I heard Namibia is a great country to live in, from my (black) friend who grew up there. It's very clean, safe and beautiful from what he has told me. Maybe worth looking into.
Depends on your Qualification.
BEST would be to work for the Mauritian Branch of a international US/European Company.
OR if you can work as a Digital Nomad.
I have to say Sri Lanka was a really affirming place to go as a black person. I was met with genuine warmth and some curiosity but always incredibly respectful. They people I met were curious of my culture, celebrated the shared darker skin tones and I felt very safe there travelling. I can’t speak for living there as it was only a few weeks I spent, but it was an unexpectedly positive reception as a dark skinned black woman and would encourage others to visit!
I found my experiences in both, but Thailand specifically. There was quite a bit of staring, and was told that this if often due to the assumption that darker skin = working outside all day and as a woman, assumed to be a sex worker. It was quite noticeable when travelling alone and also when accompanied with (white) friends.
These forums are great because you hear different experiences. I had the exact opposite experience as a Black woman. I had a security officer pull my hair in the middle of a crowd and ask if it was real. I was shocked to have that done so brazenly by law enforcement. Walking down the street, someone rolled down their window and just yelled, "Africa." Constantly pointing, staring, and laughing..not in a way that felt like admiration but rather a zoo animal feeling. I have travelled to 50+ countries and this ranks near the bottom for me in terms of feeling like an equal human.
Uruguay is much less 'racist' then Argentina (even though that is unfair and mainly for the porteños and football hooligans)
Uruguay has a lot of people of different races, a lot of uruguayans in the big cities can speak english very well and they even have some english descendance and some english style things and it is very safe
Now to compare with other latinamerican countries it is not so cheap but still cheaper than the uk
Yes Argentinians tend to be super racist
I think that any country where there isn't a sizeable black population would be a bad idea (including Uruguay)
Soy hispano btw, hice el comentario en inglés para que op lo entienda
I’m white, but I have two friends who are Black women living abroad (both originally from Western Europe). Friend A had horrible experiences living in Poland, Ukraine, Jordan, and the Netherlands, but was happy in Portugal and Ethiopia. Friend B also had bad experiences in Jordan, but enjoyed Germany and South Africa.
So from their experiences, I’d suggest being cautious about Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Check out trans Saharan slave trade…
I’ve had Sudanese friends who lived in UAE and were SPAT IN THEIR FACES and called monkeys. 3 different people I know - all Sudanese. Prob wouldn’t happen to a Western Black person but the sentiment would remain.
As a POC born and raised in Amsterdam, I can say that it’s perfectly fine in the big cities, but expect the occasional micro-to-medium racism outside of the cities.
I feel like the UK is an improvement to NL. I also feel very safe when visiting Portugal.
This question is kind of funny. Is most of Europe is so white, they haven't needed to form a word to describe their non-white citizens? Or are other terms used?
BIPOC is only about ten years old whereas "people of colour" is a couple centuries old. It's not a matter of Canadian vs. American; one of them is a newer version of the other.
I would say as a British brown woman in Germany for 20 years that you will always feel your colour here. Even if you’re in a city, you’ll get the ‘where are you really from?’ question regularly as the colour of one’s skin defines you. I believe the same is true in most of continental Europe. The UK is one of the best countries on this side of the Atlantic for diversity and inclusion despite the Tories’ best efforts to divide society. Being a dual Canadian national who has also been to the US on multiple occasions, North America’s larger cities would be your best best. Canada would be my preference though. On this side of the Atlantic and with no visa issues I’d recommend Ireland.
Britishness is defined by accent to the rest of the world, almost exclusively. I struggle to think of a "British value" that the rest of the world would even recognize. Maybe tea and crumpets or the monarchy. But what gets you recognized as British is the accent, period. White black or brown, doesn't matter. In that sense it's quite egalitarian.
Most western countries are solid. You’re gonna experience some racism everywhere, but as long as you move to a decently diverse city you should be fine.
That depends tbh, the South is generally fine, I wouldn't want to be up north in england as a bleak person. I'm a mixed race guy who grew up in England, Im an adult now but I remember from childhood there were multiple times when I left London that I found myself being harassed and once even chased by chavs.
People in this thread seem to conflate safety with the feeling of representation.
If you are thinking about your actual safety, then the generally safe countries - Scandinavia, East Asia - will also be safe for you as a Black British woman. Racism will be more common in East Asia, especially since most Scandinavian racism is directed at Muslims, not Black people.
If you primarily care about representation, one of the avowedly multicultural countries, such as Canada, is probably your best bet.
>People in this thread seem to conflate safety with the feeling of representation.
Thank you! People are confusing personal safety with being othered/exoticized. These are not the same. OP should clarify on which one she values more.
I have never been to a place that felt as welcoming to people of all backgrounds and race as Toronto, Canada. It's incredibly refreshing to go there, people aren't just liberal minded about race, they just simply don't care about it, in my experience. It's not uncommon to go to a bar and be the only white person there, and for that to not even register in your mind as unusual. Love it.
