Black travelers and POC beware: Italy, Spain & China

Life abroad is different when you’re a Black traveler or person of color. While we should never let that stop us from traveling, we need to be aware that we could face acts of discrimination abroad and some countries are worse offenders than others.

I’m sharing three of those worst countries for Black and POC travelers so you can be prepared for any future trips.

[GinaCriv]

Hi Nicole, first time watching one of your videos; don't know why it was "algorithm-ed", but here we are. As a black American woman married to a native Italian man for 35 years, with 2 adult children, you are spot on. One summer we were with my infant daughter (who looked Italian) at the beach, and other Italians were telling my in-laws how great they were to rescue me from Ethiopia and give me a job watching their granddaughter. When my in-laws corrected that I was American, the whole demeanor changed. It didn't matter to me...that as a black American I was acceptable, but as any other black person...person non grata. That was 30+ years ago, hasn't changed. So, when I read about black American women divested and fawning about going to Italy where they are wanted and loved...a delusional bill of goods...and I have it "easier", as I married into an Italian family. (back story...my husband and I met in the U.S. (23 yrs old), when he was on a NATO assignment.

[Neila]

I think we need a “Green Book” for international travel.

[warrenandyiching]

There's a rule I use with restaurants, whether I am traveling or not. If I don't receive service within ten or at most fifteen minutes, I get up and leave! I don't care how highly rated is the restaurant, the service isn't going to get any better from there. It happened to me and my family at a restaurant in Switzerland. We walked in and were ignored for fifteen minutes. I am also a POC so I don't know if it was racially biased or not, but I just said to my family, "let's get the hell outta here" and we never looked back!

[habibijan]

I’ve never heard anything good about Spain from a BW, including native Spanish speakers. Only thing I wanna add is that I DO NOT EAT food from “people” who didn’t even want to sell it to you (and make money!).

[ninibugg]

That's why when people say racism is an American thing, I just roll my eyes...

[danielx]

I have blond hair and blue eyes and I can testify that Latin and Asian cultures are extremely anti black. When I taught in South Korea, for instance, the schools always requested a photograph of a teacher before they hired them. Because they had a no blacks policy. When I discovered that, it really made me mistrust everything. Because I have blond hair, people feel free to say really racist things to me about black people. It's depressing. Stay safe.

[KidMuscleCombat]

Honestly, expected racism is enough for me to not travel someplaces. Does that mean I'll never see the wonders of the world? Yes, but if those wonders are attached to people like the ones you described, maybe they aren't so wonderful after all. Paying money to get the same treatment i get as a black man in the US is something i don't know if i have the tolerance for.

Keep doing good work though. Your videos are awesome!!

[carolperdue]

I'd heard that about Spain. A friend travelled there and said it was unbelievable how rude and racist the people were, and yes she could speak Spanish. She said she ended up spending the last couple of days of her stay basically holed up in her hotel room, afraid to go out. Miss me with that bull, if I want to experience racism, I can stay right here in the USA.

[so.many.obstacles]

When I traveled to Singapore, the amount of people trying to take pics of me and my friend was astounding. One girl tried to sneak a pic by acting like she was taking a selfie, so I turned around.

I saw another lady staring at me for awhile, she finally came over and introduced herself. We chatted for a bit and she told me she was visiting from Indonesia and had never seen a Black person, in person before. We had a nice conversation and she was about to leave and asked me for a pic. I told her we had to take the pic together. She took one on her phone and I took one on mine.

I’ve been to Spain and Italy a few times and never had issues there. Except in Madrid, a guy from African descent was nasty towards me but 🤷🏾‍♀️

When I was in South Korea, no one spoke to me, tried to take a pic of me or even acted like existed. With the exception of the train, most of them wouldn’t sit next to me. Which honestly was perfectly fine. The few times that someone sat next to me were young children.

Also, when I was in certain stores they would try and get in front of me in line. I would just step right in front of them without allowing extra space so they knew to back TF up.

I don’t care about being ignored, I like traveling solo so I don’t have to be bothered. But what I will not tolerate is disrespect.

[feliznavidad]

Let's also be honest, colorism is a key here too. It annoys me when fellow light mixed people or light black people are like "Well, my treatment wasn't that bad."

Like mixed people aren't black and light skinned black people aren't going to be treated as poorly most of the time. My mom is a DSBW and had a white man say to her "yours in the worst race" while I've mainly been praised by white people because I'm mixed race (though white ppl can be racist to mixed people too). I'm very sorry. Humans still pretend like most of them aren't shitty. The silence of others is awful.

