As a black or brown person, do you find it hard to travel sometimes because of your looks?

[Literalbillionaire17]

In Italy people kept asking me if I was from Africa. And when I told them no they were surprised 💀

Some people were super super super chill and then there were people that would just stare me down.


I never rlly get a super hard time but there’s little things sometimes that you notice.


What’s your experience?

[abc3643]

I am White and, for other White people, I want you to read this because this is an example of "White Privilege".

I have a friend of mine who is a "person of color".

He is American - born in the USA, raised in New Jersey near NYC, no accent whatsoever. We connect because we are both easy-going "native New Yorkers" having been raised in the NYC metropolitan area.

But he is Sikh and his family is originally from India. Being a Sikh, he wears a patka turban (see image below) and maintains a beard.

To the ignorant, they suspect he is a "Muslim terrorist". So, when he flies, even just inside the US, he is pulled aside "randomly" for extra inspection. We spoke about it and he says he has to factor extra time when going to the airport because of it. Of course, I, being White and not looking like a Muslim terrorist, don't have to worry about the extra hassle at the airport.

I wish more TSA (Transportation Security Administration) agents were a little more knowledgeable.

Fortunately, it seems that there were enough complaints by Sikh Americans that DHS (Department of Homeland Security - the parent organization for the TSA) put out a memo about it:

====================

Common Sikh American Head Coverings Poster
https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CRCL_SikhHeadCoveringPoster_2005.pdf
The following document was produced by the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.
Document Description:
Common Sikh American Head Coverings
Sikhism is a religion that originated in South Asia during the 15th Century and is distinct from
both Islam and Hinduism. For religious reasons, practicing Sikhs do not cut their hair. Sikh men
wrap their long hair with a turban called a pagri (see photo a), a practice that typically takes 10-
15 minutes. Sikh boys wrap their hair in a smaller under-turban called a patka, with their hair
knotted on top of their head (photo b). Some Sikh women also wear turbans (photo c); however,
many wear a cloth called a chunni to cover their head (photo d).
Points to keep in mind when searching someone wearing a Sikh head covering
• Show RESPECT
• Explain why you need to conduct search
• Offer private room for search if available
• Searches should be conducted by a screener of the same gender as the passenger being
searched
Picture A: Man with pagri
Picture B: Boy with patka
Picture C: Woman with pagri
Picture D: Woman with chunni
Transportation Security Administration
Produced by the Department of Homeland Security, Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in
conjunction with the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, 2005. Images and descriptions
of Sikh head coverings provided by Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund
(SALDEF).
If you have any problem accessing this document, please contact: civil. liberties@dhs. gov
For more information, please visit: www.dhs.gov/crcl.

[Literalbillionaire17]

This is so true!!! people are so ignorant and don’t take the time to learn about others and just group people all into one category. You won’t believe how many people don’t even know who a Sikh person is or where they even come from.

[zagor]

So when I was in Japan some women would clutch their purse when they saw me, and some businesses refused me entrance. Was this also "white privilege"?

[abc3643]

@zagor
I have no idea who you are (or your ethnicity) but "White Privilege" is actually a subset of a larger phenomenon: Majority Privilege.

It is chordate nature to be more trusting of the familiar and cautious of the unfamiliar.
Put another way, to partition the universe into "Us" and "Them".
The members of "Us" are more trustworthy and we have stronger connections with other members of "Us". However, we are less trusting and connected and have emotional empathy for members of "Them". So much so, that we may not want "Them" around or make it difficult for "Them" to succeed because, simply, we don't trust "Them".

Thus, when "Us" is in the majority and making the rules or has the power and "Them" is not, things become more difficult for "Them". The result is "Majority Privilege" - the de facto benefits of being a member of the majority. We could just as easily say "Majority Privilege" is "Minority Burden".

Anyway, this is human nature and goes to the fundamentals of racism and other bigotries such as religious or ethnic strife.

The key to overcoming this is to have a more inclusive idea of "Us". This doesn't happen overnight but does change over generations (and with technological assistance).

[Ευδεμονια]

As Italian, I ask you pardon in name of all my people. We have problems with immigration and a lot of people is very ignorant, so things like that happens daily. People here find very difficult to accept the differences and stereotype everyone. They’re also stir up by some political parties that point at immigrants as the cause of the problems of our nation (in some few cases it’s true, but the majority of accused are pure fantasies).
Here it happens also to people coming from Asia, they’re all considered “chineses”, it happened to a Japanese friend.


To answer, I never had problems travelling since I’m white, but I comprehend perfectly that there can be a lot of problems and false accuses for people when ignorance and prejudice rule.

