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Carnaval de Barranquilla, Colombia. Photo by Otto Nassar
AS A BLACK AMERICAN MALE living for the past seven years in Latin America, I’ve had more than my share of the craziness that comes with Traveling While Black. And I know other travelers of color – be they Asian, Latino, or Martian – can feel me on the foolishness.
1. The hassle of being considered a potential terrorist, drug smuggler, and/or illegal immigrant by US customs and immigration officers.
You know how you get off a long flight, exhausted but glad to be home. And as soon as you get to the immigration booth, the officer starts giving you the third degree about where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing. Then the customs officer – and, depending on your point-of-entry, often someone just as brown as you are, with the hint of a foreign accent – starts asking you the same questions you were asked at immigration, then selects you for a “random” secondary screening. Three random secondary screenings in a row tend to make you question the randomness of the screenings.
2. The annoyance of “positive” stereotypes.
“You blacks have dance in the blood.” “If I could be anything else, I would be a black American because you guys can really screw.” “I just love blacks.”
Objectification and hyper-sexualization? We can do math, too!
3. The shock of seeing grotesque caricatures that have been banned in the United States for decades.
Blackface tar babies, mammies, pickaninnies, sambos, spear-chuckers – all can be seen as characters in folkloric festivals and for sale as dolls and trinkets at souvenir shops in Latin America. Of course, I’m imposing my own North American overly-PC cultural values on someone else’s culture when I grimace in disgust at this plantation-era coonery and get told to lighten up. No wonder the USA is the only major post-colonial society to have a black president. Or media mogul. Or Secretary of State. Or…
4. The indignation at being mistaken for a security guard, maid, drug dealer, or prostitute.
I’ve been sent back around to service elevators, been approached about how much a gram of cocaine costs, been approached about how much I would charge for the whole night, been asked if I would let some guys friends into VIP. I’ve had female friends who’ve been asked if the dogs they were walking were their employer’s, how much they would charge for the whole night, and blocked at their hotel lobby by overzealous security guards (who were just as brown-skinned – see #5).
5. The frustration of being ignored/hassled until it’s realized that you’re foreign, too.
I’ve been out at restaurants and nightclubs with white friends who were the exclusive center of attention, until the groupies finally noticed, “oh…you’re not Brazilian/Colombian/from here?” I don’t begrudge my white pals their fifteen minutes – it’s nice to bathe in the adulation garnered by being “exotic,” and my friends tend to be cool peeps – but you only see me when you hear English come out of my mouth? Boo.
And I hate to use my language as a weapon, but sometimes, I gotta let homies know to stand down, especially nightclub bouncers and the security staff at nice hotels.
6. The exasperation of having your background, nationality, and/or ‘Western-ness’ questioned.
Abroad, people seem to think that you can’t be a “real American” if you aren’t white: “But you don’t ‘look’ American. Really, where is your family from?” They won’t take what you say you are at face value (granted, for their own socio-historical reasons): “But you’re not black, you’re, like, caramel.”
On the other side, many people in North America and Europe seem to have a hard time grasping the concept that “Western” and “white” are not synonymous, and that Latin America is, in fact, Western. Yes, a great many Westerners are white, and the identifying characteristics of a Western country – i.e. Judeo-Christian spiritual leanings and an espousal of Greco-Roman political ideals – stem mainly from Europe. But why is Brazil not considered Western when it’s the world’s largest Catholic country? Is Peru not a democracy? And are people of color from the US any less Western because they aren’t white (hello, Asia)?
7. The rancor of having your qualifications and abilities ignored in light of your application photo.
“His CV is very good, but I’m not so sure about his picture.” This was told to a friend and colleague of mine – a white American guy – by the director at the Colombo-Americano bicultural center in Bogotá regarding my application for a teaching position. Apparently, mine didn’t represent the face of English.
Neither does this guy’s.
8. The sting of hearing, being called, or reading “nigger” in an academic paper.
Hip-hop and Hollywood movies are extremely popular outside of the USA. As such, the n-word has found its way into people’s lexicons, regardless of how little English they speak. In the Dominican Republic, some friends and I were greeted with “Hey, niggers” by a friendly, rap-loving teenager who had recognized us as American and thought that was an appropriate greeting.
In Colombia, as a university English professor, I encountered the word several times in academic papers written by students who didn’t have the historical context to know better. I read it in an official tourist guide, describing Afro-Colombian traditions and dance. I was asked by a woman there once, while responding to an oft-repeated query of my origins (see #6), why I “wanted to be a black nigger.” She knew better. And no, overseas, there really wasn’t a distinction between “nigger” and “nigga,” since the former is often pronounced like the latter depending on the local language, and the latter is rarely – if ever – written, unlike the former. But then this dropped.
*For non-black defenders of the term’s use, let me point out that not all black people are responsible for the word’s usage in music and film, so boo to the whole “well you guys use it” argument. To paraphrase John Ridley: when you get to go through slavery and Jim Crow, you get to use the word.
