Jana Pareigis, Deutsche Welle, German

"Where are you from?" "From Germany". "I mean where are you really from?" "From Germany". "No, no, what about your color?" It's by far the most frequent question I'm asked in Germany, whether in line at the supermarket, riding the bus or on the street. Only rarely do people accept my answer: "From Germany". The problem is that the question implies that you don't belong here, that Germany is not your home, and that you'll go back somewhere one day. Wherever that might be.

My only experience with migration was moving from Hamburg to Berlin. I was born and grew up in Germany, just like hundreds of thousands of other Afro-Germans. There have been black people in Germany for hundreds of years. Because "We are Germany". That's the reality.