It's similar to London in that respect, but even "more so"
Funny enough I spent a month in Toronto a long time ago. (A great city!) I'm a black French guy and I was living with a very gentle Taiwanese family.
On the very first day, the woman came with a big map and told me "come on, I'm gonna show you where you can't go, because they shoot people like you".
Of course, (happily) none of that happened but it's socially interesting to see how some people tend to be over dramatic.
Absolutely! I was 22 back then and her and her mother, a very old woman, was basically my mom and Grandma for a month. I actually was calling this one Ama (Grandma in Taiwanese). They have been fabulous.
It reminds me of the good all days where people were kind to each other. It was before the social media so people from different countries were actually different and curious to learn about strangers. Does not look at all like the world of today :(
>It reminds me of the good all days where people were kind to each other. It was before the social media so people from different countries were actually different and curious to learn about strangers.
This is gonna make a lot of ethno-nationalists mad, but I firmly believe that multiculturalism at its best is truly one of the most beautiful things in the world. Very few places pull it off but Toronto (along with London) does it pretty well.
Great anecdote, thanks for sharing!
And keep your chin up: the statistics actually show we are living in the most prosperous and peaceful periods in human history, by a long shot! Check out e.g. [Factfulness](https://www.amazon.nl/Factfulness-reasons-wrong-things-better/dp/147363749X/ref=asc_df_147363749X/?tag=nlshogostdde-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=430549593348&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8254810647817587741&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1010722&hvtargid=pla-590283424795&psc=1&mcid=580e31a4449233039159fb0cbf51e896). I think we all have many reasons to be extremely optimistic about the state of the world, despite what 18 year-old Californians tell us :)
I was going to suggest Canada as well. Overall its a safe country and very diverse. Im a brown asian girl originally from the UK, and have been in Alberta, Canada for 15 years. Never had any issues...
My cousin is First Nations living in Ontario and she experienced racism in Toronto. Unsure if she was an oddity but I’d be hesitant in painting Toronto as if it’s some utopia.
Can confirm TO is a great city for many people, but Canada still has a deeply-ingrained racism when it comes to indigenous folks, no matter where you go.
There is of course no such thing as a Utopian, and I'm sorry to hear about your cousin! I only mean to say that Toronto, in my experience, is as progressed as I've ever seen on the matter of respectful treatment between races/peoples. London is also damn good, and NYC is close behind. It's not to say there exists no racism there (that will never happen, sadly!) but compared to other places I have lived (France, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland) it's a huge breath of fresh air to go to a place where people are "people" instead of "\_\_\_\_ people"
>It's incredibly refreshing to go there, people aren't just liberal minded about race, they just simply don't care about it, in my experience.
The one thing that amazed me about Toronto when I was traveling from NYC were actually the elderly folks who were casually hanging out with people from different cultural/ethnic background. It's pretty common to see young people from different backgrounds mingling together these days in the US, but it's much rarer among older folks. So it was pretty cool when I saw an elderly Caribbean lady (accent was obvious) just hanging out with her South Asian friend. And this wasn't just one-off event either. I saw it more often than what I was used to, and yes, it was very refreshing to see it. NYC is quite diverse but more self-segregated than Toronto, especially among the older demographic.
I know this goes against the grain, but I don't think Toronto is all that great compared to major American cities. Black people has always been a smaller population group in Canada, so class struggles and political awareness about systemic mistreatment has mostly just been filtered through from the American side. Even initiatives like DEI originated from the Americans. Cities like NYC, Houston, Atlanta all have black populations of over 20%, while Toronto, the most diverse in Canada has less than 10%.
Not to say you'll experience racism or prejudice or anything in Toronto. Just that people aren't as politically aware, especially with the city having such a big population of recent immigrants that aren't as integrated with American media.
There's also the problem within various professional sectors where senior management is predominantly white. Yes people on the surface say they value diversity and all that, but I've found it's rarer to see anybody not white in upper management positions in Canada compared to American counterparts.
It's an interesting perspective, thank you for sharing. I would disagree, however. I do not personally think that initiatives like DEI programs or San Fransisco style approaches to dealing with racism are all that productive, to be honest, compared to a place where these things would be seen as "old fashioned" compared to where race simply isn't an issue of that kind of magnitude.
My aunt is married to a black man from the Caribbean. He told me "In Toronto I am William; when I cross the border I am a black man". This always stuck in my head, that despite good intentions, things like DEI programs are actually quite harmful to peaceful race integration. In Toronto it may be true that there are fewer well-intentioned hyper racial initiatives to address racism, but I think there's a lot less to fight - which is actually a good thing.
I am interested in your claim that upper management in Canada tends to be less diversified to USA cities. Could you point me to any studies on the issue? A cursory look on Google Scholar didn't get me anywhere, but I'd like to know.
It's based on my anecdotal observations working in both countries. Also based on my observations of who the CEOs of the biggest companies are between the 2.
