Equity & Diversity

Identity Blurred for Many Immigrants

May 10, 2005 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

See Also

Return to the main story,

The Great Divide

National identity can be tricky for immigrants in Germany, even those with German passports like the Celikkol family of Berlin.

“I personally believe that I belong here,” says Nilgün Celikkol, who left Turkey with her family at age 7 and attended Berlin’s E.O. Plauen Elementary School in the 1970s. “I don’t feel like I’m a guest-worker child; I feel like I’m an immigrant.”

That doesn’t mean Celikkol, who is married with two school-age daughters and is a university-educated teacher’s assistant, thinks of herself as German.

In her Berlin bedroom, with its poster of U.S. actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Ilke Celikkol plays the violin.

“If someone asks me, I say I’m a Berliner,” she says one day in her comfortable flat, over a classic Turkish breakfast of feta cheese, olives, Turkish tea, various breads, Turkish sausage, and other fare.

She and her husband, Ibrahim, an electrical engineer also born in Turkey, believe that some Germans still have a hard time accepting Turkish immigrants, even those who speak excellent German and seem fully integrated, like this family.

Referring to their German passports, Ibrahim Celikkol says: “That doesn’t mean much to the Germans. It’s just a piece of paper.”

He tells of his building’s maintenance man, a “very average German” who for a decade lived one floor above the family.

“For 10 years, he never said hi to us,” Ibrahim Celikkol says. “He didn’t even look at us.”

Finally, the family moved to his floor and made an extra effort to get to know him. Now, they’re on friendly terms, and the maintenance man even brings the family gifts at holiday time.

“It only took him 15 years,” Ibrahim Celikkol says.

Sitting in a classroom at Hector Peterson comprehensive school, a group of 15 students share their feelings about identity. Nearly all were born in Berlin, though most of their families come from abroad, especially Turkey.

None of the students from immigrant families calls himself or herself German.

“I don’t feel like a German because since I was young, I grew up as an Arab,” says Iman Mesallam, a 16-year-old whose father hails from Jordan, her mother from Syria. “The upbringing is totally different.”

For instance, “you’re not supposed to have a boyfriend,” she says. “It’s not supposed to be that way with Muslim girls.”

For Goran Obradovic, an 18-year-old, the immigration came a generation earlier. His parents, like him, were born in Berlin, but his grandparents came from Yugoslavia.

Even two generations in Berlin aren’t enough for Obradovic.

“I feel Yugoslavian,” he says, “not German.”

Related Tags:

Coverage of cultural understanding and international issues in education is supported in part by the Atlantic Philanthropies.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Equity & Diversity Webinar
Classroom Strategies for Building Equity and Student Confidence
Shape equity, confidence, and success for your middle school students. Join the discussion and Q&A for proven strategies.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Disrupting PD Day in Schools with Continuous Professional Learning Experiences
Hear how this NC School District achieved district-wide change by shifting from traditional PD days to year-long professional learning cycles
Content provided by BetterLesson
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Equity & Diversity Q&A How Schools Can Address Racial Stressors, An Expert Explains
A Stanford researcher looks at how schools play a role in interventions for students of color dealing with racial stressors.
6 min read
Student alone in an empty school hallway (blurred). Bullying, discrimination and racism.
Pornpak Khunatorn/iStock/Getty
Equity & Diversity Educational Inequality: 4 Moments in History That Explain Where We Are Today
A new Columbia University report highlights how inequality was embedded in the creation of public education in the United States.
5 min read
This May 8, 1964 file photo shows Linda Brown Smith standing in front of the Sumner School in Topeka, Kan. The refusal of the public school to admit Brown in 1951, then nine years old, because she is black, led to the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the "separate but equal" clause and mandated that schools nationwide must be desegregated.
This May 8, 1964 file photo shows Linda Brown Smith standing in front of the Sumner School in Topeka, Kan. The refusal of the public school to admit Brown in 1951, then nine years old, because she is black, led to the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the "separate but equal" clause and mandated that schools nationwide must be desegregated.
AP Photo
Equity & Diversity The Origins of Racial Inequality in Education
"Uncovering Inequality," a project from Columbia University, chronicles how policies created and sustained inequalities in schools.
4 min read
In this May 13, 2014, file photo National Education Association staff members from Washington joining students, parents and educators at a rally at the Supreme Court in Washington on the 60th anniversary Brown v. Board of Education decision that struck down "separate but equal" laws that kept schools segregated.
In this May 13, 2014, file photo National Education Association staff members from Washington joining students, parents and educators at a rally at the Supreme Court in Washington on the 60th anniversary Brown v. Board of Education decision that struck down "separate but equal" laws that kept schools segregated.
AP Photo
Equity & Diversity Opinion 'What We Need Is Compassion Toward One Another'
Robert F. Kennedy spoke timeless words following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. His message should guide educators today.
A.J. Rinaldi
4 min read
Mourners gather at the Ebenezer Baptist Church for funeral services for the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in Atlanta, Ga., April 9, 1968. Seated from far left are, Sen. Robert Kennedy and his wife, Ethel; Archbishop Cooke of New York, in front of Kennedy; Margaretta Rockefeller, third from left in next row; Whitney Young of the Urban League, leaning forward and speaking to Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen, at far right. Among the people standing are, Michigan Gov. George Romney, third from right; New York Mayor John Lindsay; and New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, far right.
Mourners, including Robert F. Kennedy, gather on April 9, 1968, at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta for funeral services for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
AP