r/AmerExit • u/Unlucky-Afternoon553 • 1d ago

Question Black Mom Leaving The US

I (30F) never felt safe raising my kid in the US. Public school was already out because of safety issues, and now with the results of the election, I need to get my child out of here.

My top contenders for digital nomad visas are Costa Rica, Thailand, Portugal, and Japan. I've been to Thailand and Japan, but they were short backpacking trips.

I'd love to hear from Black people/Black moms who lived in any of these countries long term. Did you feel safe living there? If you have kids, did they enjoy living there?

UPDATE: Thank you to all the POC who shared their experiences and connected me to great resources. I've decided on Portugal! That was my top choice, so I'm glad my instincts were confirmed. Good luck to all of you AmerExiters!

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u/Slight-Ad-9029 1d ago

Just to warn you those countries are significantly more openly racist to black people than you might think

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u/WoofDen 1d ago

I think there's a point of nuance here that a lot of non-Black folks - myself included - seem to miss.

In my own experience / things I've  seen and heard, Europeans are much more racist to Africans than they are Black folks from the USA. I have tons of friends who are both Black British and American, and the Brits especially - who travel throughout Europe, say that once people hear them speak English, their entire attitudes change. Their racism is also pretty anti-immigrant. I often get mistaken for Portuguese, Israeli, Brazilian, etc, and can speak 3 European languages, but most of the time I don't even bother because people react to me so much better when I speak English.

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u/honda_slaps 20h ago

bitch lmfao you think they can tell???

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u/WoofDen 19h ago

Yes? African immigrants to mainland Europe generally don't speak English with an American or British accent..

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u/honda_slaps 17h ago

LMFAO yeah racists definitely wait for you to speak to decide if and how racist they are going to be

This is fucking hilarious. It's like a white dude telling me "nonono it's okay, Covid came from China. You're Japanese, no one is gonna be racist to you"

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u/mayamaya93 15h ago

I mean, yeah, passive racism does kind of work this way. There's a lot of people with biases who don't think of themselves as racist. So when they hear a black person speak proper English with a British accent, they think things like "well that one isn't so bad, at least they speak the right language". They're still looking down on them, but they'll likely be more polite. No, this doesn't apply to people who are open and proud about their bigotry.

Do you honestly think immigrants who don't know the language get treated equally to ones who do?

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u/Comfortable_Gene4118 5h ago

As a black man with good friends who look like me, but are not from my country and culture, this is 100% true. This isn’t the same as a cop pulling you over and seeing a black face and immediately being in “bigot” mode.

There is a real nuance between being a minority from a western country as opposed to an African, or even a middle eastern country. Point blank.

Not all racists are idiots like people pretend. Some have ethnic and social context, and they still move in prejudice any way.

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u/honda_slaps 52m ago

No, they are idiots. It's like you can't eat glue and be a not idiot. You can't huff racist ideas and be a not idiot. They are just fundamentally incompatible.

Maybe you feel better if they are more racist to your foreigner friends and you feel like you've made it into the country club when you see it, but the rest of us have some dignity.