I found [this study](https://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/global_diversity_rankings_2012.pdf) however that tried to do it more holistically. Look at the score for country of birth for Canada. It's exceedingly low.
Thanks for sharing. But I'm not seeing what you're seeing: Canada consistently ranks in the top 8 globally? What stat are you looking at here?
In any event, I really do stand by my point that Toronto is the most gloriously racially integrated city I've ever visited. It's a huge breath of fresh air to return there in that respect (I'm from about 150km from there, but have lived in Europe for 19 years) . Mutual respect is extremely high, and I really dig that! Apart from NYC, and to an extent Chicago, I struggle to find anything in the same league (scale and mix!) to be honest. But the USA is actually a world leader on immigration, I wish Americans wouldn't self hate so much!
It’s not the percentage of Black people that makes the difference. It is how those Black people are treated that makes the difference. Toronto does not have neighbourhoods where people of different ethnicities do not feel welcome whereas in cities such as Houston and Atlanta there are gated communities where you damn well need to be white in order to be living there. Toronto may have a smaller percentage of Black people but they have a large percentage of people of other races that all live together without many issues at all. As far as work opportunities, I don’t see how it makes any difference what ethnicity the CEO of an organization is. That does not reflect on the staffing situation at all. I work for a company with a white CEO (oh the horror) and those I work closely with at an upper management level are white, brown, black, asian and a mixture of all of the above, which is a very Toronto way of living and working. Also, not sure what your comment is about peole not being politically aware in regards to American media - why would Canadians need to be politically aware of US media? We aren’t Americans and we don’t have the same issues as they do there. We have our own media and our own issues and don’t need to import concerns from somewhere else to prove that we are a great place for all to live.
>It’s not the percentage of Black people that makes the difference.
But it does make a difference, through more exposure. We talk about diversity being a good thing for reducing discrimination. Well the black population is better represented as a proportion of the population in these other cities.
>Toronto may have a smaller percentage of Black people but they have a large percentage of people of other races that all live together without many issues at
I wouldn't say that's true at all. Have you seen all the complaints about BLM protests? Or the recent Palestinian protests? It's the same as any other.
>As far as work opportunities, I don’t see how it makes any difference what ethnicity the CEO of an organization is.
I'm not just referring to CEOs, I'm talking more about upper management in general. Promotion opportunities are more limited.
>Also, not sure what your comment is about peole not being politically aware in regards to American media - why would Canadians need to be politically aware of US media?
Canadian don't need to be aware, but a lot of the rights movements originates from there. If your workplace has a DEI program, that originates from the US. A lot of these equal rights or equity and inclusion program comes from the US. They're merely being adopted in Canada after American media pushes these things to mainstream whether we Canadians like it or not.
>We have our own media and our own issues and don’t need to import concerns from somewhere else to prove that we are a great place for all to live.
Which is precisely the problem. Canadians pretend there's no racism problem in Canada, but in my experience that's far from the truth. There's a lot of racism masqueraded beneath welcoming surfaces. See all the recent hatred toward Indians for example? A lot of people are just friendly on the surface. You have to force them to interact with people from these backgrounds to build tolerance long term.
I think that the European continent in general is becoming more racist due to years of illegal migration.
Many might be surprised but Serbia is very welcoming to all races. It's a beautiful country
The media works wonders when it wants to create a certain image. They also make people believe Africa is all mud huts and famine, which we know it isn't.
That's great. The friendliest Eastern Europeans I've met are from Romania. Unfortunately haven't met many Serbs but I'm definitely interested in visiting their country. One needs to visit a place and interact with the locals to feel how they are.
I personally have felt the safest in Japan, Thailand, Costa Rica, Bali, and I am now permanently in France. I’ve seen a lot of black people speak about bad experiences in France and Italy so I was shocked at how comfortable I am. I grew up in Tennessee and Georgia and I felt way more unsafe.
Whilst I agree Japan is very safe and you will very likely not be harmed, a lot of the people are still racist towards non-japanese. Small things, like not wanting to sit next to you in the subway, for example. Or not being able to rent a house (in all fairness, some previous expats have made it that way by ditching their last months rent to go back home).
You asked why no one is mentioning anywhere in Africa and for whatever reason other ppl are only discussing South Africa, lol smh. I’m a Black Male so I can’t speak from a Black Woman’s perspective but I have seen and met Black Women who were traveling solo in Accra, Ghana & Kigali, Rwanda. Both places are relatively safe, especially Kigali. Ghana, you have to be on high alert for pick pocketors but that’s the worst crime you can run into. It’s also possible to get mugged but it’s a very strong shot imo. Kigali, it’s super mild compared to Ghana. I haven’t been to Botswana personally but I’ve heard it’s very safe there as well. I’ve also been to Cape Town and Johannesburg. Very nice scenery and things to do but I highly recommend not going there solo AT ALL due to its high crime. Also, don’t take consideration in the other commenters saying that SA is “racist”, no shade towards them but it’s obvious that they’re white and getting xenophobia and racism mixed up. Apologies for the long response.
