I take issue with people saying that the U.S. is the only anti-Black and racist country in the world. White supremacy has a global reach; so does anti-Blackness. Just because you stayed in a country for a week as a tourist (presumably with decent money to spend) and had a great time does not mean that the place is not racist.

I’ve experienced racism in the Maldives, Morocco, Qatar, and the Dominican Republic, where my Black friends and I were denied entry into and then forcibly removed from a nightclub.

It does not mean that you should be deterred from travel as a Black person, but don’t be reductive and ignorant about different forms of racism and the global impact of white supremacy. Do some research and educate yourself before you make sweeping generalizations about foreign cultures. Don’t negate other Afro-descendant peoples’ experiences and realities with traveling abroad and living outside of the United States.

Before stating that a country is not racist, ask yourself, how are the Black people who live in the country treated, especially the darker their skin? What are their experiences with the local police force? Police brutality is state violence and it is not exclusive to the United States. (And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the racism Black people can face.) Are their human rights actively protected by the government?

Ari Lennox spoke out about having a brush with the police in the Netherlands after being racially profiled. While it’s not likely that you’ll face the police abroad as a Black traveler, it can happen and they can be less forgiving than they’d be with non-Blacks. Just because you can go a week in the U.S. without a violent police encounter - presumably how long you’re vacationing in a foreign country and gauging in that short amount of time whether or not it’s racist - doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen to Black people.

FYI Africa struggles with police brutality as well, which is a holdover from European colonization when whites taught Africans working in their police forces and/or in positions of relative power how to control and subjugate the Indigenous populations.

BRAZIL

Sign reads: “Black lives and favela-dwellers matter.”

I stayed in Brazil for a month and had a great time; no one bothered or harassed me, no one pointed out my color nor wanted to take pictures of me. But I know that the country is racist. I know that people do frequently point out each other’s color, calling dark-skinned people “neguinho” or “Blackie,” even though it didn’t happen to me (I probably seemed too American/foreign.) The former president is an outspoken anti-Black, anti-Indigenous racist and homophobe. The nation boasts the world’s third-largest prison population. I know there is a wide socioeconomic and political gap between Blacks and whites in the country, and that the Afro-descendant people were pushed out of the cities and forced to build their own homes in the mountains (which is how the favelas were created). I know the police force is militarized and brutalizes and murders the Black population. I know of other Black tourists who have been mistaken for locals and treated like garbage, being denied service in restaurants.

The country has enacted policies and laws over the years to legally ban Black immigrants and instead entice white, European immigration. These practices are rooted in the Latin American ideological campaign of “branqueamento” which is Portuguese for “whitening,” and lasted from about 1880-1930. (“Blanqueamiento” is the Spanish term.)

Particularly after the 20th century, interracial relationships and mixed-race children were encouraged in Brazil as a means of diluting Blackness. The national obsession with women’s shapely butts and the popularity of BBLs actually has an anti-Black history, as the ideal woman advertised as the image of Brazilian beauty and supposed racial “progress” is a mixed-race woman, who signals the diminution of Black blood; it is elimination via amalgamation and it is based on anti-Black eugenics. Brazil and its enduring anti-Black attitudes stand as a prime example of how interracial unions (as believed in the U.S. in particular) will never end racism. Within a majority-multiracial population, anti-Black prejudice simply becomes more layered, as people continue to vie for their relative proximity to whiteness. Race is a construct and a moving target which can change across time and contexts, so it cannot be destroyed through miscegenation. If you want a prime example of how this works in a modern-day, multiracial Brazilian family, watch this video.

Should I say Brazil is not a racist country because I had a wonderful time during my month-long stay?

Anti-Blackness runs rampant in Latin America.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

I studied abroad in Dominican Republic for four months and the first month was fine. As time went on, the more I tanned, the darker my skin got, and the worse I was treated, especially by other dark-skinned people.

