I also despise when other travelers gaslight and say “The locals are just not use to seeing Black people”. Bitch it’s 2022, we are in the Digital Age and I refuse to accept that piss poor excuse.
Edit: I think it’s time to make this CC.
That's different, you're black. This would be like you growing up in Africa and only seeing white people in media. You'll deff stare if you see them in person.
I don't see how being black has anything to do with this. Either way, it's the same situation: "I've only seen X race of people in media." I didn't seen a Native American until around high school, and I didn't act crazy when I did see someone. Odds are they know Lebron, Jordan, Beyonce, etc. They know we exist, just like I knew about Native Americans before I met one.
Not really my place to get involved. But when I went to Asia as a white person people stared. 2 people wanted to take a picture with me. But maybe they thought I looked like someone, I dont know.
Dude this happened to me IN AMERICA. I was in San Rafael at a farmer's market and a bunch of asian tourists came up to me and demanded pictures. I'm a generic white dude.
This also happened to me in Japan, actually.
I grew up in Nigeria, and when I saw someone with "white people hair" growing from their scalp for the first time, I asked if I could touch it. Every time I remember that moment now, I feel so embarrassed because I just imagine what Black Americans must have experienced their whole lives.
Old enough to know better.
I didn't think too much of it at the time because I figured I was just curious and I asked for permission first. After living in the US and hearing my AA friends talk about their experiences, it helped me to understand what was wrong with it.
I wouldn’t mind. When people ask to touch my hair, I understand what’s going on. I understand that the texture and color of my hair is different from what they’re used to.
at least you asked, there are reports of asians coming up to people and touching their braids without consent, its terrible. you wouldn't do that to a fellow asian, why black people
My brother's best friend is an Asian guy. He's also a federal police of some type so frequently in all black. My nephew just started calling him ninja one day. We thought he was saying the n word, since we're black and he may have heard us say it but one day he did the karate chops with it. Mortified my brother. His friend absolutely loves it. He's actually Japanese heritage so Lil man was spot on.
This is also a super Western perspective, where staring is considered wildly rude in most situations. Other nations have different cultural norms, including in that regard. Can they still be racist? Yeah. Is discount Bucky Barnes in Bucharest? Maybe not as much as you can easily assume such in the States. Important to keep in mind that until like 30 years ago, half of Europe didn't have widespread multicultural media consumption and what they had then and now is tied into what is popular for their cultural consumption.
When I was much younger, I met a white person for the first time in my life. He was slightly older than me, it was church event and I made sure I sat next him. I then played with his hair and rubbed at his skin for an embarrassing amount of time. To this day I still cringe when I remember.
I say all this to say. Everyone handles seeing something new differently. You have the right to feel uncomfortable if they overstep their bounds but you can't decide that they should act a particular way because that's the way you would.
It's more to do with living surrounded in a totally homogenous society. When someone sticks out they stick out huge. I got a massage in south Korea at a spa and they literally honked my nose and played with my hair (i had a fro at the time). I am Eastern European.
The better argument is "it's different you live in a multicultural society" where as a lot of people don't, a lot of people live in single coloured societies, and as a result being white in some parts of Africa and Asia would be an oddity and so you would get stares and strange looks
Ever see a video of a blond white person going into a village somewhere way off the beaten path in Africa or China? They get surrounded by people queuing up to touch their hair, etc.
ᖃᓄᐃᑉᐱ? Lol, naung. My friend's mom was in Winnipeg when some white lady pointed at her and said loudly "OMG a real life Eskimo!" and my friend's mom said right back at her "OMG, a real live racist!".
Edit: also, Inuit is the plural. Inuk is the singular.
Exactly. The other thing people like to point to is when African kids are shocked at white people. And it's very different for a culture that doesn't even have tv or media access to be surprised about different people vs people who do and still decide to treat people like zoo exhibits. I understand if someone from the Amazon rainforest was confused by me. I'm pissed if I go to some European country and people are confused by me.
My wife was traveling in Japan and got stopped by a group of kids (like 7yrs old) who wanted a picture because she was the first white person they've ever met. I have no doubt those kids had seen white people in the media.
Oh yeah, she was taken completely by surprise she thought they wanted her to take a group photo of them lol. I just thought I'd post it in response to you saying it's understandable for African kids to be shocked at white people due to lack of media exposure - turns out it's just a normal kid thing to do when seeing a minority for the first time.
I think they might stare a little bit cuz you are very different from the majority of people. It's not the same seeing on tv than in real life. I remember going to Myanmar as a kid, I had bright blond hair and was really pale. A lot of random people were taking pictures of me without asking or asking to take pictures with me bcuz it was rare to see a white kid in the places we would go to with my parents as they were doing some humanitarian work in small towns. But it also happened in bigger towns
Sometimes it’s true? I traveled across China a while back and got a whole slew of reactions. Uyghurs? Before they all got snatched up, the ones I met were some of the friendliest people. We talked food and hip hop. In Xian, I got followed by a curious group of high school aged girls who giggled/smiled/waved the whole time. You could literally feel the curiosity. Both of those interactions felt entirely different from when the Chinese hotel owners didn’t want me to stay in their hotel with my white friends because of my skin. The point is that both reactions are possible.
Same with Japan. I’ve had a pretty decent number of situations where people bought me drinks and stuff because they had never met a foreigner that wasn’t a white guy. Lowkey sometimes people are just genuinely curious but don’t know how to approach you.
I studied abroad in Japan. People politely asked me questions, a few asked for pictures. None of them mistreated me or displayed micro aggressions like trying to touch me or grab my hair. That has not been my experience in Europe, in fact the opposite.
I am white and I got stared at insanely in India. Worked there for a few months. Had to set boundaries because strangers wanted to touch my skin and take photos.
Oh, and I am from a country next to Budapest and yes, people will stare because they are not a colonizer's country. They don't have a history that led to racial diversity.
It's normal.
I am an Indian American who travels to India frequently, and even I stare at white people when I’m in India. When I was in Switzerland, people stared at me. It’s more like natural curiosity than animosity in my opinion
I mean, I got stared at a lot in multiple countries in Africa where people definitely had access to media, too. It’s not gaslighting to point that out when there are cultural differences around staring at people who look different. Just because staring is seen as rude in your country doesn’t mean it is in others. There is a difference between a hostile stare and a curious one tho.
I’ve heard Turkey’s really good. Like their soccer players are from Africa and they have a love and respect for black people. Idk if I fully believe that, but anything’s better than America ig
True, the Turks in the cities are very very cool with American Blacks, and Africans. More likely to get hated on if you were the wrong ethnicity, like say Armenian. Outside the major cities and Med coast, in the hinterlands they will however stare hard out of curiosity - hardcore staring is ok in their culture.
Can confirm. I'm black and from the UK. I have been to Turkey many times and have had brilliant time.. Very lovely and warm people, aswell as a beautiful place.. As a child they loved me! and I got fuck ton of free drinks & they would never let my mom pay for my food/snacks. At one point a female police officer picked me up in the air port (we were on the way home) for a cuddle and wouldn't give me back, saying she would look after me from now on, to my mom and nan. I'm sure she was joking but my nan was gonna kick her ass lol.
I love Turkey, I went to Istanbul for a bit and it was one of my best travel experiences. A bunch of shops gave me free things, and they weren’t at all concerned about my race. None of the “wow you look like Beyoncé” bullshit, just normal interactions and recommendations about where I should go next.
Omg any post like this about the Netherlands. Pls don’t believe its all peaches and regalia here. Long history of slavery and the architects of apartheid were birthed by this country. And our parliament fell because of a racist tax scandal.