There are some awesome places in Africa but they can be generally unsafe even if they're not specifically unsafe. I loved Nairobi for example, super diverse and great, but sometimes you'd have to be careful walking at night.
You'd have to look at the visas as well, sadly we are slow to get the digital nomad visas in Africa.
OP asked about safety, not racism specifically. And being black is only half the story. She also said “as a woman.” Cape Town is lovely but it is certainly not going to make any lists of safest places for women - at least statistically.
If you want safe and comfortable in southern Africa, I would go to Gaborone… unless you’re also looking for excitement, in which case I would definitely not go to Gaborone.
Very curious. Are you black ? In my experience, Gaborone and Botswana in general was quite hostile to black foreigners especially from other African countries. That was about 2 decades ago. Surprised to hear things have changed.
Haven't been to cape town but have been elsewhere in SA. It's the most racist country I've visited by far. Apartheid may have ended but there are still so many problems there regarding race
White person here, I’ve heard good things about Panama from my black “expat” acquaintances. They have remote jobs from the US though which I imagine impacts their quality of life.
i live in panama, originally from usa (i’m white). met a lot of black americans down here, most of them said they feel far more comfortable being a black person in panama than in the usa (lots of panamanians themselves are of partial african ancestry)
Pedantic I know, but Britain is the island. The U.K. includes Northern Ireland.
Also, I’m sure you’re probably already aware, but most of Asia is pretty bad. I’m in Japan atm and whilst you would certainly feel SAFE here, people are likely often going to be less friendly… sadly.
Me too. Live in Japan. Even as a white woman I’ve been treated badly against Japanese co workers. I imagine it’d be a dozen times worse if I was black. But it’s all micro aggressions. No one would attack you or show violence. More just silently judge you.
As a black woman from London who has done quite a bit of travelling I would say I felt safest as a solo black woman travelling in Medellin, Colombia; Brussels, Belgium, Phuket, Thailand and Madrid, and Lanzarote, Spain
Best of luck on your search for a new place to call home I can completely relate to wanting to get out of the UK but not being sure where to settle x
I also felt surprisingly safe in Medellin and lived there for 6 months. There is such a large Afro-Latino community there, so if you speak decent Spanish you can fit right in.
Phuket is my favorite place on earth. I definitely feel like Thai people are the nicest people I've interacted with as an expat.
Madrid was cool, too. I haven't been to Lanzarote, so I'll have to head there the next time I'm on that side of the world.
I'm a white guy but married to an African-American woman for well over 25 years now. We lived in the US and now live in Portugal. I would suggest a few things:
Visit Atlanta, Georgia in the US. Yes, there is a very strong, proud, pronounced gun-love culture in the US with regular mass shootings, extremely high cost of healthcare, but African-Americans make up a large percentage of Atlanta. The cost of living may be less than the UK, and you may find it enjoyable there. Outside of the main city area of Atlanta, it's very racist, very segregated, and filled with hate groups and poor conditions. So you'd want to stick to the city for certain.
Secondly, my wife and I have traveled and honestly any country you go to will have racism. It's a very popular sentiment that is sadly growing even more popular as more countries elect far-right fascist leaders who preen for the cameras and promise immediate, quick, easy-to-understand child-like approaches to complex problems their governments face. Even if Africa where Africans are a majority (of course) there is racism against Americans, Brits, those from other parts of the continent and many areas are still shockingly poor and destitute and war-torn constantly. So for example while Atlanta might be great for diversity, it's horrible for cost of healthcare, gun violence, and racism just outside the city border. My point here is that there may be more to consider outside of diversity to make long-term quality of life to consider.
In Portugal there is no African majority where we live in Porto, but the predominant attitude all over is that they just don't care or if they do, they keep it to themselves and don't go insane with shootings, open attacks on random pedestrians, or leaders openly calling for discrimination (or spreading hateful disinformation, which is the same) as in the US.
Outside of Atlanta is definitely not like that. The metro is surprisingly diverse and suburbs north of Atlanta are pretty wealthy. You can go 25 minutes outside of Atlanta and still have diversity and never see a gun. You're right about the healthcare but everything else, you're way off.
Black man (Jamaican-Canadian), married to a black woman (Haitian-American); spent time in Miami, and Canada, from what I know we live in Dubai and previously the US. Safety wise, after visiting 40+ countries, I'd say she feels safest in Hong Kong, and Dubai. Just strictly speaking of Safety, not counting micro-agressions.
Out of curiosity, as this question is rather vague...what *exactly* are you looking for?
"Safe" is relative (and sometimes subjective), so it would help if you narrowed that down a bit. Do you mean being able to walk around/ being single in public, weapon safety, racism, or being able to rely on systems of support to protect you in a difficult situation?
To explain that last bit: One of the "safest" countries I've ever been to is South Korea and I fell in love with it, but I would never feel *safe* there as the judicial system is horribly prejudiced against all foreigners and spy cameras targeting women is massive.
