Miss B did not know she was Black until she got to Europe
You must be thinking how this is possible, right? Well, it is! Miss B had never experienced racism in her life in any shape, way, or form. But when she arrived in Europe, she got a daily dose of the colour of her skin. No one had ever been openly racist to her at back home. Not the racial slurs out loud or up in your face kind of racism. She had chosen a multicultural environment that thought of itself as too polite and too European, but let's face it, the “respectable racism" came in quieter, more harmful forms. She did not notice she was experiencing it until someone pointed it out.
In the last interview she had before finally getting the job, the interviewer told her to soften her tone and try to pronounce “H” clearer. Her new manager had said they could not understand what she was saying when she spoke both French and English. “Exotic” is what they labelled her as. So, she began to code-switch. She thought twice about what she was going to say before actually saying it. Adapted an accent to belong. Then she shortened her name to the nickname her friends had given her because they could not pronounce her name. That was okay because they were friends. The nickname would not make recruiters squint their eyes and decide not to read a single line of her CV.
Back home, she had brought in a good number of clients for her company. She translated all these skills and roles into her CV but decided to dumb it down after being told she was overqualified for a junior-level role. Too much excellence on a Black CV is often read as a threat. 5 months in, Miss B was called into HR. Someone had reported her for not smiling enough and talking during coffee breaks. Her calmness was causing more problems than it was worth. After that, she smiled every day, even when she felt like crying. This is what non-blatant gendered racism looks like. Invisible, quiet, and it has left Miss B paranoid and exhausted, as well as questioning her worth and intellect.
This blog post is part of the ARM project. The ARM project is an international project designed to explore the complex layers of racial and gender discrimination through the power of storytelling, art, and narrative research. Our goal is to create practical tools that support the mental health and empowerment of racialised and LGBTIQ youth.
At its core, the project looks beyond individual incidents of racism or discrimination. Instead, we’re interested in the hidden, often unspoken emotional impact these experiences leave behind — how they shape a young person’s sense of self, confidence, and well‑being.
Across Europe, race and gender still strongly influence who feels safe, heard, and valued. Yet the mental health effects of racism, gender discrimination, and internalised racism are rarely discussed, even though they deeply affect racialised and LGBTIQ young people. ARM aims to change that by creating spaces where youth can share their lived experiences and see their stories reflected, respected, and understood.