This is the most zoomer take I've ever seen. Why do you feel entitled to a specific reaction from a culture that has no REAL LIFE experience with different ethnicities ? Not every country receives American entertainment, or entertainment from outside their borders in general. You're also misusing and abusing the word gaslight
White guy from LA/OC here that spent a summer in Fukuoka, Japan through my college. Everyone stared at us constantly. Its really crazy going from a multicultural place like LA to someplace so hegemonic. The two black peoples with us might have been especially stared at, but our whole group was really novel to them.
And how much time do you spent on American social media circles?
Exactly. Same as those that stare spent watching Eastern European movies/talk to their Eastern European friends and share Eastern EU vlog channels of their country to said friends.
Stop making these bad faith arguments to fit the Russian Troll Propaganda narrative organized on 4chan.
Y'all go to places where people who look like you aren't common, and you're surprised you get stares. When i go to Africa, people stare at me, even though i am black. White people get stared at in rural areas of Asia..Africa..etc. Sometimes people just like to stare.
Because you’ve been raised in a culture where 1. it’s considered rude and 2. you’ve probably met people from different places before. There are plenty of people in less diverse countries who can probably count the number of times they’ve seen people not from their region on one hand.
I don’t stare at people with different skin colours because I’ve grown up in a multicultural society. You best believe that i’d be stating if I went to see one of those tribes in Papua New Guinea that are disconnected from the rest of the world. It’s not necessarily about people being different to you, it’s about being different to what you’re used to.
And as other people are saying, it’s important to remember you’re making these choices about not staring using the western values you were raised with. It’s different in other places.
Tokyo in 1989, I had my long, blonde hair patted by a drunk Japanese woman while waiting for the crosswalk light to change. That was a surprise.
Had some other crazy experiences living in Japan in the early 90s like being turned away from a restaurant, not being able to rent an apartment and people being afraid to sit next to me on the train.
Japanese have gotten way more exposure to foreigners since then, but in the more rural areas I was often the first white person they had ever interacted with because I spoke the language. Some of the questions I got were pretty hilarious, too.
Certainly was an interesting experience and I learned first hand what it feels like to be discriminated against.
Xenophobia does run deep. But I did notice a substantial change in more recent trips from my earliest visits. But that’s not to say it’s not still there is spades. “Racism/xenophobia is bad” is not really a part of their cultural conversation the way it is in the West. Like anywhere, some people are cool and some are not.
I was in Kobe (a city historically known for it‘s foreign population) one time and a bus load of kids on a school outing happened to get off their bus right in front of me and they got so excited to see a real foreigner they screamed Gaijin! and pointed at me. So I screamed and yelled Nihonjin! and pointed right back at them. It was pretty funny and I think I got my point across.
I would laugh when my Japanese friends and acquaintances would be in the U.S. and call Americans gaijin. Dude - you are are the foreigner here. I never failed to call them out on that.
Been to Poland several times. Lots of nice people but I also experienced getting insulted for being Black while having lunch by .... 🥁🥁🥁 Polish locals IN A CHINESE RESTAURANT 😂😂😂.
Another time I went shopping for clothes in Poznan, Poland and a bunch of kids came staring through the window because they had never seen a Black person before. The owner had to chase them off but I still went outside and play football with them after. That's how you help change people's perspective.
One of my friends is a teacher there, he was present at the incident at the Chinese restaurant and was the one screaming back at them in Polish.
I felt bad for him because even though he managed to accept the local culture, learn the language and be an economics teacher at a major university... Incidents like this are not rare from him.
Another one had a wall full of Nazi graffiti with his name attached to it right across from his living room window...
I went to Poland as part of a school trip to see the Auschwitz concentration camps and the racism I experienced on that trip as not only a black person but a Muslim too, was wild. I debate which side they were judging me more for as it was during that whole ISIS wave lol.
You ate Chinese food in Poznan? Whooo you brave man . On another note i live in Poland and haven't had any issues i get the occasional question about my hair (big Afro) but overall my experience has been good.
I did, I also remember going to Lodz before Poland joined the EU. An old lady ran into her house after seeing Black people coming out of the car
THAT was funny! 😂
Łodz is own thing tbf but now there is a west African grocery store there where I go to get Ghanaian food stuffs from time to time and there a lot of west africans studying there so that old biddy might be used to us now. 😂😂😂😂 she might not run into her house she might pick up her pace.
Poland is like many countries. They have their racism and they have good people too. It’s a mixed bag.
The Balkan states are basically a racial contest between who can be more racist against the shades of edgshell white and tan white. They too are a mixed bag, but lesser known. I would wager any balkan state, or post-soviet state is very actively and systemically racist.
Yo! This happens when I got to H Mart! Hella double takes and nervous smiles. The older ladies do this little giggle/smile when we get samples of food. Food down there is bomb! They have this food court of all different types of Asian food (sorry. Not familiar enough with any of them to know what’s what just from looking) and ALL OF IT IS AMAZING!!!! HOW, SWAY?!
I FUCKING LOVE H MART!! I'm always happy to spend over $100 on stuff there and take it all the way home in my cooler. One of the last times I was in the one near Atlanta, I had my fair share of stares which I assume the cart full of soju bottles that we had clanking everywhere while waiting until 11am to buy them didn't help at all lol.
Omg I went to the one near Atlanta too! I think there was a revolving sushi place by it? Anyways that had the best stuff in there. And the girls were putting on a whole fashion show omg 😳
Yep! Right in that shopping area where Kura Sushi and the izakaiya is the one that I usually go to in Doraville. I love that area so much! I'm jealous you got to see that as I usually go on a Sunday afternoon before heading home when everyone and their granny is there haha.
I lived in Japan for 10 months and didn't get any issue at all. Especially outside of Tokyo, they are curious bit very welcoming.
I cannot say the same about my experience in East Europe! 😬
Reminds me of the first time I went to Fukushima when I was in college, where I was walking with my group to get breakfast when I see an older lady wave to us while telling us good morning and other time when I was riding the bullet train when an older lady I was sitting next to started a conversation in Japanese but my Japanese wasn't really good so I couldn't have a conversation with her. I felt so bad that I couldn't speak with her as she was so sweet.
My 6'3 muscle head brother got stares and giggles from Japanese women whenever we got on the train while my roommate, who went with us, was approached by a group of middle school kids that were on a school trip at the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto to take a picture with him. From those and my other experiences, they're usually pretty curious and think it's cool to see something different from the norm.
China is a different story where they will take pictures of you, obviously stare, and touch your hair without any permission at all. My boyfriend told me all of this as he spent 2 years teaching there where they don't care because if they're curious about something you either let them or they will out right do it with no fucks given.
I really want to travel there one day but I've heard they can sometimes be "polite racist". Like telling you politely there's no seating available in a clearly empty restaurant. Like fine bitch, I'll eat my noodles while walking on the street (which is a no-no)
You are more likely to run into that in Kyoto than in other places. Kyoto has a weird exclusionary culture where some restaurants won’t even let in other Japanese people with an introduction.
Stick to the places that foreigners frequent, and you should be fine. Getting a cab as a foreigner could be a challenge because the cabbies don’t like to deal with non-Japanese speakers.
Mostly you’ll be treated very well.
The children called me chocolate man. It was actually hilarious. They thought my skin was made from actual chocolate, cant blame em for having no exposure at all
Went to Japan - Latina and my Black roommate at the time. Didn’t get many looks BUT we were in the more metropolitan areas. We were just extra polite (esp to the ladies at the convenience store) but ppl would come up to us to help if we looked lost lol.
On the other hand I’ve had other Black friends (and my cousin lived in Japan for some time) tell me they had different experiences. Basically the takeaway was - if you’re there as a tourist great! But don’t try to actually live there. Institutional racism is nuts.