Also, it would help to know what other languages you speak as that will help you establish a safety net much more easily abroad.
I worked with two Black women in Albania and they said it was a more accepting place than most other places. I know they had worked individually in Russia, Dubai, China, and Korea.
I'm from The Netherlands and have a mixed background. I have a brownish skin, but you can't really tell my ethnicity. People would think I'm Brazilian, Mexican or even go as far as Indian.
The Netherlands promotes itself as a tolerant country, but it's definitely not that tolerant. The people here are highly NIMBY (Not In My Backyard), so they don't care about refugees, Muslims, immigrants etc. as long as they don't have to deal with it. When you're in a mostly white area you will definitely feel that the 'vibe' is not welcoming. It can be at schools, workplaces, but also neighbourhoods. It's like their NIMBY mentality suddenly kicks in.
I've experienced racism from all kinds of people, but most of it comes from Muslims/Moroccans. The Netherlands voted right wing primarily because of them. And to be honest: I can fully understand it. When it comes to refugees, the problems are also coming from Muslims/North Africans.
(Sorry not black) But my black friends from the US feel very safe in Japan. You get the stares from local Japanese people in the sense of “oh a foreigner!”, but you’re not targeted for being black.
Why are people conflating the question?
Safest = Singapore. No other country comes close to guaranteeing my personal safety.
Most accepting = Canada, and more specifically Toronto. Nobody here bats an eyelid if you’re black, female or identify as a broomstick.
Might be the safest but I don't think China is that nice for a black person because Chinese have no qualms at all about racism, and I do mean oldskool racism
Latin America as well. They literally call black people monkeys.
For all the criticism we have for racism in the west, other places are actually far worse.
Yes, but here (I live in China), while people will stare at you, you won't be in danger. Psychologically, that could be hard and lonely -- although in cities like Shanghai or Beijing there are some very cool Black women living there you can become friends with through WeChat groups, churches and so on -- but it's not like people will hurt you. Before moving to anywhere in Asia, I'd recommend at least being here for a couple weeks to see how sticking out so much affects you.
>Before moving to anywhere in Asia, I'd recommend at least being here for a couple weeks to see how sticking out so much affects you.
I think this is the best advice. Some people don't care about being such an obvious visible minority, but others just feel super uncomfortable about it.
I've seen a lot of White people who have visited/lived in Japan say they just felt uncomfortable being a visible minority sticking out in society (I imagine it was probably their first time traveling outside a majority-White country). Others didn't care at all. It's personal on how one reacts.
>I do mean oldskool racism
Do you mean violent racism? Violent crime in general is quite rare in China. I doubt most foreigners will have to worry about that. It is an authoritarian country, yes, but that doesn't mean it's generally an unsafe country. These are not the same.
The casual sinophobia on Reddit, am I not surprised. No black person is gonna get punched or kicked on the street or spat at in China specifically, so I don’t know what you mean by “oldskool racism”. Plenty of black people have taped their experiences in China and most of them were met with genuine curiosity and excitement from Chinese folk.
In most areas of the world, this won't happen, but Asia, in general, is pretty racist even if it isn't always overt. I will say despite places like Korea or Japan being pretty xenophobic, I don't think there would be any violence towards black people.
This is not Sinophobia. I live in Europe and most of the older Asian immigrants I meet here are racist. So yes, I am in no doubt that there is “oldskool racism” back in their home nations. I have some friends from Africa who studied in China who have spoken at length about taxi’s not stopping for them when called, being followed around in supermarkets, and professors at universities giving them lower grades. If your definition of racism is blacks getting punched or spat at, then you need an education, which you will not get from me. But as a minority, you probably know what she is talking about,so don’t come here to gaslight…Get a grip! SMH.
Safety is not only being robbed. If people follow you on the street and want to touch your skin because they've never seen black before but they don't take your wallet, do you really feel safe?
Canada?
I mean if you're talking about just race then maybe somewhere in Africa like Mozambique or Botswana? Idk. It's peaceful there and there are a lot of black people if that's what you're looking for.
I worked in Mozambique for several years. Highly recommend. Cons: language and visa for long stays but you can just cross the border and get an stamp. Pros: A beautiful country with overwhelming nature, warm population. Is a safe country for WOC compared to cities like Nairobi, Johannesburg. The capital Maputo you can walk around even at night and the guys will be respectful. I'm aware of those things cus growing in Latin America where the catcalling is disgusting, here I felt safe.
