Day 10: Tuesday, June 16

Is Denmark conceived of as a multi-cultural nation? Today we addressed this burning issue over the course of a very tight schedule. Exhaustion aside, we jumped right into a discussion of racism, and internalization with Filmmaker Hassan Preisler and PhD Fellow Dorthe Hovids Possing. Preisler asked children of color in Copenhagen to choose which of two dolls, one white and one brown, was “nicer” in his film, The Danish Doll Test. His results confirmed prior experiments: 36 out of 41 children preferred the white doll despite having identified with the brown doll.

Possing felt that the doll test tells us more about the nation-state in Denmark, and how it plays out, than race and racism: diversity threatens a sense of sovereignty. She also noted that the doll test demonstrated the tendency to internalize imposed categories. A clearer connection between the doll test and Possing’s arguments would have been worthwhile, but her distinction between structural racism and daily discrimination provided helpful nonetheless.

Zubair Butt Hussein of The Muslim Council complemented the morning presentation well. He eloquently argued that Muslims must redefine themselves as a positive action, within Danish society, as opposed to a reaction to global events. Hussein also raised a recurring theme: what is integration?

City Council Member Jan Andreasen defined integration in terms of employment, education, and other socioeconomic indicators. Lise Bayer and Marie Kappel of the Office for Integration Policy similarly defined integration as different from assimilation, and instead a respectful “meeting of majority and minority.” However, the integration policy that they distributed stated, “immigrants must take part in culture and leisure activities.” It seems there is more work to done.

Our marathon day concluded with Mandana Zarrehparvar of the Danish Institute of Human Rights, who discussed their report on discrimination since 2006 in the City of Copenhagen. Using a right-based approach, they recommended that the City review existing services with an eye towards structural discrimination. They also emphasized that practitioners need to look outside the office and to civil society for direction.

Before ending our tale about this interesting day we have to take a moment to pay a tribute to the cakes at City Hall. The City Hall certainly knows how to treat their guests.

-Catherine and Lise