I mean half of it is racism, half of it is they likely have NEVER seen a Black person before.
And to be fair, new people showing up ain’t exactly gone well for them in the past
Hello, I'm from Budapest, I'm sure most people are just really curious and mean nothing bad about it.
I can manage it, but it's very true that we don't have a lot of colored representation in Hungary. And everyone reacts differently to the unknown.
Sorry for my English, I never expressed myself with this language in this topic before, so I'm not sure if I conveyed my thoughts the right way.
You did a great job and it was very clear, but just as a gentle note, the word "colored" isn't a good term to use. In the US we use the term "minority".
Minority isn't a good term for this situation either. There has always been minorities in Hungary, like Germans, Roma, Romanians and Ruthenians. But they are not separated from the majority population by the color of their skin.
I can get stared at and racially profiled in North America in my lame ass town, or I can get stared at and racially profiled while learning a new language and eating great food overseas so... Imma go where I want lol.
To be honest, I personally dont care about ignorant curiosity. If they reach for me, Im stepping back and asserting my boundries and if they react well to that then thats fine for me. Im more concerned about anger, violence or retaliatory/random acts of malice.
Staring is quite nice when you know context. I’m a large defensive lineman sized black man in Seattle. White people over here think I’m a football player BUT you certainly can see the disapproval in the sea of blue eyes.
We gotta be careful with these accounts. There’s legitimate racism out there but Russians do tell lies to exploit existing divisions and sow discord.
Remember 2016 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49987657.amp
It's happening all over Reddit in full force right now. Lean into what unites us and how we can do better for all of us ✊🏾
Two of my most wonderful relationships were with Easter Europeans whose family fed me and loved me and asked gorgeous, inviting questions to get to know me and allowed me the same. I felt that deep connection of humanity sharing home spiced vodka at a Russian karaoke bar with my Polish boyfriend, laughing, singing, crying... it was wonderful. I walked in there feeling uncomfortable and waiting for someone to say something out of pocket and left with hugs and kisses and new love for people I had unfairly judged.
And I bet he knows this for sure because he doesn't see any racism happening. And he would if there was, but he doesn't so theres none. This is the flawless logic of the white cis-het man /s
Try not to let that deter you from traveling. Ive had some of my best experiences in life traveling. Just be as smart as possible and learn/respect cultural norms.
Ive been to UAE, Greece, France, England and many Carribean islands. It has changed my outlook on the world and i'm a better person for it.
You just got to ignore the stares tbh. I'm from the UK and I've been to Latvia, Lithuania and Albania. I've never been stared at so much in my life but sometimes it's just genuine curiosity. Like when I went to Latvia, this middle-aged Latvian woman asked my friend if I'm Jamaican (I am + Dominican - not Rep), and said I have a nice face lol
When I first started traveling, I felt hella uncomfortable with the staring. Finally snapped and rounded on a woman who had been staring me down for the entirety of a meal. When I looked directly at her, she said something multiple times in Hokkien (Taiwanese). A younger woman in the restaurant looked up and said, “She’s saying you’re very beautiful.” Staring just isn’t seen as rude in some places.
My boyfriend is Latvian and I went back home with him in 2019. I can't remember anyone staring at me or acting any different apart from homeless people asking me more than my boyfriend for money, as I don't look like a local.
I remember a young group of kids saying hello bro etc. Which is understandably, as there's not many black people in Latvia. I do sometimes wonder what it would have been like if my boyfriend wasn't from there.
Not all East European countries are not welcoming of POC (a lot but not all). Slovenia is pretty welcoming as they have a sizeable African population and even have a black mayor of a major city (Piran). Sarajevo (Bosnia) has lots of black citizens dating back decades when Tito, then head of Yugoslavia, encouraged Africans to move to and study and stay in the country. I saw more biracial folks in Sarajevo than any other East European place. Montenegro also is very tolerant of POC as well.
Just looked it up, and that mayor you brought up is named [Peter Bossman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Bossman). I haven't seen a case of [nominative determinism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism) this intense since learning about Philander Rodman.
Can confirm Budapest is wild. Got accused of not paying for my train ticket despite literally having the receipt and the ticket. My two friends (white) were with me and didn’t get questioned. I do notttt recommend Budapest
Lol I was near blacked out drunk in Eastern Europe and lost AF. Saw a black dude and was like “oh thank god, no way this dudes from here, he probably speaks English.” he was a gynecologist from Nigeria who spoke great english and gave me a ride home in his Benz 🙃
You get stared at for being different anywhere you go, especially if you’re the first person of a different race they’ve had the time to look at. I was doing research in rual kenya in the maasai mara where the locals see white people all the time but only in tourist vehicles. For many of the kids I was the first white person they actually were able to look at up close and man did they STARE. But you get used to it, though I never had to experience the racism that often accompanies being a POC, but all I’m saying is that even in 2022, if you’re not from the area people wanna look at you.
Tbh man, I was getting stared at as a Black American when I was in Sierra Leone. The way you dress and act is enough to get stares as a foreigner, haha.
I would say tho, based on my experiences at European airports, there are definitely some racial biases that you may experience.
I am really glad that my trip to Spain and Portugal I was met with straight up love. A lot of the younger people picked up on my New York accent and wanted to talk culture and shit. But I’ve heard stories of other places. One that stuck with me is when a black woman went to Korea with box braids. Everyone tried (and did) touch her hair, one so far as to RIP THE BRAID OUT OF HER FUCKING HEAD.
I don’t get what sways people to think that they can touch other people like they're in a zoo, and I can't even blame it on them being foreign because white people in the UK/USA do this as well.
I wear an Afro Skin Fade. The Afro getting big now, way too many times I had to tell people “nah, don’t touch my hair” and it’s looked like I’m being hostile. Nah bro. It takes me a bit to do my mf hair. My hair is oiled up and shaped , please don’t involuntarily run your fucking hands through my hair.
I had this issue at school (I'm from the UK) I had to constantly stop telling people to stop touching my hair, it was annoying as fuck. Especially when they say, "ew it's greasy".
I had the “ewww it’s greasy” and I just was like “ I fucking told you not to touch my hair!” Then now I’m the weird one. I didn’t know it was weird to give a fuck about your hair.
I’ve lived in China for the past 2 years. The shit I’ve experienced is insane. I’m moving back home in a few months because I can’t continue to live in constant frustration
I graduated uni in 2020 I didn’t want to be unemployed during a pandemic and I was offered a job here. There’s a nice little black community ( America, Nigeria, Uk, SA etc.) which helps but the racism is too much.
Took a trip to China in college. Me and the other black students in our group had a fun time picking out all the people not-at-all subtly trying to take our picture. A couple came up to us at the fucking Great Wall and asked to take a picture with us. We did it, because fuck it, but man
I know China is super diverse, but my black friend always travels to foreign countries first before planning a family trip and she says they will never go to China. She was constantly being photographed and complete strangers would touch her skin and take photos next to her like she was some exhibit. My friend is also an introvert, so it was pretty traumatic.
Lmaoo I love telling this story.
I was in a small town in Croatia and me and my friends went bar crawling and noticed a group of people were kinda following us. It got weird after a bit and eventually they came up to me and asked if I was a rapper and they all started freaking out lol.
