Surprising Europe - "You're sitting on a white seat"

„You’re sitting on a white seat“

„You’re sitting on a white seat“ is just one of the many racist remarks that Angela from Sierra Leone had to deal with after moving to Düsseldorf, Germany. In Surprising Europe, a documentary about African immigrants living in Europe, she told about the dark sides of living within the EU as a foreigner. Encounters with skinheads that swear at her, spit at her or simply wave their fists at her are not a rare occurrence but an obstacle that almost all immigrants have to overcome.

With an increasing number of African migrants entering the EU every year, racism has become a hot issue once again. These naturalized citizens introduce Europeans to completely different customs and traditions as well as languages that are a complete mystery to most of the EU population, which leads to a culture clash. Europeans fear to lose their cultural identity that they take great pride in, while African immigrants try to adapt to Western culture and simultaneously attempt to preserve their own traditions. Some of these immigrants that were questioned in a survey agreed on the fact that because of racism it is challenging for them to find accommodation or employment. Many Africans stated that they also had been physically and verbally attacked. 

Even though they are all met with racism, immigrants still believe in the “European Dream”. Most of them strive hard to adapt to the new culture of their respective countries by using a variety of methods. Interviews with participants of Surprising Europe uncovered the challenges that African immigrants have to face in the adaption process and how they deal with them. Mousse, from Senegal, succeeded in adjusting to the lifestyle in Amsterdam with the help of his Dutch wife and their children, while Wonda Wendy, living in France, considers both of her cultural backgrounds as equally meaningful.

The main problems in terms of intercultural understanding primarily derive from completely different concepts of relationships. These concepts include, for example, the idea of sharing household chores, as Europeans do, or the old-fashioned way of letting the woman work at home in Africa. Another common custom in Africa is to take care of the children of your friends or family while in Europe a paid childcare system needed to be established. However, African immigrants have found their own ways in overcoming these difficulties, racism and finally succeeded in adapting to a completely new culture without sacrificing their own traditions.