The culmination of racism I experienced there was when my Black friends and I were first denied entry into a nightclub, then made to pay off the doorman even though there wasn’t a cover charge; about 20 minutes later, we were told we had to leave and forcibly removed from said club. We knew it was about our skin color because other lighter-skinned - I’ll call them ‘dark white’ (i.e. possessing white skin with an olive undertone, dark hair, dark eyes) - people in our party who arrived before and after us had no problems getting in and were not told that they had to leave. I read another person’s account with the same experience of being denied entry into a club in D.R. because of his skin color on a blog; my experience wasn’t a fluke nor an anomaly.

Dominican people called me a “damn Haitian” if I didn’t understand something (that was said in Spanish), shorted me money, and even wanted to take pictures of me next to my blonde white friend.

The virulent anti-Haitian ethos is mostly attributed to former Dominican dictator Trujillo, who organized the genocide of Haitian people. In 1937, Haitian people living on the border were subjected to a bloody massacre during which time an estimated 20,000 humans were murdered in just four days. During his reign, Trujillo fabricated and propagated the idea that Dominicans were white, Catholic, and of Spaniard descent while Haitians were Black, racially inferior, and the sadistic “other,” as Haitian Voudou is also largely demonized (across the world and in popular culture). Like many Latin American countries, the Dominican Republic carried out campaigns meant to “whiten” the population by encouraging immigration from European countries and making Latinx people believe they need to “mejorar la raza” (“advance the race”) by procreating with lighter-skinned individuals with more European features.

There is still a plethora of state violence against dark-skinned people especially those of Haitian descent, inclusive of lynchings. Dominican-born people of Haitian descent were rendered stateless and forcefully deported when a sweeping legislation denying them citizenship was enacted in 2013.

Many Dominicans still believe that Haitians eat people and that Black people only exist in and live in Haiti. I have Dominican (and other Latinx) family members and former friends who criminalize, hypersexualize, and dehumanize Black people, dark skin, and Black/African physical features, especially on women and girls; they use terms like “morena/negra fea” (“ugly Black girl”) as a descriptor for all Black women, “pelo malo” (bad hair) or pajonua (equivalent to nappy head), and say “pretty for a Black girl.” I have a cousin who was surprised that Celia Cruz had multiple suitors in her biopic and stated, “She had a lot of admirers for a morena fea.” They call Black people the N-word and deem them lazy. They also exhibit ethnocentrism and superiority by devaluing Black cultures, specifically African-American culture.

Latinx people also have specific slurs for Black people, with Dominicans using terms like cocolo and negativo. I have been called a gorilla by American men of Latinx descent and know of Black women who have been called other slurs drawn from simianization, like monkey (mono in Spanish). Latinx people also frequently compare Black women to filthy insects. (The Latinx women who do this fetishize, exoticize and masculinize dark skin which is why they procreate with Black men, who deem them superior to monoracial Black women; they’re insecure so they feed into the prejudicial notion of superiority. Their relation to their half-Black children does not give them a pass nor eliminate their prejudice, just as slaveowners were still racist after having half-Black children.) I have been racially harassed and wrongfully terminated by a white Latinx female manager who was clear about the distinction between “Latinos” and “Black Latinos.” In 2016, a multiracial Dominican woman dressed in Blackface on a Dominican television program, making fun of dark-skinned Afro-Dominican star Amara La Negra by becoming a racist caricature. Blackface is used in numerous Latin American countries.

Stop saying all Latinos are Black; you need to research their individual histories of European colonization and their present-day cultures of racism and white supremacy for context. Even if they’re from the Caribbean, they are not automatically Black. All Latinos are very familiar with the concept of race which does exist in their countries; they have all produced enduring social hierarchies or caste systems that place whiteness at the top and Blackness at the bottom. They all have slurs and negative sayings for and about Black people; they frequently call Black women monkeys and gorillas. If your turn on any Spanish-language channel or program you can easily see that Latinos are not all Black, and that they want to align with whiteness/anti-Blackness as much as possible. Several Latin American countries have at one point or another legally banned Black immigrants from settling in the countries.