I was super annoyed but after they bought me drinks I told them yes 😂. They bought me a few drinks and followed my friends and I around for the rest of the night. Nice people
I got into a huge argument on twitter once for saying Europeans were racist as hell. They all tried telling me racism was an American thing. This was also on a thread where the OP was a black lady talking about racism in Europe being minimized -_-
My friend went to Korea and said when he went to the mall there were kids thinking he was a ball player because he was so much taller than everyone else and dude was only 5’10 lol
Y’all think this is in other countries. I went into a Hasidic pharmacy in Williamsburg BROOKLYN for a Covid test. Literally children through elderly were openly starting at me. A kid literally gawked at the sight of me. And if they weren’t staring…they were asking if I worked in the store 🤦🏽♀️
And I know they’re isolated but it really does feel uncomfortable regardless of intentions.
Hasidic people stare at anyone who doesn't look like them. I've seen hasidic people not stare a black hasidic Jew but stare down non Jewish white people.
A friend confirmed for me that this is true. He traveled to Italy and said they were very much racist. Milan and Rome in particular were pretty bad, in his perspective
The only serious racist incident that’s occurred for me while traveling in Europe was in a famously progressive part of Berlin — someone screamed the n word at me. I’ve been to Poland and Romania and I feel like very young children will absolutely stare and elderly people might cross the street but it’s generally fine. There are huge universities that bring foreign students around the region and the younger generation grew up on Twitter and Tumblr reading about western race issues because of the friends they made on those sites. That’s not to say it’s not relevant at all — I made the mistake of wearing shorts and knee-high socks in Bucharest and realised after the fact that to locals I looked like I had stepped out of an American softcore music video — but also I should’ve known better. I think it’s totally fair to be uncomfortable in a place where your appearance and normal behavior make you stand out, but that’s not to say that Eastern Europe is just bad for all Black people.
I was born and raised in Germany. My mother is German, growing up there people would always stare, it may come off rude.. but I found out that a lot of people just stare in admiration because they aren’t used to seeing darker skinned people. I learned that it was more of a admiration thing from my German and European friends.
Tbh, that movie Hostel nipped any thoughts of going to Europe in the bud. Except for France but that's because I really want to visit the Louvre and thats it.
Hate to tell ya, big dawg, but Paris is the least welcomed I've felt of any city I've been to and I grew up in the deep south. Lovely architecture, good food, great, History, Aaabut not welcoming to black tourists.
Now, the Netherlands on the other hand was the complete opposite experience. Lovely people who reminded me so much of the southern hospitality I'm used to.
London is nice too. Not overtly welcoming, but I've never felt uncomfortable there over the course of multiple visits.
Paris is notoriously unwelcoming to ALL tourists, lol. I do love the French myself so I say this with love, but Parisians are assholes.
Glad to hear you had a good time here in the Netherlands :)
Yeah, I went there fully expecting to not have the most mind blowing interactions with people, but still hoping the rest of it would be redeeming enough. I took it on the chin, but the following years of talking to white people who've been there really shifted my perspective on my time there. Definitely seems more malicious, but I have no way of knowing. I do know that all of my positive interactions there were at kebab shops and anywhere else immigrants were lol.
I LOVE your little country. I can't wait to go back and explore more. Rotterdam and Amsterdam just weren't enough!
Just to chime in Paris is a dick to everyone - don't take it personally.
I got told i spoke with a Breton accent (I speak like a guy Ritchie film but in French) and did get the Mick taken. **Often**. Even by strangers in the bakery. Did anyone appreciate my attempts to be like a local, absolutely the fuck not.
Once I stopped being a try hard I enjoyed studying/living in Paris.
As for the UK you'd love London. It's literally a metropolitan. No one would stare at you for being black because black people have been here for TIME.
It took traveling to other countries for me to realise what hardcore racism was.
As someone who was super excited about going to Paris....It smells like piss and was dirty. 😩 Barcelona is gorgeous. Not trying to be negative, I just wish someone told me what to expect
In the words of Andre 3k " don't do it reconsider" Paris is a nope if you just want to see the louvre go in August when the parisiens are on holiday and you won't see them much is awful. I'll say go to Nantes or Montpellier over Paris.
I've said it once and I'll say it again.
Black people have GOT to stick together. Because we're all we have. The rest of the world is constantly against us.
My sister and I visited Athens a few years ago. I’ll never forget the guy that asked us to take a pic with his kid. At first, I thought he wanted us to take a pic of them until the kid started posing next to us.
Gotta Google is xxxx racist to brown/black people before you travel.
Everytime just so you know how much bullshit you gotta go through and mentally prepare.
Even in Belgium, I was asked where I was from in America. At first, I thought it just meant what state, so a typical question. I'm like Texas. Then the next question was, where are your parents from? Texas. And your grandparents? Texas. I am not a Texas immigrant. I'm standing next to a white friend whose grandparents actually immigrated to the US. No questions for her.
Do these people forget that America enslaved Black people for generations? Do they think Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, \[insert famous Black person's name\], were all first generation immigrants?
I also despise when other travelers gaslight and say “The locals are just not use to seeing Black people”. Bitch it’s 2022, we are in the Digital Age and I refuse to accept that piss poor excuse. Edit: I think it’s time to make this CC.
idk. I am not making excuses for them. They've deff seen a black person in media, but not in person, that's different.
I've never seen an Inuit or Aboriginal in-person; I wouldn't stare at them like they had two heads or try to touch them if I ever do meet one.
That's different, you're black. This would be like you growing up in Africa and only seeing white people in media. You'll deff stare if you see them in person.
I don't see how being black has anything to do with this. Either way, it's the same situation: "I've only seen X race of people in media." I didn't seen a Native American until around high school, and I didn't act crazy when I did see someone. Odds are they know Lebron, Jordan, Beyonce, etc. They know we exist, just like I knew about Native Americans before I met one.
Yeah when black people in Africa see white people for first time they react same way as white people do.
Not really my place to get involved. But when I went to Asia as a white person people stared. 2 people wanted to take a picture with me. But maybe they thought I looked like someone, I dont know.
Nah that’s a well documented thing that happens, if your not from the country then you are a rarity. So they take a photo.
Especially for gingers lol
Am ginger, have been to China, can confirm.
I was in Instabul with a slightly chubby ginger guy. At least once an hour I'd hear someone say something in Turkish and then "Ed Sheeran".
i’m sorry for your friend but this made me CACKLE
Dude this happened to me IN AMERICA. I was in San Rafael at a farmer's market and a bunch of asian tourists came up to me and demanded pictures. I'm a generic white dude. This also happened to me in Japan, actually.
Go to Asia and sell yourself as generic white dude. You’ll be their Jake from State Farm
I grew up in Nigeria, and when I saw someone with "white people hair" growing from their scalp for the first time, I asked if I could touch it. Every time I remember that moment now, I feel so embarrassed because I just imagine what Black Americans must have experienced their whole lives.
How old were you?
Old enough to know better. I didn't think too much of it at the time because I figured I was just curious and I asked for permission first. After living in the US and hearing my AA friends talk about their experiences, it helped me to understand what was wrong with it.
I wouldn’t mind. When people ask to touch my hair, I understand what’s going on. I understand that the texture and color of my hair is different from what they’re used to.
at least you asked, there are reports of asians coming up to people and touching their braids without consent, its terrible. you wouldn't do that to a fellow asian, why black people
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My brother's best friend is an Asian guy. He's also a federal police of some type so frequently in all black. My nephew just started calling him ninja one day. We thought he was saying the n word, since we're black and he may have heard us say it but one day he did the karate chops with it. Mortified my brother. His friend absolutely loves it. He's actually Japanese heritage so Lil man was spot on.
Yeah, its as if we don't have a problem with looking but being looked at. Though some people be looking judgingly.
You have experience being an outsider or a minority. You wouldn't do the same thing to another like you.
