I hope this is not too stupid of a question, if it is I already apologize in advance.
Basically my girlfriend and I who are from Germany are planning to travel to the USA. We were hearing stuff that some Americans socially divide people by their ethnicity. I just wanted to ask online whether this is true and if there could be any concerns because my skin is very bright and my girlfriends skin is very dark.
Normally we never really cared or talked about this since at least in our community (where we are from) no one makes a thing out of it and we both just identify as German. But I heard that in some procedures in America you have to say what your ethnicity is? We even heard things like that in some places they divide people by “skin color” and base different cultures on that (we noticed that people from America even speak and behave differently based on whether they identify as “black” or “white”) and even have schools for primarily people with dark skin or so. And this concept is very new to us since our skin was never any topic for us and we are somewhat insecure that someone could say something since we look so different and are a couple and we don’t know if this could be “weird” for some Americans?
I assume that’s probably not the case and I’m somewhat misinformed, which is why we just want to make sure there isn’t anything that we have to know or potentially have to be concerned about.
I am actually impressed that someone still wants to visit the usa in this times, especially as a poc. Aren’t the red flags already bright enough?
I have lifelong experience in the deep south and rural areas which is where the worst of it is. They usually will not say anything to your face but some they might say something to their friend behind your back (and be completely embarrassed if they find out you overheard it). Remember these aren’t cartoon buff guys with bats where half of them are named Skeeter. It’s not as overtly in your face as much as media likes to portend.
It’s also wildly different who is black. If it’s the man who’s black, then there is this sentiment that “they’re invading our women” and it gives them a predatory feeling. But if a white man picks a girl of any race then they don’t really care. It’s the same sentiment that if a white man wants to date a black girl or smash his hand with a hammer or eat 200 hot dogs in a sitting, he’s got that god given American Freedum to do what he wants.
I will add though that as a White man, I dated a black woman and was constantly harrased in public by black men and women.
Depends where in the US you are going i guess but in general people aren’t openly racist to strangers. I can’t imagine you would have any issues. 2 years from now who knows, things are going to shit quicker than I could have ever imagined. People are going to be asking about your accent likely, we don’t meat Germans very often. I don’t think I have ever met one in person. I live in the middle of nowhere though. I’d guess most if any attention you get would be positive.
You’ll be fine everywhere you go. No one will even notice you. What you see online and how it is in real life are wildly different. Enjoy your trip
As many people said there is racism in the US, but that’s cause everywhere has its flavor of racism.
If you’re visiting the US as tourists it’s highly unlikely you’ll encounter anyone being outwardly racist, especially if you keep to major tourist destinations.
In any major US city you’ll run into people of all different colors and people from all over the world working and living together, just like most big/international cities.
If you’re not pro Trump I would just tell you to boycott the US until it gets its shit together, especially considering that you’re planning to go to a red state.
When I was young I always dreamt of travelling to the US some day. By the time I could actually have afforded it, George Dubya had rolled around and madness took over. So I thought I’d wait for sanity to reassert itself. Still waiting but I have little hope at this point.
I’m an American. Wanna trade places? Germany seems a lot less Nazi recently.
They would have to be utterly fuckin deranged, mate
Our two countries are more similar than most Brits care to admit.
Racism in America is real. Anyone telling you otherwise is probably just living a charmed life and incapable of accepting that their personal experience is not universal.
I don’t have the time or energy to prove this exhaustively, but here’s a starting point: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_while_black
In 2019, as reported by NBC, the Stanford Open Policing Project found that “police stopped and searched black and Latino drivers on the basis of less evidence than used in stopping white drivers, who are searched less often but are more likely to be found with illegal items.”
Please refer to the citations on that page for more details. Lots of studies in various states showing the same thing. The fact that the mere existence of racial profiling in America is still debated, when it has been consistently proven again and again for decades, is itself a clear indicator of a different kind of racism.
Here’s a little story that stuck in my memory, about how a white woman finally came to realize that racial harassment by police was a real thing. It’s kind of hilarious, in a dark, face-palmy kind of way. https://franklywrite.com/2020/06/01/a-white-woman-racism-and-a-poodle/
Racism exists all over the world though. I wouldn’t say USA is a bad place to visit based on your examples, even though they are valid. If you are just traveling visiting tourist places you should be fine. I’m a brown person in the US, what are the chances of me being targeted in a different country with mainly white population? Fairly high.
Upvoting this 1) Because that story with the poodle is amazing, and 2) Having lived that charmed life and then dated a black person for a few years, it really is eye opening how different their reality is in the US vs white folks.
The catch is as tourists they are substantially less likely to experience this if they stick to tourist areas.
… Germany has racism too, both by the state and the population. They shouldn’t visit the US because there is racism here?
you must be deluded to compare the massive problem with systemic racism in combination with the amount of hate crimes against minorities especially in the south with the situation in germany.
edit: for example, elon would be in clear violation against the Verbotsgesetz, while most of your media does not even admit that he was fucking sieg heiling.
Based on the votes, cheers to Germany for ending racism!
America is a big place, and how people will react to you depends entirely on where you go. Racial incidents increased after Trump took office in 2016 and they probably will again now, but in general you’re totally safe.
There’s a huge difference between living somewhere and visiting it as a tourist. Most places encourage tourism and are happy to demonstrate their hospitality. Stick to the tourist areas, start interactions by saying “We’re tourists from Germany…” and you’ll have no problem.