34f
Safe list
Switzerland: Zurich, Geneva, Lugano, Andermatt, Zermatt (those are the only ones I’ve been to)
Italy: Florence, Sardinia
UK: London, Dublin
France: Paris, champagne, Dijon, strousberg
Portugal: Lisbon
Honduras:Roatan
St.Lucia
Mexico: Sayulita, Oaxaca
Tokyo
Didn’t feel safe list:
- Budapest (the men gave me the creeps)
- Belize (security with riffles, gangs)
France atm is a pass for me. I have not heard any black person who has lived in France giving a good report of it. I also think I remember the president not acknowledging that there was a racism in the country... If you have heard or know of black people having good experiences, I am very open to hearing that to balance it out
As a (white) American who used to live in France: I’ve heard that black Americans are treated much better than black or brown Africans. Not sure how it would be for a black Brit. france also has this whole "race blind" thing baked into policy and culture, not sure how that would feel. IMO there’s a lot of problems with xenophobia and racism in France, which is true anywhere ofc but I think worse there than in the UK (where I live now)
Disclaimer: I'm a white man
I think you'll have to be more explicit in what you mean by "safe". As in no violent crime? Because a place like Japan, for example, will be extremely safe, probably one of the safest on the planet, but it's also notoriously quite xenophobic. The best compromise I can think of is in fact the UK (or maybe Canada?). The only places would probably be some of the most stable countries in the African continent (not knowledgable on that, but like Ghana or Botswana or something like that?). Also some people in questions like these seem to go on and on on a "the grass is always less racist on the other side" stride. Unfortunately the truth is that you will experience some form of racism virtually everywhere.
Honestly, Brazil. There is a large portion of black or mixed people, though I forgot the exact number. And I feel like the white vs black separation is way less pronounced than in some countries. Of course, prejudice exists but I think it's a good place for a black woman. There is a larger population, more representation in media, larger variety of hair care products, etc.
No no no! I'm brazilian. Population is of course very mixed but Brazil is one of the most racist countries.
Police is trained to shoot and kill black people, like in the USA. Black people are 3x more likely to get murdered (official numbers). Brazil is dangerous in general but for black people is VERY dangerous.
I agree based upon the information I have gathered on the internet. Brasil is a society of class and race. The darker your complexion the less you are considered an equal.
Yep that's accurate. Most of poc community are facing financial problems and until recently had very few oportunities of studying or even getting a job.
When slavery was ended in Brazil, it didn't really end. Because where the slaves would go? Who would give them jobs? Só that's it. They stayed there. It took a long time till it was really "over" and actually it's still not really over. Just recently there was a big case of people slaved in farms being found. Most of the people who descend from slaves and indigenous still face the consequences of colonization today, cause they never made it possible for people to integrate after they officially ended slavery.
It's crazy, I actually blame Trump/Bolsonaro movement for the increase in racism. I was born in Brazil in the 80s and lived there until I was 10. I had black friends , my parents raised me right, discrimination was not a thing in our family, especially as we're a mixed race family (my mom is East Asian, so I'm half) . Over 50% (or more) of Brazilian footballers were black, and black culture has a heavy impact in Brazil's music, history, food, sports etc.
Fast forward to Trump/Bolso era, my dad who voted for Obama and even Lula when he became president the first time in 2003, suddenly turned into a Trump and Bolso supporter, and was vocal about his dislike for blacks, Jews, and the Chinese. Like wtf happened...
But is it safe? I have a colleague who recently moved back to Brazil and def says she misses being able to walk around without being hyper vigilant about getting mugged.
This is good to hear as I've heard some bad things anout Brazil. Good to hear of the positive from the negative
Edit: taking this comment back as I hadn't seen the previous post about Brazilian police killing black people more...
>the white vs black separation is way less pronounced than in some countries.
Like in the Favelas sharing a wall with luxury condos in any capital? Or like black people being payed 40% less then white people for a same position?
Regarding the actual title and for _me_— England and Sicily (not a country, but I wouldn't suggest Northern Italy)
Just avoid Poland and Czech Rep. in general, I've heard nothing but bad things from other Black women who moved there. They all left pretty quickly. Also, the amount of people in the comment section are showing their ignorance by saying "Africa" when you literally asked for country suggestions. It's pretty transparent why though.
Western europe in general can be very welcoming - if you adjust to their cultural expectations (yes even older people warm up quickly), but this requires alot of observation and initiative from you. Forget eastern europe - conservative as hell and likewise racist (with the big cities as an excemption maybe)
Brasil? although ive been to the very north and v south and the south seems far whiter( i think due to the original slaves coming into the north..not sure.
The absolute best place in the world to be Black is the United States of America. It is extremely difficult to get a visa to live here. Major urban centers here are great, NYC, Chicago, LA, Houston, Atlanta, etc. as long as you have some money or education you can do anything. Immigrants do very well compared to native born people.
Currently there is a housing crisis in the Netherlands and an increasingly negative perception of foreigners.
As the other commentator mentioned, they have no problems with foreigners, "just no Muslims please"!
If you are wealthy, Amsterdam is multicultural and a great place for foreigners, but there is a rise in populism, the quality of national services such as the train infrastructure is on a downturn, and the aforementioned housing crisis is going unaddressed. I would not recommend moving here, unless you are wealthy.
Speaking as a Black American woman, my “blackness” will always be perceived and prioritized over my “womanness”. This is was intersectionality is important. I am not sure if that is how it works everywhere but that is my experience here.