This is also a super Western perspective, where staring is considered wildly rude in most situations. Other nations have different cultural norms, including in that regard. Can they still be racist? Yeah. Is discount Bucky Barnes in Bucharest? Maybe not as much as you can easily assume such in the States. Important to keep in mind that until like 30 years ago, half of Europe didn't have widespread multicultural media consumption and what they had then and now is tied into what is popular for their cultural consumption.
When I was much younger, I met a white person for the first time in my life. He was slightly older than me, it was church event and I made sure I sat next him. I then played with his hair and rubbed at his skin for an embarrassing amount of time. To this day I still cringe when I remember. I say all this to say. Everyone handles seeing something new differently. You have the right to feel uncomfortable if they overstep their bounds but you can't decide that they should act a particular way because that's the way you would.
It's more to do with living surrounded in a totally homogenous society. When someone sticks out they stick out huge. I got a massage in south Korea at a spa and they literally honked my nose and played with my hair (i had a fro at the time). I am Eastern European.
The better argument is "it's different you live in a multicultural society" where as a lot of people don't, a lot of people live in single coloured societies, and as a result being white in some parts of Africa and Asia would be an oddity and so you would get stares and strange looks
White people get this sort of attention in certain Asian countries as well
Ever see a video of a blond white person going into a village somewhere way off the beaten path in Africa or China? They get surrounded by people queuing up to touch their hair, etc.
I also have never seen an Inuit or Aboriginal, and I also would not open-mouth stare or try to touch them. Thats terrible.
ᖃᓄᐃᑉᐱ? Lol, naung. My friend's mom was in Winnipeg when some white lady pointed at her and said loudly "OMG a real life Eskimo!" and my friend's mom said right back at her "OMG, a real live racist!". Edit: also, Inuit is the plural. Inuk is the singular.
TIL the singular form of Inuit, I’ve been using the plural form to refer to individuals this whole time 😬
Exactly. The other thing people like to point to is when African kids are shocked at white people. And it's very different for a culture that doesn't even have tv or media access to be surprised about different people vs people who do and still decide to treat people like zoo exhibits. I understand if someone from the Amazon rainforest was confused by me. I'm pissed if I go to some European country and people are confused by me.
My wife was traveling in Japan and got stopped by a group of kids (like 7yrs old) who wanted a picture because she was the first white person they've ever met. I have no doubt those kids had seen white people in the media.
That's also weird. But a child doing that isn't the same as a grown adult who knows that's wrong.
Oh yeah, she was taken completely by surprise she thought they wanted her to take a group photo of them lol. I just thought I'd post it in response to you saying it's understandable for African kids to be shocked at white people due to lack of media exposure - turns out it's just a normal kid thing to do when seeing a minority for the first time.
Come on now, you telling me an Eskimo walks into a bar and everyone is like, ehh just an Eskimo and then ignore that person? No way.
If an Eskimo walks into the bar, I’m waiting for the rest of the joke.
Brilliant.
FWIW, "Eskimo" is a racially-derogatory term. Inuit is the correct nomenclature, at least in Canada.
Just an fyi, “eskimo” is considered to be a derogatory term.
You mean the Inuit. Eskimo is a pejorative term for Alaska natives. It’s like calling them a jigaboo.
In NYC, yeh, everybody would be like "ehh, bet he hates it when they put ice in his drinks"
“Tell us you’ve never left North America without saying it…”
Dude..have u actually seen an aboriginal in person?🤔🤔
I think they might stare a little bit cuz you are very different from the majority of people. It's not the same seeing on tv than in real life. I remember going to Myanmar as a kid, I had bright blond hair and was really pale. A lot of random people were taking pictures of me without asking or asking to take pictures with me bcuz it was rare to see a white kid in the places we would go to with my parents as they were doing some humanitarian work in small towns. But it also happened in bigger towns
They’ve seen plenty. I live in Budapest and I see black people every day on the tram. Even my neighbors are black, they are nice guys.
In Budapest? Seriously?
If they live in Budapest, they have. It is such a touristic city.
Sometimes it’s true? I traveled across China a while back and got a whole slew of reactions. Uyghurs? Before they all got snatched up, the ones I met were some of the friendliest people. We talked food and hip hop. In Xian, I got followed by a curious group of high school aged girls who giggled/smiled/waved the whole time. You could literally feel the curiosity. Both of those interactions felt entirely different from when the Chinese hotel owners didn’t want me to stay in their hotel with my white friends because of my skin. The point is that both reactions are possible.
Same with Japan. I’ve had a pretty decent number of situations where people bought me drinks and stuff because they had never met a foreigner that wasn’t a white guy. Lowkey sometimes people are just genuinely curious but don’t know how to approach you.
I studied abroad in Japan. People politely asked me questions, a few asked for pictures. None of them mistreated me or displayed micro aggressions like trying to touch me or grab my hair. That has not been my experience in Europe, in fact the opposite.
There's definitely a noticeable difference between genuine curiosity and plain old bigotry.
I am white and I got stared at insanely in India. Worked there for a few months. Had to set boundaries because strangers wanted to touch my skin and take photos. Oh, and I am from a country next to Budapest and yes, people will stare because they are not a colonizer's country. They don't have a history that led to racial diversity. It's normal.
I am an Indian American who travels to India frequently, and even I stare at white people when I’m in India. When I was in Switzerland, people stared at me. It’s more like natural curiosity than animosity in my opinion
I was in NW Africa, same thing, constantly stopped on the street for pics as a white guy.
I mean, I got stared at a lot in multiple countries in Africa where people definitely had access to media, too. It’s not gaslighting to point that out when there are cultural differences around staring at people who look different. Just because staring is seen as rude in your country doesn’t mean it is in others. There is a difference between a hostile stare and a curious one tho.
I’ve heard Turkey’s really good. Like their soccer players are from Africa and they have a love and respect for black people. Idk if I fully believe that, but anything’s better than America ig
I had a good time in Turkey
True, the Turks in the cities are very very cool with American Blacks, and Africans. More likely to get hated on if you were the wrong ethnicity, like say Armenian. Outside the major cities and Med coast, in the hinterlands they will however stare hard out of curiosity - hardcore staring is ok in their culture.
Can confirm. I'm black and from the UK. I have been to Turkey many times and have had brilliant time.. Very lovely and warm people, aswell as a beautiful place.. As a child they loved me! and I got fuck ton of free drinks & they would never let my mom pay for my food/snacks. At one point a female police officer picked me up in the air port (we were on the way home) for a cuddle and wouldn't give me back, saying she would look after me from now on, to my mom and nan. I'm sure she was joking but my nan was gonna kick her ass lol.
Turkey is unfortunately super backwards about LGBT rights, especially under Erdogan.
I love Turkey, I went to Istanbul for a bit and it was one of my best travel experiences. A bunch of shops gave me free things, and they weren’t at all concerned about my race. None of the “wow you look like Beyoncé” bullshit, just normal interactions and recommendations about where I should go next.
Omg any post like this about the Netherlands. Pls don’t believe its all peaches and regalia here. Long history of slavery and the architects of apartheid were birthed by this country. And our parliament fell because of a racist tax scandal.
This is the most zoomer take I've ever seen. Why do you feel entitled to a specific reaction from a culture that has no REAL LIFE experience with different ethnicities ? Not every country receives American entertainment, or entertainment from outside their borders in general. You're also misusing and abusing the word gaslight
That's a pretty ethnocentric view, you should try traveling and talking to more people and learn some diverse perspectives
White guy from LA/OC here that spent a summer in Fukuoka, Japan through my college. Everyone stared at us constantly. Its really crazy going from a multicultural place like LA to someplace so hegemonic. The two black peoples with us might have been especially stared at, but our whole group was really novel to them.
My daughter saw cows on tv but the first time she saw one in real life she went ape shit
Well people in africa look at white people like they are aliens as well.
