The Tower of Prejudice
A personal report on the national Diversity Day at Albertus Magnus Square.
From Daniela Steffes
Building towers is great. No matter if made of Lego or with blocks, the main thing is high. And the most fun is when they crash together.
On the nationwide Diversity Day on 30.05.2017, the Department of Gender & Diversity Management invited to build a somewhat different tower. A tower of prejudices was to be built on Albertus-Magnus-Platz. All passers-by could write down prejudices and stereotypes on wooden blocks. A lot of things came together: "All Chinese look the same", "Men do not listen", "Blondes are stupid", "All refugees are criminals", "Students are lazy", ... And the tower grew and grew. But what about these prejudices in everyday life? Do they really influence us, do we act accordingly? Or do we dismiss them as funny statements and even feel free of them?
The fact is that we are all confronted with stereotypes and prejudices. They shape and influence us, sometimes more or less. Often unconsciously. They help us to process the large amount of information that we constantly perceive. However, they can also tempt you to put people in "pigeonholes" and thereby draw hasty conclusions without reflection. It is therefore important to become aware of one's own prejudices and stereotypical thought patterns and to critically question them.
During the action we also heard from time to time, "I am not in favour of diversity" or "Diversity does not interest me".
That surprised us, because isn't it true that we meet other people every day, work with them, learn, talk, celebrate? Many of these people are similar to us, but we are all different. We learn in mixed student groups, do research together in international teams and have teachers or colleagues who are very young or about to retire. Everything's pretty normal, right? So where do we perceive diversity, do we perceive it at all or do we not want to know about it?
It is therefore worthwhile to take a closer look at prejudices, stereotypes, discrimination - in short, the topic of diversity. The best opportunity to do so is the Diversity Week from 19-23 June, which is being held under the motto: Reducing discrimination - building opportunities. All members of the University of Cologne are invited to learn more about it and exchange ideas in many open courses, workshops, lectures and discussion groups.
And the Tower of Prejudices in Albertus Magnus Square? It was brought down. Away with the prejudices! Unfortunately, this is not so easy in reality, especially not with the prejudices in your head. But the good news is that we can all work on it, become aware of it and act differently. Because: YOU make the DIFFERENCE!