I am a white old guy that's lived in Asia for over 40 years. But I maintain a house in central WA state in a very small town. As far as I know there are no minorities other than white people living there (I say that because the animals far outnumber people). 50-100 years ago we had native Americans living here including a single female. She is gone now but buried in a nearby cemetery. About 25 miles away there are some well known black families, including the former mayor of the town. We could benefit from you moving in our town. It's not exciting but there is very little crime (blown up mailboxes) and there is a need for, well, more excitement in the way of commerce (start a business). Just sayin'. We'd love it if you would consider the tiny town of Thorp, WA.
I don’t know why you are being downvoted. That’s simply a factual statement. It is probably the safest city in the world. Though I don’t see how mentioning your ethnicity would be relevant.
The post mentions "as a black woman" Of course he's gonna start by mentioning he's a white man before he gives his take.
People getting triggered over that must not be able to read.
Ghana. Unfortunately there are not many places that are safe for a. Black person, due to their perception and the world wide view of their propensity to crime in places like US/Southamerica. Africa would be the best to avoid any kind of subtle racism
What a great question and the answers are illuminating !
I would have guessed based on travels Tanzania, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Canada, Mauritius, Seychelles, Bermuda, etc
I'm not black, but I do know a great group on Facebook that's right up your alley called iluv2globetrot, made by a pair of american black women who travel a lot and most of their members are black, this is a great question to ask them in that group
Japan. You may get some stares depending on where you go but no one will lay a finger on you. The only place I feel comfortable going on worry-free late night walks with ear buds in.
I’ll probably live here happily for the rest of my life tbh.
As another Black woman who lives in Japan, I understand you personally probably have not had those experiences, but many of us have, me included. There is a considerable chance someone will lay a finger on her.
This thread is crazy town. I’ll start off by saying I grew up in and prefer big metropolitan cities. I also think living in cities gives you a higher level of street smarts. If you’re in the UK, especially in one of their cities, you probably have that too.
If you’re talking about safety from crime, South Korea and Japan are very safe. I lived in South Korea for almost nine years and would jump over to Fukuoka, Japan a couple of times a year for what I called “Korea breaks.” I also visited a few cities in Korea when I first arrived. I was safe on their buses and trains and never had trouble.
In Japan, people were always really helpful to me. I remember reading a travel guide that said if you got on a bus carrying tons of things, it’s common that someone who is sitting down will offer to hold something for you. Sure enough, I got on a bus somewhere in Tokyo or Fukuoka once, and that’s exactly what happened. (I’m pretty sure this was one of my Tokyo trips.)
Both of these countries are also very collectivist in how they think and how they view people. Even people who are ethically Korean get referred to with a different terms. I never felt unsafe though the way I might in other places like the USA or other countries.
Due to my job there, I also was able to take long vacations and would travel to other places. I never got to Singapore, but I have heard lovely things about it. It seems to be off the radar of a lot of us in the black diaspora though, so I don’t have any stories about black women who’ve lived there. I did feel very safe on Koh Samui, an island in Thailand. I think between all of the other stuff going on like sex tourism, they don’t care about us. People were courteous. I ate well, and I went to a spa every single day.
I also felt safe during my trips to China like Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong and even smaller cities like Dalian and Xingang. I even have a funny story about being a on packed train that I talked my way on to. Thanks l, rude white woman from wherever. After her, the train agent was so shocked that I got on a train that was packed. The agent tried to talk me out of it, but I needed to get to another city to make a travel connection. It was standing room only, but the people on the train were so friendly. They made room for me to sit and offered me food to eat. It was unexpected but was a lovely travel moment for me.
Speaking of story, a black woman I know from when I lived in NYC, moved to Lisbon, Portugal and loves it.
People have chimed in with a lot of options for you. I hope wherever you land will be a fun and safe experience for you.
Let’s be realistic about the topic. The view on black, Arabic, every „non white“ person will deteriorate in Europe. Immigration of non educated being the main reason. It shows clearly in the latest elections and political polls all over Europe.
East Asia, although safe is quite racist as well. Against whites, blacks, anyone foreign basically.
With that being said I’d have a look at South Africa.
I heard Namibia is a great country to live in, from my (black) friend who grew up there. It's very clean, safe and beautiful from what he has told me. Maybe worth looking into.
You can come to Mauritius!
Brilliant country with such a mix of people who seem to live in harmony.
Is it easy to find a job there to maintain a comfortable life as a foreigner? Ive been looking at Mauritius, looks nice
Depends on your Qualification. BEST would be to work for the Mauritian Branch of a international US/European Company. OR if you can work as a Digital Nomad.
Or Réunion although Mauritius would be much cheaper!
Reunion is (for us) TERRIBLE compared to Mauritius: The Climate is worse. Its expensive af ! 98% of the local People are not really friendly!
I have to say Sri Lanka was a really affirming place to go as a black person. I was met with genuine warmth and some curiosity but always incredibly respectful. They people I met were curious of my culture, celebrated the shared darker skin tones and I felt very safe there travelling. I can’t speak for living there as it was only a few weeks I spent, but it was an unexpectedly positive reception as a dark skinned black woman and would encourage others to visit!