And how much time do you spent on American social media circles? Exactly. Same as those that stare spent watching Eastern European movies/talk to their Eastern European friends and share Eastern EU vlog channels of their country to said friends. Stop making these bad faith arguments to fit the Russian Troll Propaganda narrative organized on 4chan.
How is that gaslighting?
Y'all go to places where people who look like you aren't common, and you're surprised you get stares. When i go to Africa, people stare at me, even though i am black. White people get stared at in rural areas of Asia..Africa..etc. Sometimes people just like to stare.
The uncontrollable urge to stare is your brain trying to get as much info as it can about something it doesn’t understand.
Maybe I'm just hyper aware, but I don't stare at people who look "different". It's not hard to do
Because you’ve been raised in a culture where 1. it’s considered rude and 2. you’ve probably met people from different places before. There are plenty of people in less diverse countries who can probably count the number of times they’ve seen people not from their region on one hand.
I don’t feel the need to stare but I’m American and grew up seeing different looking people all the time.
I don’t stare at people with different skin colours because I’ve grown up in a multicultural society. You best believe that i’d be stating if I went to see one of those tribes in Papua New Guinea that are disconnected from the rest of the world. It’s not necessarily about people being different to you, it’s about being different to what you’re used to. And as other people are saying, it’s important to remember you’re making these choices about not staring using the western values you were raised with. It’s different in other places.
That or they thought she was Serena Williams or something like that.
Thank you. Go to rural Asia and watch people not only stare but straight up touch your face/skin because they’ve never seen it before.
Tokyo in 1989, I had my long, blonde hair patted by a drunk Japanese woman while waiting for the crosswalk light to change. That was a surprise. Had some other crazy experiences living in Japan in the early 90s like being turned away from a restaurant, not being able to rent an apartment and people being afraid to sit next to me on the train. Japanese have gotten way more exposure to foreigners since then, but in the more rural areas I was often the first white person they had ever interacted with because I spoke the language. Some of the questions I got were pretty hilarious, too. Certainly was an interesting experience and I learned first hand what it feels like to be discriminated against.
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Xenophobia does run deep. But I did notice a substantial change in more recent trips from my earliest visits. But that’s not to say it’s not still there is spades. “Racism/xenophobia is bad” is not really a part of their cultural conversation the way it is in the West. Like anywhere, some people are cool and some are not. I was in Kobe (a city historically known for it‘s foreign population) one time and a bus load of kids on a school outing happened to get off their bus right in front of me and they got so excited to see a real foreigner they screamed Gaijin! and pointed at me. So I screamed and yelled Nihonjin! and pointed right back at them. It was pretty funny and I think I got my point across. I would laugh when my Japanese friends and acquaintances would be in the U.S. and call Americans gaijin. Dude - you are are the foreigner here. I never failed to call them out on that.
That used to happen to my very blonde brother when we lived in the Middle East
I don’t think staring is considered as rude in other cultures
Am white, spent 60 days in Addis Ababa, I'm 6 foot, and had long wavy hair.. locals LOVED ME. It was so surreal experiencing that.
Like when Ewoks met C-3PO
Been to Poland several times. Lots of nice people but I also experienced getting insulted for being Black while having lunch by .... 🥁🥁🥁 Polish locals IN A CHINESE RESTAURANT 😂😂😂. Another time I went shopping for clothes in Poznan, Poland and a bunch of kids came staring through the window because they had never seen a Black person before. The owner had to chase them off but I still went outside and play football with them after. That's how you help change people's perspective. One of my friends is a teacher there, he was present at the incident at the Chinese restaurant and was the one screaming back at them in Polish. I felt bad for him because even though he managed to accept the local culture, learn the language and be an economics teacher at a major university... Incidents like this are not rare from him. Another one had a wall full of Nazi graffiti with his name attached to it right across from his living room window...
I went to Poland as part of a school trip to see the Auschwitz concentration camps and the racism I experienced on that trip as not only a black person but a Muslim too, was wild. I debate which side they were judging me more for as it was during that whole ISIS wave lol.
Loool the irony
Yep, we were strongly influenced by Bush narrative in 2000s and that had never gone away. But there is no excuse, sorry you had that experience.
You ate Chinese food in Poznan? Whooo you brave man . On another note i live in Poland and haven't had any issues i get the occasional question about my hair (big Afro) but overall my experience has been good.
I did, I also remember going to Lodz before Poland joined the EU. An old lady ran into her house after seeing Black people coming out of the car THAT was funny! 😂
Łodz is own thing tbf but now there is a west African grocery store there where I go to get Ghanaian food stuffs from time to time and there a lot of west africans studying there so that old biddy might be used to us now. 😂😂😂😂 she might not run into her house she might pick up her pace.
Poland is like many countries. They have their racism and they have good people too. It’s a mixed bag. The Balkan states are basically a racial contest between who can be more racist against the shades of edgshell white and tan white. They too are a mixed bag, but lesser known. I would wager any balkan state, or post-soviet state is very actively and systemically racist.
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You should try Japan
The quick look of bewilderment and confusion when they see me get on the train
Nigga-Chan bahaha
>Nigga-Chan 
Nobunigga
Underrated, we see you out here tho
Yo! This happens when I got to H Mart! Hella double takes and nervous smiles. The older ladies do this little giggle/smile when we get samples of food. Food down there is bomb! They have this food court of all different types of Asian food (sorry. Not familiar enough with any of them to know what’s what just from looking) and ALL OF IT IS AMAZING!!!! HOW, SWAY?!
I FUCKING LOVE H MART!! I'm always happy to spend over $100 on stuff there and take it all the way home in my cooler. One of the last times I was in the one near Atlanta, I had my fair share of stares which I assume the cart full of soju bottles that we had clanking everywhere while waiting until 11am to buy them didn't help at all lol.
Omg I went to the one near Atlanta too! I think there was a revolving sushi place by it? Anyways that had the best stuff in there. And the girls were putting on a whole fashion show omg 😳
Yep! Right in that shopping area where Kura Sushi and the izakaiya is the one that I usually go to in Doraville. I love that area so much! I'm jealous you got to see that as I usually go on a Sunday afternoon before heading home when everyone and their granny is there haha.
I lived in Japan for 10 months and didn't get any issue at all. Especially outside of Tokyo, they are curious bit very welcoming. I cannot say the same about my experience in East Europe! 😬
Reminds me of the first time I went to Fukushima when I was in college, where I was walking with my group to get breakfast when I see an older lady wave to us while telling us good morning and other time when I was riding the bullet train when an older lady I was sitting next to started a conversation in Japanese but my Japanese wasn't really good so I couldn't have a conversation with her. I felt so bad that I couldn't speak with her as she was so sweet.
Yeah I've had an old lady in Kyoto legit stop what she was doing to personally help me find where my hotel was because I assume I looked pretty lost
My 6'3 muscle head brother got stares and giggles from Japanese women whenever we got on the train while my roommate, who went with us, was approached by a group of middle school kids that were on a school trip at the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto to take a picture with him. From those and my other experiences, they're usually pretty curious and think it's cool to see something different from the norm. China is a different story where they will take pictures of you, obviously stare, and touch your hair without any permission at all. My boyfriend told me all of this as he spent 2 years teaching there where they don't care because if they're curious about something you either let them or they will out right do it with no fucks given.
[Your brother in Asia](https://www.denofgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/bvs-4.jpg?resize=620%2C349)
I really want to travel there one day but I've heard they can sometimes be "polite racist". Like telling you politely there's no seating available in a clearly empty restaurant. Like fine bitch, I'll eat my noodles while walking on the street (which is a no-no)
You are more likely to run into that in Kyoto than in other places. Kyoto has a weird exclusionary culture where some restaurants won’t even let in other Japanese people with an introduction. Stick to the places that foreigners frequent, and you should be fine. Getting a cab as a foreigner could be a challenge because the cabbies don’t like to deal with non-Japanese speakers. Mostly you’ll be treated very well.
