to come to 42 with the awareness that they will be working in an intercultural context. Thomas: “One idea would be to appoint ambassadors for intercultural competence from day one.” In addition, the dialog is to be further intensified: a discussion on the topic of diversity is planned once a quarter in future. The kick-off evening with Cansu showed just how valuable and personally enriching this can be.