Racism has to do with all of us. Racist ist not only the one who is acting against non white people but we all of us when we stay quiet in front of unjustice.
Take a look and tell us if is not an every situation. Yes, discrimination at work place due to skinf color is a recurrent situation.
And yet, this ist not the story about Victoria, but a story of white people staying on silence. We don´t need more white silence. Look at the video and see what people are working on after reading this story.
Considering the international protection of human rights, discrimination is a recurrent topic, since it embraces several layers and kinds. One of the landmarks when it comes to fight discrimination based on race is the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), a convention established by the United Nations. The document seeks to define concepts, hold discriminators accountable as well as promoting understanding between races.
Art. 1. In this Convention, the term "racial discrimination" shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.
Discrimination based on race is widespread in Germany, happening on a daily basis as a tool of marginalisation. Bearing that in mind, this project aims to focus on racial discrimination in Germany, particularly in the workplace. Despite the progress the country has already made on the topic, not only through the creation of agencies (such as the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency) but also raising awareness and dialogues on the topic, cases of discrimination in the workplace have been growing considerably in the last years, not to mention the amount of those that go unreported.
This projects highlights one typical way of discrimination in workplace: the real story, between white and non-white people, that receive different wages, despite having the same qualification. Research has established quite clearly the persistence of inequality in the job market, regardless of human rights organisations’ constant monitoring and legal documents that try to abolish such practices.
This can be confirmed by the 2019’s annual report created by the FADA - Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (ADS - Antidiskriminierungsstelle in German) - an agency established in 2006 that aims to assist people who experienced discrimination. According to this report, in June 9th 2019, about one-third of all requests concerned discrimination were based on racism. In comparison with 2018’s annual report, it demonstrates an increase of 10 percent in cases of racial discrimination.
Remember Victoria's story? Here are some reactions about it, maybe they can help you to formulate an opinion:
Act noW
TIPS TO USE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST RACIAL OPPRESSION
Talking is great but what other actions can we take?
Apart from talking, it is also better to act now because people are dying in the unjust system. If we are looking for some steps we can take right now to help create real change in the fight against racial oppression these are some ideas:
1. Boycott Businesses that prey on people of color: Businesses that rely on cheap labor from people of color working in unhealthy conditions should be totally avoided.
2. Speak up in Unions: Unions have a lot of power to combat racial discriminations at work so we should try to speak up in unions for them to promote diversity and inclusivity and include racial discriminations in their goals.
3. Demand college Diversity: if you are in college or have a child in college, let the college know that the diversity and inclusiveness of Students and staffs is a priority for you.
4. Vote for diverse government representatives: We should help vote people of color into the positions of power where they can self-advocate for the change they need.
5. Support Increases in the minimum wage: We should support increases in the minimum wage paid to people of color because a raise in those wages will help people of color and can help address the vast racial wealth gap in the country.
6. Give money to organizations working to fight racial oppression and support communities of color
7. Support POC-owned Business: We can help preserve financial independence for people of color by working with and spending your money with POC Businesses.
Project developed by: Daniele Seiffert, Ihien Victoria Omotese and Patricia Cagua-Ibarra
MAHRS - Modul 7/8I - Storytelling: Multimediales Erzählen in und für NGOs (WS 2020/2021) - Dr. Stefan Meier
Credits:
Erstellt mit einem Bild von elsimage - "man suit black male"