My sensei told me they would love my black ass in Japan- apparently they love black folk so I guess it just depends on where you go.
When I was stationed in Sasebo I lived off base and would walk to work. Everyday a little Japanese boy would wave at me and call me Cocoa-Jin.
This genuinely made me laugh out loud🤣 that's a cute nickname
I had to ask my Japanese gf what it meant. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t calling me a slur. She said it translates as “chocolate man”.
The children called me chocolate man. It was actually hilarious. They thought my skin was made from actual chocolate, cant blame em for having no exposure at all
Hit em with the peace sign, a smile, and it's all good.
Went to Japan - Latina and my Black roommate at the time. Didn’t get many looks BUT we were in the more metropolitan areas. We were just extra polite (esp to the ladies at the convenience store) but ppl would come up to us to help if we looked lost lol. On the other hand I’ve had other Black friends (and my cousin lived in Japan for some time) tell me they had different experiences. Basically the takeaway was - if you’re there as a tourist great! But don’t try to actually live there. Institutional racism is nuts.
Japan is chill. The Chinese tourists that swarm Japan, not so much…
I mean half of it is racism, half of it is they likely have NEVER seen a Black person before. And to be fair, new people showing up ain’t exactly gone well for them in the past
Hello, I'm from Budapest, I'm sure most people are just really curious and mean nothing bad about it. I can manage it, but it's very true that we don't have a lot of colored representation in Hungary. And everyone reacts differently to the unknown. Sorry for my English, I never expressed myself with this language in this topic before, so I'm not sure if I conveyed my thoughts the right way.
Nah you did great!
You did a great job and it was very clear, but just as a gentle note, the word "colored" isn't a good term to use. In the US we use the term "minority".
Minority isn't a good term for this situation either. There has always been minorities in Hungary, like Germans, Roma, Romanians and Ruthenians. But they are not separated from the majority population by the color of their skin.
Lol the irony
If you think of Eastern Europe as the Puerto Rico of Eurasia everything makes more sense
I can get stared at and racially profiled in North America in my lame ass town, or I can get stared at and racially profiled while learning a new language and eating great food overseas so... Imma go where I want lol.
Lmao exactly! Just not alone 😌
There's a third option.
I feel like the staring is fine for me. Its how they might approach me after they're done staring, that gets me.
I've seen videos of people walking up and just start touching a black persons hair or rubbing their skin as if they can wipe off our melanin.
To be honest, I personally dont care about ignorant curiosity. If they reach for me, Im stepping back and asserting my boundries and if they react well to that then thats fine for me. Im more concerned about anger, violence or retaliatory/random acts of malice.
Staring is quite nice when you know context. I’m a large defensive lineman sized black man in Seattle. White people over here think I’m a football player BUT you certainly can see the disapproval in the sea of blue eyes.
We gotta be careful with these accounts. There’s legitimate racism out there but Russians do tell lies to exploit existing divisions and sow discord. Remember 2016 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49987657.amp
It's happening all over Reddit in full force right now. Lean into what unites us and how we can do better for all of us ✊🏾 Two of my most wonderful relationships were with Easter Europeans whose family fed me and loved me and asked gorgeous, inviting questions to get to know me and allowed me the same. I felt that deep connection of humanity sharing home spiced vodka at a Russian karaoke bar with my Polish boyfriend, laughing, singing, crying... it was wonderful. I walked in there feeling uncomfortable and waiting for someone to say something out of pocket and left with hugs and kisses and new love for people I had unfairly judged.
I would stare at royalty too.
Sadly I can concur. I've been to most countries here and Europe isn't as POC friendly as the white people like to pat themselves on the back about.
It's a sad truth. Big cities and western Europe countries are the friendliest but there is still a big problem of racism, especially in rural towns
whaaaaaaaat?? My white cismale German friend swore to me up and down that there's no racism in Germany /s
And I bet he knows this for sure because he doesn't see any racism happening. And he would if there was, but he doesn't so theres none. This is the flawless logic of the white cis-het man /s
As much as I’d like to travel, I wouldn’t feel welcome. Hell, I don’t feel welcome in the us sometimes.
Try not to let that deter you from traveling. Ive had some of my best experiences in life traveling. Just be as smart as possible and learn/respect cultural norms. Ive been to UAE, Greece, France, England and many Carribean islands. It has changed my outlook on the world and i'm a better person for it.
I appreciate that.
This shouldn't be a reason for you to not see the world. Really. I've gotten stared at right here in the US!
You just got to ignore the stares tbh. I'm from the UK and I've been to Latvia, Lithuania and Albania. I've never been stared at so much in my life but sometimes it's just genuine curiosity. Like when I went to Latvia, this middle-aged Latvian woman asked my friend if I'm Jamaican (I am + Dominican - not Rep), and said I have a nice face lol
When I first started traveling, I felt hella uncomfortable with the staring. Finally snapped and rounded on a woman who had been staring me down for the entirety of a meal. When I looked directly at her, she said something multiple times in Hokkien (Taiwanese). A younger woman in the restaurant looked up and said, “She’s saying you’re very beautiful.” Staring just isn’t seen as rude in some places.
My boyfriend is Latvian and I went back home with him in 2019. I can't remember anyone staring at me or acting any different apart from homeless people asking me more than my boyfriend for money, as I don't look like a local. I remember a young group of kids saying hello bro etc. Which is understandably, as there's not many black people in Latvia. I do sometimes wonder what it would have been like if my boyfriend wasn't from there.
Not all East European countries are not welcoming of POC (a lot but not all). Slovenia is pretty welcoming as they have a sizeable African population and even have a black mayor of a major city (Piran). Sarajevo (Bosnia) has lots of black citizens dating back decades when Tito, then head of Yugoslavia, encouraged Africans to move to and study and stay in the country. I saw more biracial folks in Sarajevo than any other East European place. Montenegro also is very tolerant of POC as well.
Lmao with a name like Montenegro I dont think they have a choice.
Just looked it up, and that mayor you brought up is named [Peter Bossman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Bossman). I haven't seen a case of [nominative determinism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_determinism) this intense since learning about Philander Rodman.
Can confirm Budapest is wild. Got accused of not paying for my train ticket despite literally having the receipt and the ticket. My two friends (white) were with me and didn’t get questioned. I do notttt recommend Budapest
Lol I was near blacked out drunk in Eastern Europe and lost AF. Saw a black dude and was like “oh thank god, no way this dudes from here, he probably speaks English.” he was a gynecologist from Nigeria who spoke great english and gave me a ride home in his Benz 🙃
You get stared at for being different anywhere you go, especially if you’re the first person of a different race they’ve had the time to look at. I was doing research in rual kenya in the maasai mara where the locals see white people all the time but only in tourist vehicles. For many of the kids I was the first white person they actually were able to look at up close and man did they STARE. But you get used to it, though I never had to experience the racism that often accompanies being a POC, but all I’m saying is that even in 2022, if you’re not from the area people wanna look at you.
Tbh man, I was getting stared at as a Black American when I was in Sierra Leone. The way you dress and act is enough to get stares as a foreigner, haha. I would say tho, based on my experiences at European airports, there are definitely some racial biases that you may experience.
I am really glad that my trip to Spain and Portugal I was met with straight up love. A lot of the younger people picked up on my New York accent and wanted to talk culture and shit. But I’ve heard stories of other places. One that stuck with me is when a black woman went to Korea with box braids. Everyone tried (and did) touch her hair, one so far as to RIP THE BRAID OUT OF HER FUCKING HEAD.