All that being said, I’ll never stop traveling. 
Ernest "Fly Brother" White II
FlyBrother, aka Ernest White II, is a writer, photographer, educator, and aimless intellectual originally from Jacksonville, Florida. A proud FAMU Rattler, he has lived in Tallahassee, Washington, Santo Domingo, Miami, Barranquilla, Bogotá, and Brasília. He suffers from acute Brazilitis and terminal vagabond neurosis.
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I just have one comment about #4, in Lebanon prositutes tend to be white women (Eastern European usually, Russian especially), so any blond girl in Lebanon easily feels that indignation when her taxi driver is getting handsy with her or men are yelling at her constantly from the street. Just keep in mind, non-white people are not the only ones being discriminated against and stereotyped.
Not that I’m trying to lesson the point you’re making here, just being deviil’s advocate.
Ignorance knows no geographical boundaries. I’m glad you wrote this; it’s important to keep the conversation alive. People who don’t experience discrimination assume it doesn’t exit.
Why is it that whenever an article written by a person of color about his/her experiences in racism, even a lighthearted one like this one, is immediately dismissed by incredulous white people? They like to make it a point to minimize the author’s unique experiences by expressing that it doesn’t only happen to people of color, but to white people too. Or to say that an article like this is inappropriate in a travel-related website. Or to say that if they wrote the article then it would get a backlash.
That’s the nature of the internet. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Well-written. People tend to be pretty ignorant.
You need to realize that most people in Latin America are … let´s say “dumb”. Hardly will you ever come across someone who´s been to many countries and has developed some sense of cultural sensivity and can understand how other fellow humans may feel in new situations that happen in alien surroundings. It´s not you. It´s them. The stupid “them”.
I think a better term would be “disadvantage”. As in they cannot afford to travel to other countries. This would be true for most people in the world, specially in developing countries.
Informative article that reveals truth regarding the global nature of the system of racism white supremacy. I do suspect however that white people know full well about the system they created and currently maintain. Racism = White Supremacy. Where can I white person go in the entire world and be demeaned and degraded on the basis of being white? I suspect NOWHERE on the planet.
Thanks for this, cause some don’t believe it’s around..
the key word in this sentence is “major”. south africa: not major, as much as it wants to think it is.
ursanegro: please define “major”. South Africa has a population the ranks right behind France, Britain and Italy. Nigeria has the 7th largest population and a black leader so “major” must not be based on population. South Africa has a GDP similar Austria, Denmark and Argentina. But if it’s based on GDP maybe I should write how India, Japan and China haven’t had a white leader.
I can understand where the writer is coming from but many of his complaints are similar to those that all travellers are exposed to. Being white I’ve been offered drugs, women, rolexes non stop through many of my travels. I’ve been ignored at restaurants in Europe. Just roll with it. Stop thinking everything is about color and just enjoy seeing and experiencing different cultures.
After travelling a fair amount I come to realize the US isn’t the only major country out there, as much as you want to think it is.
There is a BIG difference between being OFFERED drugs and prostitutes than being MISTAKEN for pimps whores and drug dealers. Jfc
um, i’ve lived in south africa for the last seven years. it’s “tolerated” on the global stage and really? companies set up shop here because it’s largely malaria-free. [shit, that's one of the reasons that i live here.]
major, on a global usefulness front. south africa, as a world player, is useless. i know this and i live here.
[there's an argument that this uselessness is one of the reasons *why* i live here, as well. there's a lot to be said about living in a country with no real enemies.]
Not really a big difference. In the end you just say no and continue on your way. Try being white and travelling with your asian american girlfriend in Southeast Asia. She is viewed as a whore and you are viewed as a sex traveller. We can all find similar scenarios, it’s a product of travelling outside of your own little world. It’s how you chose to deal with it where there can be a big difference.
In the end, each race and gender can always find reasons why they believe they are being discriminated against. If you are strong enough to not let it faze you, you can look past 95% of the cultural differences/misinterpretations.
“some friends and I were greeted with “Hey, niggers” by a friendly, rap-loving teenager who had recognized us as American and thought that was an appropriate greeting.”
This kid did not have any malice in his heart against black people so why complain about it. Move on. Most people have good hearts and aren’t raised with the politically correct/afraid to offend anyone media of the USA. Enjoy travel for what it is… a unique experience to see different people and cultures.
I am a white female living in South Korea, where I’ve been asked on more than two occasions if I’m Russian, with the double assumed insinuation that I must be there as a pro.
http://www.news24.com/MyNews24/Should-South-Africans-be-optimistic-20111226 - lots of cool info on here. We may not be in the G8, but we’re a big deal on the largest continent, and being a stabilising factor in volatile Africa means we’re a world player whether or not we have the GDP to prove it or not; and we’re a big deal in a number of other arenas globally. This interesting article not only gives loads of reasons why we could be a global player if we wanted to, but also points out some of the reasons why we’re not – which are less about intention or capability, than about greed, selfishness, and mismanagement.