[aprilharris]

Thank you so much for your honest and cautionary assessment. I have experienced this first hand many times as a Black woman who looks white married to a Black man. We enjoy travel very much, but have found Italy, Greece, France, and Denmark - yes, even Denmark - to be very racist. The Netherlands and the UK have consistently felt more welcoming.

It is important for People of Color to be aware of the rising tide of fascism and xenophobia globally. Please be diligent in doing your research before you travel. Take a deep dive into the past and current political climate in each country before travel. Be on your guard. Sadly, this strategy is not at all unfamiliar to People of Color in the USA. Many of the most troubling experiences arise from those subtle slights and comments in the native language that the offenders assume will not be understood.

Having said all that, do not let anyone steal your joy in traveling this beautiful world that God created for all of us to enjoy!
🌎🌍🌏

Please Keep Encouraged and Keep Speaking Truth!

Many Blessings to You All!
❤🙏🏼🌿

[novice]

I have traveled to Spain many times and am considering moving to Malaga if I feel threatened in America.
Italy was always fun until I went there in 2018. I think the immigration of Africans has caused a perception change in Italy. In 2018, Italians were no longer cordial, sometimes even hostile.
I experienced the worst racism in Versailles and Argentina.
The problem is that right-wing politics is proliferating worldwide. Some people get angry when they are working minimum-wage jobs, and successful people of color seem to have what they think should be rightfully theirs because their skin is white.

[brianlawson]

I'm not surprised about Italy. Italy had its own Jim Crow laws, they were called Italian racial laws and they were made by Mussolini.

[mercoro]

Your dreadlocks look absolutely stunning! I love them, also great video, it is great making videos like this to advice clueless people.

[fullmooneve]

As a European, I'm so sorry for how you were treated. It's disgusting

[lexusgibz]

Before you even said it, I knew the worst would be Italy.

Because, same sis.
I was there for 2 weeks. The stares. The treatment in stores. I remember exactly how I felt.

It wasn’t like this everywhere in Italy. But it was enough for me to feel uncomfortable.

[rogermarine]

There are at least 53 countries in Africa and 26 countries in the Caribbean; almost all are black. Stick black countries. I love being black and love my people.😊

[peanutjelly]

I had a similar experience in Barcelona when I visited in 2013. I vowed never to return. I got followed in a grocery store (by a South Asian clerk, mind you); some teen boys shouted epithets at me from across the street while laughing. When I went to buy my dad a football jersey, the shopkeeper waved me off and completely ignored me. I also attempted to speak to him in Spanish. I thought it was a language barrier, until some tall white guys walked in and the same shopkeeper stopped what he was doing to tend to them in English. I was only there for 3 days, but that was some of the most blatant racism I had ever experienced. My cousin did a semester abroad there and said she had the similar experiences.
But I will say this: I did meet a nice flamenco dancer man, pushing his child in a stroller, who was nice enough to help me find the zoo. And there was also some nice waiters at a cafe, where I ordered tapas and sangria. They convinced me to try some baby octopus, which turned out to be delicious! So it wasn't EVERYONE was rude and racist, but I had enough experiences there to make me feel unsafe to a point where I wouldn't feel comfortable going back, especially not alone.

[MonaBradbury]

As a Mediterranean Canadian (Maltese origin) married to an Italian, I can ABSOLUTELY CONFIRM that what you’ve said about Spain and Italy is TRUE. Having lived in both Italy and Spain and being fluent in both languages, I saw my share of xenophobia and in racism in both countries. Even as an olive skinned person myself, experienced discriminatory behaviour in both places.
In Italy I was treated as if I were an infection, even by my husband’s immediate family. In Spain it was just as bad. I was living in Malaga for 2 years, and my gay black Portuguese friend came to visit; we went to a restaurant where my husband and I had good service in the past, but when I went there with my friend, NOBODY WOULD COME TO THE TABLE, even though the place was almost empty! I was horrified. I suggested we leave, but my friend said it’s ok, he’s used to it because it happens often. Unbelievable 😳.
Thanks for putting out this video; people should see the truth about these places.

[sugaray]

I worked for and with Italians and I would say you’re pretty much spot on. It’s like they didn’t know what I was capable of and then when some saw I was better that was an issue too! Also talked to a dark skin (not black or African) Italian man and he said it was very racist growing up. He had to work harder than his fair skin counterparts!