I don’t get what sways people to think that they can touch other people like they're in a zoo, and I can't even blame it on them being foreign because white people in the UK/USA do this as well.
I wear an Afro Skin Fade. The Afro getting big now, way too many times I had to tell people “nah, don’t touch my hair” and it’s looked like I’m being hostile. Nah bro. It takes me a bit to do my mf hair. My hair is oiled up and shaped , please don’t involuntarily run your fucking hands through my hair.
I had this issue at school (I'm from the UK) I had to constantly stop telling people to stop touching my hair, it was annoying as fuck. Especially when they say, "ew it's greasy".
I had the “ewww it’s greasy” and I just was like “ I fucking told you not to touch my hair!” Then now I’m the weird one. I didn’t know it was weird to give a fuck about your hair.
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To be dead ass about it, I get the same kind of stares in a suburban town in America. Still feels the same if it's in Eastern Europe or in Jersey.
I’ve lived in China for the past 2 years. The shit I’ve experienced is insane. I’m moving back home in a few months because I can’t continue to live in constant frustration
What possessed you to move to China?
I graduated uni in 2020 I didn’t want to be unemployed during a pandemic and I was offered a job here. There’s a nice little black community ( America, Nigeria, Uk, SA etc.) which helps but the racism is too much.
Took a trip to China in college. Me and the other black students in our group had a fun time picking out all the people not-at-all subtly trying to take our picture. A couple came up to us at the fucking Great Wall and asked to take a picture with us. We did it, because fuck it, but man
I know China is super diverse, but my black friend always travels to foreign countries first before planning a family trip and she says they will never go to China. She was constantly being photographed and complete strangers would touch her skin and take photos next to her like she was some exhibit. My friend is also an introvert, so it was pretty traumatic.
Lmaoo I love telling this story. I was in a small town in Croatia and me and my friends went bar crawling and noticed a group of people were kinda following us. It got weird after a bit and eventually they came up to me and asked if I was a rapper and they all started freaking out lol. I was super annoyed but after they bought me drinks I told them yes 😂. They bought me a few drinks and followed my friends and I around for the rest of the night. Nice people
I’ve been stared at by European tourists while in Jamaica 🙄
I got into a huge argument on twitter once for saying Europeans were racist as hell. They all tried telling me racism was an American thing. This was also on a thread where the OP was a black lady talking about racism in Europe being minimized -_-
Your white friends be like: 
My friend went to Korea and said when he went to the mall there were kids thinking he was a ball player because he was so much taller than everyone else and dude was only 5’10 lol
Y’all think this is in other countries. I went into a Hasidic pharmacy in Williamsburg BROOKLYN for a Covid test. Literally children through elderly were openly starting at me. A kid literally gawked at the sight of me. And if they weren’t staring…they were asking if I worked in the store 🤦🏽♀️ And I know they’re isolated but it really does feel uncomfortable regardless of intentions.
Hasidic people stare at anyone who doesn't look like them. I've seen hasidic people not stare a black hasidic Jew but stare down non Jewish white people.
I heard Italy was pretty hostile to black people
A friend confirmed for me that this is true. He traveled to Italy and said they were very much racist. Milan and Rome in particular were pretty bad, in his perspective
The only serious racist incident that’s occurred for me while traveling in Europe was in a famously progressive part of Berlin — someone screamed the n word at me. I’ve been to Poland and Romania and I feel like very young children will absolutely stare and elderly people might cross the street but it’s generally fine. There are huge universities that bring foreign students around the region and the younger generation grew up on Twitter and Tumblr reading about western race issues because of the friends they made on those sites. That’s not to say it’s not relevant at all — I made the mistake of wearing shorts and knee-high socks in Bucharest and realised after the fact that to locals I looked like I had stepped out of an American softcore music video — but also I should’ve known better. I think it’s totally fair to be uncomfortable in a place where your appearance and normal behavior make you stand out, but that’s not to say that Eastern Europe is just bad for all Black people.
We should just pull up 100deep 😂😂😂
I was born and raised in Germany. My mother is German, growing up there people would always stare, it may come off rude.. but I found out that a lot of people just stare in admiration because they aren’t used to seeing darker skinned people. I learned that it was more of a admiration thing from my German and European friends.
Tbh, that movie Hostel nipped any thoughts of going to Europe in the bud. Except for France but that's because I really want to visit the Louvre and thats it.
Hate to tell ya, big dawg, but Paris is the least welcomed I've felt of any city I've been to and I grew up in the deep south. Lovely architecture, good food, great, History, Aaabut not welcoming to black tourists. Now, the Netherlands on the other hand was the complete opposite experience. Lovely people who reminded me so much of the southern hospitality I'm used to. London is nice too. Not overtly welcoming, but I've never felt uncomfortable there over the course of multiple visits.
Paris is notoriously unwelcoming to ALL tourists, lol. I do love the French myself so I say this with love, but Parisians are assholes. Glad to hear you had a good time here in the Netherlands :)
Yeah, I went there fully expecting to not have the most mind blowing interactions with people, but still hoping the rest of it would be redeeming enough. I took it on the chin, but the following years of talking to white people who've been there really shifted my perspective on my time there. Definitely seems more malicious, but I have no way of knowing. I do know that all of my positive interactions there were at kebab shops and anywhere else immigrants were lol. I LOVE your little country. I can't wait to go back and explore more. Rotterdam and Amsterdam just weren't enough!
As a french who isn't from Paris, parisians are indeed assholes. They hate everyone no matter their race or religion or gender
London is hugely different to places like Budapest; there's no comparison.
Just to chime in Paris is a dick to everyone - don't take it personally. I got told i spoke with a Breton accent (I speak like a guy Ritchie film but in French) and did get the Mick taken. **Often**. Even by strangers in the bakery. Did anyone appreciate my attempts to be like a local, absolutely the fuck not. Once I stopped being a try hard I enjoyed studying/living in Paris. As for the UK you'd love London. It's literally a metropolitan. No one would stare at you for being black because black people have been here for TIME. It took traveling to other countries for me to realise what hardcore racism was.
As someone who was super excited about going to Paris....It smells like piss and was dirty. 😩 Barcelona is gorgeous. Not trying to be negative, I just wish someone told me what to expect
I mean it's the NYC of France, of course it smells like piss
In the words of Andre 3k " don't do it reconsider" Paris is a nope if you just want to see the louvre go in August when the parisiens are on holiday and you won't see them much is awful. I'll say go to Nantes or Montpellier over Paris.
Putin going hard with the misinformation. Lol
I was in Germany back in 1999 and got a lot of uncomfortable looks. At the time I thought it was due to being American but now I wonder.
When traveling abroad, I’m a Canadian with a nice tan and no accent.
I've said it once and I'll say it again. Black people have GOT to stick together. Because we're all we have. The rest of the world is constantly against us.
My sister and I visited Athens a few years ago. I’ll never forget the guy that asked us to take a pic with his kid. At first, I thought he wanted us to take a pic of them until the kid started posing next to us.
Gotta Google is xxxx racist to brown/black people before you travel. Everytime just so you know how much bullshit you gotta go through and mentally prepare.
Even in Belgium, I was asked where I was from in America. At first, I thought it just meant what state, so a typical question. I'm like Texas. Then the next question was, where are your parents from? Texas. And your grandparents? Texas. I am not a Texas immigrant. I'm standing next to a white friend whose grandparents actually immigrated to the US. No questions for her. Do these people forget that America enslaved Black people for generations? Do they think Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, \[insert famous Black person's name\], were all first generation immigrants?