I’m not sure what other people here mean when they deny that there is racism in the US. There are plenty of racists in this country. It’s true that they’re much less likely to hang you from a tree for being in the wrong neighborhood – I guess if your standards are that low then we have indeed made great progress. But again, they’re generally not going to mess with tourists in tourist areas.
start interactions by saying “We’re tourists from Germany…”
Right now, I guess 1/4 the people they interact with in USA might give the fash salute in joy or something
It kinda depends on where in the country you’re going.
West Coast, and Northern East coast is going to be a hugely different experience than the middle of the country or the southern coast.
I live in the deep South. No one will bat an eye. I’ve seen more interracial couples down here than anywhere else in the US.
There’s more of an urban/rural divide here than you’re describing. Their experience in Houston, New Orleans, or Atlanta is going to be a lot different than small town Louisiana or Alabama
Middle of the country? Haha
Nobody gives a fuck
Hey! We have corn. And wheat.
Soybeans are offended!
There’s plenty of racism around, but I wouldn’t worry about it as tourists. What you read about is the general systemic problems related to living here in the day to day. That’s pretty different from visiting as a tourist. As a tourist, you’re pretty unlikely to experience anything like that.
Almost nobody is going to care unless you go places nobody cares about.
We don’t segregate people by color, but some people self segregate. There are areas with more black people or more white people, but there is no laws that say you or her can’t go somewhere because of skin color.
I am assuming she is black. There is a small chance that some people will say rude things to one of you because you are with someone of a different color. Don’t confront them, just walk away. The cops would love to ruin their whole day, so govern yourself accordingly.
We see a lot of Germans in the tourist spots, your accent will be considered adorable and we will love to know where you are from and will likely fail to repeat the name of your home city unless it is Berlin, Frankfort, or Munich. If you are from Bayern, you are from Bavaria. If they ask you to say something in German, “etwas” is funny, but you will have to follow it up with an actual sentence. Throw in an “umgebung”, it’s a fun word to us.
Also you need to understand that America is very large. Germany is smaller than our states of Illinois and Indiana, look at those states on a map and understand that things are further apart than you may think.
If you can manage the 2hr drive, Chattanooga has an awesome aquarium with a massive glass walled tank.
Ask the hotel desk where are some good local spots to get food, but the best places are not in the information pamphlet they may hand you. I hope your pants fit loose, our food can put weight on you very easily if you take in too much of our hedonistic freedom. Tip your servers, that is how they afford to live.
Ich höffe das Eures Urlaub wunderbar sind und der Amis sind freundlich. Ich weiß das Sie Amerika lieben werden. Mein Deutsch schlecht ist, tut mir leid, es ist zwanzig Jahre her dass ich Deutsch gelernt habe.
Your description sounds to me like someone was trying to explain how the US is a melting pot of cultures and they did an extremely poor job 😂
Essentially because we are a country of immigrants people with similar cultures tend to group together. For example there are parts of cities that are predominantly Italian or Chinese. Not because we are racist but because that just happens naturally. People want to share an experience a culture similar to their home country.
Obviously there is always a chance that someone will say something but just ignore them or tell them to mind their own business. You have our blessing to treat those people with absolute disrespect.
Are you comfortable being a bit more specific about what area you’re going to? Vermont and Louisiana would be drastically different experiences.
We were looking into hiking and exploring national parks, maybe around Great Smoky Mountains and visiting Nashville (Tennessee) cause we’re country music lovers.
I live near there and honestly nobody’s likely to care enough to give you trouble
If you’re visiting mostly tourist areas and big cities, you’ll be fine. You might notice some people doing a double take, but it should be pretty harmless. Now if you go to rural, bumfuck nowhere places, your experience might be different.
The Smokies are beautiful, I’m sure you’ll both have a good time. Chattanooga is worth visiting if you have the time, it’s a good mix of college town and rural Appalachian beauty.
Just be aware of your surroundings and whether or not anyone is giving you the stink eye or staring you down, and assume any dude giving you shit has a gun (ie, don’t escalate and just leave). I don’t say that to scare you, carrying guns is just very normal in large swathes of the south, so tailor your threat response accordingly. The majority of people are not gonna be a problem, especially in urban areas. But anyone telling you it never happens is living in denial.
You have nothing to worry about. There’s a handful of areas across the country with people who are outwardly racist, these places are nowhere anybody would ever have a reason to visit on vacation. It’s not the norm. If you have a weird accent most people will immediately be welcoming.
I live in Nashville (and my sister lives in Germany). You should be fine. It’s a great place to visit.
Any place in the world has the small chance of a drunken idiot making a fool of themselves by revealing themselves to be racist. We’re no different. But you’re not going to be harassed by police officers or anything like that (unless you’re doing something worthy of their attention anyway).
The only places where I’d be the slightest bit concerned would be in the small town rural areas between Nashville and the national park. Even then you should be fine, but the odds of running into a racist idiot will go up from like 1% to 3%. And even if you do, it’s not like you’ll be in danger. They’ll just do their best to make you uncomfortable by saying something nasty. They won’t refuse you service or anything crazy like that.
Honestly, even in those areas you’re likely to be looked at suspiciously because of your foreign accent more than the color of your skin.
if you visit Minneapolis or St Paul (“the twin cities”… in Minnesota) let me know. I can give you some good recommendations on places to go. (if you want to be outside, dress accordingly. I like camping at the Zumbro Bottoms, there’s also Itasca State park, which is the headwaters for the Mississippi.) (the cherry on a spoon is a must see, though maybe not in winter.)
Not really, it’s not the 50’s or 60’s.
99% of people don’t give a shit.
Okay that’s good to hear