[ElementoP]

And you go to China and everyone will want to take pictures with you as a white person and make fun of your big eyes and how tall you are. Which is exactly to happened to me and my family when we went to China.
It's not ignorance, it's human nature to find things different from you interesting and funny
We just pretend it's a bad thing in America because we think we're better than everyone

[Ευδεμονια]

Let’s make a distinction… there’s human nature and human curiosity about the “different” and on the other side there’s prejudice and ignorance.
The curiosity is what you explained, finding the different interesting and funny…
The ignorance is finding the different strange and repulsive.

[menina]

I've heard that there's a lot of racism in Italy so unfortunately I'm not surprised.

I have been living in the same country for 27 years and I haven't travelled to other places since then. However, I know that as a black person there are some parts of the world that I must avoid either because I could be beaten up, raped or killed. So yes, black and non-white people must be careful when they're choosing a country or a city to visit.

[DizzyDesii]

Nope I carefully choose where I travel to and ensure its a diverse place. But Australia probably won't be all that diverse. Oh well, I’m still goin

[Literalbillionaire17]

Period

[menina]

Australia has a lot of non-white people. What happens is that we only see white Australians on TV.

[DizzyDesii]

i think most will enjoy our American accent in general

[menina]

Yes, they might like your accent. I still wouldn't go there.

[KostasKouvalis]

Oh damn, I didn't know you were Black. I don't think the Italians were so much racist as they were curious, especially since most colored people in Europe are refugees.

Don't take the African thing too personally. I've noticed a lot of Medeterrean people are very ignorant and love to generalize. Like when we were in Turkey, everyone automatically assumed that we were Russian. They don't understand how this could be offensive to someone.

A lot of Italians also don't like African refugees and for good reasons, and not very many Black tourists go to Italy so don't feel offended by your experience. Europeans are much more direct and don't give a shit about political correctness so much.

But I will say this, after my experience in Taiwan, I decided I will no longer waste my time and money on places where I am clearly not welcome. I would give this advice to EVERYONE. If you feel there's a place that doesn't like your people, just don't go there. Simple as that.

[Dinklex3]

Mmm... Going around Korea people have been super sweet and helpful.

The old people always call me beautiful and say they hope I get a "tall rich husband" 😅

And they've been super helpful whenever I'm lost and trying to figure things out.

[jengeorge26]

I am a single white female so I have only heard second hand like from you the difficult time that black and brown people have. My customers are of every race and I treat them all the same. The girls that work with me are mostly brown, black and fewer white girls like me. Feel free to ask me any questions.

[convo_king89]

I’m brown, but I’ve always found the demographic questions funny. It asks ethnicity. Then asks if I’m Latino/Hispanic.

yes I’m Asian but not latino/hispanic. I don’t know why specially ask about latino/hispanic.

[Literalbillionaire17]

I never understood why it especially asked the either 😂 and then when I press that I am they want specific like 🕵🏽‍♀️

[convo_king89]

It’s like a double check have ice check on you.

[Andro36]

As a colombian non white person, absolutely no. Some people might be racist but that is just because they are poor ignorants who haven't had the chance to travel around the world and understand we are nothing but small dots in this huge universe. Just be proud of who you are you are unique

[NathanDavis]

not hard, no... but some people still seem surprised when they see me/hear me speak "perfect Spanish" lol

[LazerBean]

In other countries yes, but not in America. Nobody really cares, or if they do it's not in a negative way.

[wingattebaby16]

I am half filipina half white

often mistaken for mexican or Pacific Islander

[AsaKyo]

No, even better. I just don't get hired to jobs because of my name. 😂😂😂

[dontknow12]

Some black people are set up for failure by their own parents. A lot of hiring managers are going to be suspicious when the name "Dra'Tavious" or "Nateeshay" shows up on the resumes they look at.

[AsaKyo]

@dontknow12 My name doesn't even remotely look or sound ghetto, but it still happens

[dontknow12]

Really? I don't know your name but only other thing I can think of is your name might sound like you're from another country.

[AsaKyo]

@dontknow12 That's probably the reason

[dontknow12]

That sucks too because then hiring managers are going to be afraid that you can't speak English well.

[D1ana13]

I’ve heard it from my black friends that it’s a definite yes

[jimmy2]

I was in Bombay before the name changed. It was odd to see a Muslim strip down and do his prayers in the airport

[Anonymous]

People ask me if I'm from Japan. Does that make it hard for me to travel? Nope.

[duttyjamagyal]

Are you black?

[Literalbillionaire17]

Yeah

[Fuentes]

Nah I been state side forever