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.
Just go for it, so long as you aren’t overtly rude you’ll have minimal issues (hard to do, in my experience Germans are quite polite). Few people will care at all and those that do probably won’t tell you to your face which is for the best for everyone anyway.
Assuming you’re going to visit as a tourist most places you will be at will be fine for both of you.
Also check out Atlas Obscura and Wikivoyage if you haven’t they are both cool resources for getting around and finding things to do
That shouldn’t be a problem we’re both kinda introverted and just wanna have a good time
Wonderful! I hope you have a great time here in the US, I know I enjoyed my time in Germany
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
Wear a hunting camo baseball cap, you’ll both blend in just fine.
Been to various parts of the US. Met open racists on a few occasions. How likely you are to encounter them will vary by location, but your experience will most likely be great. There are many racists in America but most of them are not the kind who will choose some black tourist in the middle of the city to harass. You’d have to get pretty unlucky to get more than a snide look. Most of the people you will interact with as a tourist will be customer service reps, who, generally speaking, will be extremely cordial, even if they were to be the kind of American who has some issues with race. The one color Americans respect more than black or white is green. If you have money to spend, they’ll be only too happy to help you spend it. Cops will treat you better if you have money too, and not even in the sense of bribes. Dress like you have money and they’ll treat you like you do.
That said, non-racial crime is still very much a thing, especially against tourists, so keep to the safety of well lit, populated areas as much as you can unless you have a local to tell you where it’s safe.
Oh, and try some authentic Mexican food if you can. It’s delicious.
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.
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.
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.
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.
You’ll probably be mostly fine, but expect people to find your accent to be a novelty.
Racists usually keep their mouths shut in public, just pay attention to your surroundings and be careful (good advice anywhere you go).
I’ve definitely gotten lots of looks in the US due to my accent not matching the way I look as Americans understand it.
It ranges from “huh, that was weird” to actually annoying after a while, but it was never an outright issue for me.
Also, holy crap, stay away from cops. That is an actual piece of advice for the OP. You’re gonna think cops are there for you because you’re all European and stuff and I’m telling you now, US cops serve an entirely different social function and do not expect to interact with you unless it’s through violence. I am very serious about this.
Oh shit yeah, I assumed that was a given because I forgot other countries have cops that actually help people sometimes. ESPECIALLY stay away from any cop with visible tats because there’s a non zero chance they’re in a literal gang.
No you don’t. Just don’t act like the death valley Germans and you’ll be fine.
I would stay far away unless you’re trying to learn about the rise of fascism first hand.
Bro ain’t you gonna face structural racism on your eat pray love vacation.
I assume that’s probably not the case
Go there. Test it out. Troll them. Record them. Have fun!
So others have already addressed most of your concerns, so, I’ll just leave it at that.
but, eh, I do want to point out that it’s surprising to me that EU people frequently seem to assume we’re all just one big sameness. Like you would look at me weird if I suggested French and Spanish cultures were the same, right? In terms of population size and landmass both, the US is more comparable to the EU as a whole, and we have a lot of diverse sub cultures here.
Some of that is divided along racial lines- do remember that roughly half of the 340 million people in the US aren’t white, and even if we were, most of our states have their own cultural quirks (and that includes variations in accents and dialects.) Which really shouldn’t be that surprising, considering at 85 million, Germany has subtle variations of culture too. y’all don’t all speak Standard German (which is funny because we tend to think of the stereotypical German as being Bavarian. complete with the lederhosen. I blame Oktoberfest.)
hell, some of your dialects may in fact be different languages than Standard German (Low Saxon, for example.)
Suffice it to say, we’ve got a lot of variation here, and the culture that you experience will largely depend on where you go. and since you’ve mentioned Nashville… definitely need to try the BBQ there. it’s delicious.
Don’t come here. Shit’s fucked.
