A month after Germany's general election, the country may not yet have a new government,
but the newly elected Parliament will take up work on Tuesday. The Bundestag will be more
diverse than ever, with younger MPs, trans MPs and the first ever Black woman to be elected
to the German Parliament. DW met up with a woman who hopes to be the first of many.
There's a lot to do - and no time to lose. Awet Tesfaiesus has been working around the clock
since the general election that secured her a spot in Germany’s history books.
The Eritrean-born lawyer had been involved in local politics for years. Then a racist killing
spree in her home state shook her to the core. "I don’t know why, but the terror attack in Hanau
pushed me over the edge. I thought something has to change. I can’t stand this any longer."
10 people were killed in the terror attack - 9 of them first and second generation immigrants.
Overcome by the feeling that Germany was no longer a safe place for her and her family,
she considered leaving the country.
"But frankly: it's hard to find a country that's free of racism.
So the next option was staying and doing everything possible
to fight against discrimination and racism." Here, in a rural area of the state of Hesse,
a woman of color on the ballot is a novelty. But the lack of footsteps to follow was all the more
encouragement for the 47-year-old. To her it's very clear: You can't be what you can’t see.
"When a third or a quarter of our schoolchildren have an immigration background,
why are we not seeing that proportion among teachers? We should! As a schoolgirl, I want
to see myself reflected in my teachers. Same goes for the authorities and our parliaments."
But as German society grows more and more diverse,
statistics reveal that institutions are only catching up very slowly.
The Bundestag has 736 members. 83 of them have roots in a different country.
26% of German citizens have an immigration background.
In the Bundestag, it’s only around 11%. Less than HALF of these MPs are women.
And until Tesfaiesus was elected, there hadn’t been a single Black voice among them.
From her small-town constituency straight into Berlin’s center of power.
After her election success, she still has to pinch herself.
"I still haven’t completely processed it. It's a tremendous honor.
This is not just about me. This is an historic moment for all of us, for the
entire Black community. This is a huge deal." When asked why it took until 2021 for a
Black woman to get a seat in the Bundestag, she doesn’t hesitate.
"Because there's structural racism in our country.
And if we say, it doesn't matter that I'm Black, we're ignoring these structural problems.
That means we're not ready to acknowledge that - as a Black woman – I'm presented with different
circumstances and obstacles than a woman who is not Black. No matter how qualified I am."
For now, Tesfaiesus only comes to the Bundestag to pick up her mail.
But she can’t wait to hit the ground running.
"I hope to be able to focus more attention on the issue of equal opportunities.
We need to create awareness but also push for legislation."
The new MP has many plans. But the biggest of them all
is to serve to others as the role model she never had.