Is Switzerland okay to move to as a 'BME' person?

[Jamapelle]

Just as the thread title- I've heard they're behind equal opportunity legislation there in comparison to the UK and rest of Europe and that they were discriminatory to 'foreigners' including British people as recent as the 90's! Is anyone living out there who could give me an idea how diverse the country is in terms of race and ethnicity? I'm classed as 'BME' and soon relocating to CH for work. Am I going to be stared at? Mocked? Treated as a lesser person? Any insight appreciated before I get my official offer through.

*mixed race

I have family in Switzerland and have been shocked by the ingrained racism but mostly sexism. My sister went too slowly on something recently and the man behind her told her she should have stayed at home with her knitting

If you're going to be in Geneva or Zurich I would think you should at least be part of a more diverse population, but outside of those big cities I'm not sure I'd want to move to Switzerland as a non-white person. My DH (white, non-European), moved to Basel for work for a year and hated it. He said it was the most insular place he's ever been and he was miserable. He also struggled with the language. Swiss people often speak several languages to a high stand, but among themselves they speak Swiss German (Schweizerdeutsch), and unless you too speak it you may feel, as he did, constantly like you're on the outside looking in. It's not an easy language to learn and its subtly different to German (or High German, as they call it). Visit, get a sense of the place you'll be moving to, but it wouldn't surprise me if you don't feel all that welcome.

My Indian husband went there for a work conference a few years ago, he refused to go again last year due to racism. It's certainly not somewhere we would take our children that's for sure.

I’m white, so can’t speak from first hand experience, but my instinct would be that Geneva is probably the best place to be. There’s a very good Facebook group - international mothers in Switzerland. You could ask the question there and I am sure you would get some very helpful responses.

And yy, the French spoken in Geneva is standard French, not something crazy removed like schweizer deutsch is to hoch deutsch.

whiteroseredrose 1994 in Appenzeller, i believe

I'm in Zurich, personally I've never heard a BME racist comment from any of my Swiss friends or people I've worked with. But I was saddened to read this article by an African-American woman living in Switzerland who shares her and her children's everyday experiences with racism:
www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/opinion_racism-in-switzerland---an-african-american-expat-s-perspective/44585848

I am not BME but have been walking with friends and have been shouted at in the street.No idea what was said as we were coming from a language course but it was obviously racist.
My daughter's old teacher was racist in an ignorant way, 70s style with his phrases. It really is very behind the times here and I would really try a few weeks first to gauge the level.
It's hard to find accommodation and from speaking to alot of people, your name and nationality make a huge difference. We have been fortunate but I have known some apply for over a hundred appartments with no luck.

It's not good - though I can only speak about Zurich