Other peers of mine from Howard University who studied in the country recounted to me their experiences with blatant racism there. One young woman had a luxurious mane of natural Afro hair which she asked to have washed at a salon in D.R. only to have the stylist apply a damaging relaxer without her consent, which led to her hair falling out. FYI this is extremely traumatic for any woman, and relaxers harbor dangerous chemicals that adversely impact your health; if someone declines the use of one, using one on that person is essentially criminal.

These things all constitute racism and anti-Blackness. The country has a long, violent history of anti-Haitian and anti-Black culture.

I personally will never support the country with my tourism dollars again because that’s how it sustains itself, tourism being one of its major industries, and I had horrible experiences on two separate occasions. There are so many other lush and beautiful Caribbean islands to visit. I used to get confused when I saw people of Haitian descent visiting D.R. for vacation - a friend of mine who is Haitian-American said they usually do so because the country is cheaper than other destinations - but it’s not wise to reward such targeted bad behavior.

SOUTH AFRICA

I had a blast in South Africa. Now everyone should know about apartheid and how the regime only ended in 1994; i.e. segregation of the races is still fairly fresh compared to other places like the U.S. There is lots of division between non-white groups in the country, specifically the Coloured and Asian people who harbor strong anti-Black sentiments, and there is a multitude of violence and discrimination that is enacted upon dark-skinned people and Africans hailing from other countries who live in South Africa.

The country’s population by race breaks down to 80.8% Black, 8.7% Coloured, 2.6% Asian, and 7.9% white. When it comes to who lives in poverty by race, the rates are 64% percent of Blacks, 41% of Coloureds, 6% of Asians, and just 1% of whites. The country is still highly segregated with different communities having vastly different levels of access to necessary, basic services like internet, clean air, piped water, etc. Clearly the impact of apartheid - an outgrowth of white supremacy and anti-Blackness - is still present as evidenced by the stark socioeconomic disparities. Since I had an enjoyable trip and didn’t personally experience any racism there, should I say the country isn’t racist?

Racism isn’t just about overt violence or name-calling. It’s also about not honoring someone’s humanity and making assumptions about them; invading their personal space without permission; regarding them as oddities and objects made to fulfill your sexual desires and ignorant delight; telling them they don’t belong in certain places, etc.

QATAR & THE MIDDLE EAST

When I was in Qatar, an Arab airport worker who was checking my luggage kept asking me invasive, unnecessary questions like, “Where are you from? How old are you? Where are you going?” I told him at least three times that I was from the U.S. when he finally retorted in utter shock, “So you’re not from Africa?!”

I’m familiar with the kafala system, a new-age slavery system that traps African and Asian migrants, as well as the Middle East’s grisly history of helming the East African Slave Trade, and the lingering strong anti-Black sentiment in the region, so I know that he thought I was a young African girl going to work and/or be trafficked. He didn’t sound like he wanted to help me but more so like he might want to solicit me. If you can’t believe I’m from the U.S. because I’m Black, and/or are surprised to learn that I’m not a maid or prostitute because I’m Black, that’s race-based prejudice.

MOROCCO

If white and Arab men in Europe and North Africa - I had this experience in Morocco - are making race-specific catcalls to me like, “Chocolate,” or, “Ooo Black women,” and like I read on another blog suddenly trying to kiss Black women without permission because they believe Black women are desperate, easy and promiscuous, that’s fetishization and racism. If you want me specifically because of my race, you’re making race-based assumptions about me and that’s racism. My race isn’t a monolith, Black women aren’t a monolith; we don’t all look the same, think the same way, behave the same way, love the same way. We’re individual human beings.

