Diversity

We employees of the University Medicine Mannheim Group have documented our roots on this world map. Each red dot corresponds to a message from employees. Despite the limited contact options due to corona and the fact that we were unable to reach many colleagues by email and notice board, this impressive map has been created. It also documents the experiences of our colleagues.

The whole world is at home at Mannheim University Medical Center. And that's exactly how we behave. Appreciating diversity - outlawing racism. We oppose racism and xenophobia in every form! We question ourselves in our actions and actively counteract racism as soon as we recognize it. That is our vision.

The vast majority of employee feedback shows that we are on the right track in our Group. We can always do better. We are working on it.

Would you also like to set an example against racism and display the card in your area? Order via: betriebsrat@umm.de

You are explicitly requested to add to and continue the map! Please also send "late registrations" to: bernd.graef@umm.de

 

For the Group Works Council,

Of course, as a foreigner, I have already experienced some difficult moments resulting from linguistic misunderstandings or cultural prejudices. But the uncountable positive experiences have helped me to continue to value my life here in Germany even during a global pandemic.

 

My father came to Mannheim from Sicily via France in 1961, my mother was from the Tschänau. Although I was born here in the clinic, I feel half-and-half and drawn to my Sicilian roots. My foreign appearance and my name are one side, my German passport the other.

 

I was born in Russia behind the Arctic Circle 67 ... born. There is more than 9 months of polar night and 3 months of polar day. The town was built in the 1930s as a gulag/labor camp for Russian Germans and other politically inconvenient people ... The purpose was/is the numerous natural resources. Nevertheless, the people behind the Arctic Circle are very warm-hearted and friendly. Mutual help has always been very important ... I have lived in Germany for 20 years. I have not experienced racism, but I have experienced xenophobia and prejudice from time to time.

 

From 2012 until the end of 2019, I lived and worked in the state of Bavaria ... lived and worked there. Unfortunately, I experienced racism and xenophobia there several times in everyday life and at work and was very disappointed. I researched racism in all German federal states and regions and in the end I chose Mannheim. I have been working and living in Mannheim with my family since 2020 and so far I am satisfied because as a foreigner I rarely notice any xenophobia here.

 

I am very happy to live in Germany and grateful for it. The country welcomed my parents open-heartedly ... and subsequently gave us children the opportunity to lead a better life than would most likely have been possible in my parents' home country ... At no time have I ever experienced any real racist hostility. Sure, there's the occasional comment about my appearance, but I don't immediately classify that as xenophobic. The fact that I had the opportunity to work at a university hospital and was offered an OA position underlines my impression that it is absolutely possible to be treated equally here. However, for a few years now ... a certain tendency towards xenophobia and racism. Topics that used to be absolutely taboo are now easier to talk about again ... I see this as a danger for the future and believe that campaigns like this are important to counter certain tendencies at an early stage.

 

... There was a lot of discussion within my class group about whether or not we experienced racism in the UMM ... and came to the common denominator that it is irrelevant what origin, skin color or religious conviction you have.

 

... the most annoying question is "Where are you from?" and further probing when you say "from Germany" ...

 

Although my roots are from here, I can safely say that it is an enrichment for a large company like ours to have colleagues from all over the world.

 

... as a UMM employee, with the statement "if you don't like it here, go back where you came from" ... Nevertheless, I feel at home here, because the majority is not BROWN ...

 

One patient said: I won't let a foreigner push me around. I didn't respond to that. Overall, I feel very comfortable in Germany.

 

I grew up here and built everything up myself. I'm the first in my family to have studied, the first to have a doctorate and, from next week, the first to be habilitated. At school, however, I was ridiculed when I said that I wanted to study medicine. Yes, I had 3 jobs and student loans to study, but what the heck. It worked out and today I smile when I see the parents of my classmates who never thought it was possible.