Before going to Morocco, Zim from Travel Noire gave my travel group a pre-departure breakdown that noted that Moroccans might call us by the N-word. She stated that it wasn’t malicious but that Moroccans heard it in music and therefore wanted to say it. Luckily we didn’t have that awkward issue come up, but a Moroccan man in the town square did push and kick a few women in the group one day.

One night, my travel group visited a successful Black West African/West Indian woman’s home for dinner. She’s married to a white American man. She spoke of her run-ins with casual racism in both France and Morocco, even sharing an experience that a young Ghanaian woman she knows had in Morocco. The Ghanian woman applied for a job and when she went in for the interview, the Moroccan interviewer told her it’d be great if she could cut her (natural) hair and sit in the back as opposed to interacting with customers because she’s not Moroccan. Does that not reek of racism? The country might not be as highly racialized as the U.S. - the Black woman’s husband said he thought of them as a French-American couple rather than an interracial couple outside of the states - but anti-Blackness and racism still exist there.

THE MALDIVES

When I arrived to the Maldives, I was grabbing my luggage after already clearing customs when an airport employee stopped me. He looked at me menacingly and harassed me with a bunch of questions that should have been addressed by customs, which like I said, had already cleared me. He asked me where I came from, what I was doing there, where I was staying, how long I’d be there, what job I had in the states, and after like 15 questions, finally rudely gave me back my passport. Everyone else in the airport was white or Asian, so for him to specifically pick me out for an unnecessary and brusque interrogation definitely struck me as racism.

While in that damned country, I stayed at a luxury resort that charged $600 USD/night just to have a hotel employee touch my hair. She then proceeded to pepper me with questions like, “Is it a wig? How do you wash it? Can you do this hairstyle?” Trust me when I say this was the last place on Earth I thought I’d have this problem and yes I was deeply offended. I was really shocked because her skin was darker than mine and this type of behavior, infringing upon people’s personal space to satiate your ignorance, is usually a product of white privilege. Her assumption that I would be okay with such invasive questioning and having my person physically harassed and accosted like that because of my phenotype and race is racism. This was my first time in Asia and I was avoiding China for this exact reason. Another hotel employee also badgered me about which room I was staying in and whether or not I could have the complimentary breakfast. I was the only Black woman at the resort, which encompassed a whole island.

The views definitely weren’t worth the harassment and the 30-hour trips each way - it’s hard to get there from the U.S. and it’s also a fairly expensive destination - and I’m certain that places in the Caribbean, off the African (Western, Eastern, Southern) coasts, the Mediterranean and in French Polynesia rival the scenery. I was actually supposed to go to Zanzibar but ended up seeing a flight deal to the Maldives. I met a Tanzanian worker at the Maldivian resort and even he told me that his country’s better because it has the beach and the mountains, much more to do and see. I digress…

There you go, anti-Blackness and racism exist just about everywhere. Yes, even in Africa because colorism (and every -ism and -phobia) is anti-Blackness; internalized oppression is still prejudice that stems from white supremacy. I remember I wanted to apply for a Fulbright years ago but after having such a harrowing experience in D.R., I did extensive online research to find out about Black people’s experiences in different countries. I found so many people write about the nuanced and casual racism they experienced abroad; it’s only when you live somewhere that you can get a true feel for the racial climate, and even then certain cities within a country might be worse than others, or in the case of Ukraine, you might not feel the sharp racial disparities until a crisis hits.

I used to write off destinations but I’ve since learned that it’s kind of just the way it is and it shouldn’t stop you from exploring. I’m still probably not going to China because I don’t like strangers snapping photos of me and gawking but I think I’d like to visit India in spite of everything.

In summary, white supremacy and therefore anti-Blackness have a global reach. People need to educate themselves on the socioeconomic and political histories and climates of other countries before declaring that the only racist country in the world is the United States. Black people should not be hesitant to travel abroad; however, we should not be ignorant about the different forms of racism abroad and should not be dismissive of other people’s lived experiences with racism in countries outside of the United States.

Are Other Countries Racist?