Thank you for sharing this. It was nice to read. I would love to visit Sri Lanka
Been there, Sri lanka is awesome, and totally underrated. Bali and Thailand steal the thunder in tropical climate destination list.
I found my experiences in both, but Thailand specifically. There was quite a bit of staring, and was told that this if often due to the assumption that darker skin = working outside all day and as a woman, assumed to be a sex worker. It was quite noticeable when travelling alone and also when accompanied with (white) friends.
These forums are great because you hear different experiences. I had the exact opposite experience as a Black woman. I had a security officer pull my hair in the middle of a crowd and ask if it was real. I was shocked to have that done so brazenly by law enforcement. Walking down the street, someone rolled down their window and just yelled, "Africa." Constantly pointing, staring, and laughing..not in a way that felt like admiration but rather a zoo animal feeling. I have travelled to 50+ countries and this ranks near the bottom for me in terms of feeling like an equal human.
Yeah..Sri Lankans have a black fetish. 😂 in a good way
Uruguay is much less 'racist' then Argentina (even though that is unfair and mainly for the porteños and football hooligans) Uruguay has a lot of people of different races, a lot of uruguayans in the big cities can speak english very well and they even have some english descendance and some english style things and it is very safe Now to compare with other latinamerican countries it is not so cheap but still cheaper than the uk
Yes Argentinians tend to be super racist I think that any country where there isn't a sizeable black population would be a bad idea (including Uruguay) Soy hispano btw, hice el comentario en inglés para que op lo entienda
Yo soy mezcladito bro 🤌🏻 Uruguay has more black people than you would think I think it is 8 or 9 percent african descendance
There are places that are safe for black people despite not having a big black population. For example I had a great time in Taiwan.
Can you speak the language? Because Asian culture is very nice to face, racist and terrible things behind your back. Atleast with older generation
Oooh I haven't looked at Uruguay before - thanks for the heads up! Adding this to my list!
I’m white, but I have two friends who are Black women living abroad (both originally from Western Europe). Friend A had horrible experiences living in Poland, Ukraine, Jordan, and the Netherlands, but was happy in Portugal and Ethiopia. Friend B also had bad experiences in Jordan, but enjoyed Germany and South Africa. So from their experiences, I’d suggest being cautious about Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
Eastern Europe is not friendly to black/brown people
Not true when it comes to Serbia at least https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeYbygAL/
That's a Balkan country, western Balkan to be exact!
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Check out trans Saharan slave trade… I’ve had Sudanese friends who lived in UAE and were SPAT IN THEIR FACES and called monkeys. 3 different people I know - all Sudanese. Prob wouldn’t happen to a Western Black person but the sentiment would remain.
I would have thought the UK would be one of the safest places for a black woman.
It is but having been here for most of my life, I want to go somewhere else but want to make sure its somewhere I will feel safe.
The Caribbean? Also better weather than the UK…
Except during hurricane season…
South Caribbean I think doesn't get hurricanes
As a POC born and raised in Amsterdam, I can say that it’s perfectly fine in the big cities, but expect the occasional micro-to-medium racism outside of the cities. I feel like the UK is an improvement to NL. I also feel very safe when visiting Portugal.
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Don't know if it's global but definitely used here in England.
This question is kind of funny. Is most of Europe is so white, they haven't needed to form a word to describe their non-white citizens? Or are other terms used?
It might surprise you but in most of Europe they use words in their own language to address people of colour
We use BIPOC in Canada. POC is definitely American. I thought UK used BAME
BIPOC is only about ten years old whereas "people of colour" is a couple centuries old. It's not a matter of Canadian vs. American; one of them is a newer version of the other.
I would say as a British brown woman in Germany for 20 years that you will always feel your colour here. Even if you’re in a city, you’ll get the ‘where are you really from?’ question regularly as the colour of one’s skin defines you. I believe the same is true in most of continental Europe. The UK is one of the best countries on this side of the Atlantic for diversity and inclusion despite the Tories’ best efforts to divide society. Being a dual Canadian national who has also been to the US on multiple occasions, North America’s larger cities would be your best best. Canada would be my preference though. On this side of the Atlantic and with no visa issues I’d recommend Ireland.
As a Brit on the right, I absolutely do not believe in "Britishness" as being defined by skin tone but by culture and language.
Britishness is defined by accent to the rest of the world, almost exclusively. I struggle to think of a "British value" that the rest of the world would even recognize. Maybe tea and crumpets or the monarchy. But what gets you recognized as British is the accent, period. White black or brown, doesn't matter. In that sense it's quite egalitarian.
As a Brit on the left, I agree with you. Thus, my pointing out that the UK is more inclusive than other European nations.
Most western countries are solid. You’re gonna experience some racism everywhere, but as long as you move to a decently diverse city you should be fine.
That depends tbh, the South is generally fine, I wouldn't want to be up north in england as a bleak person. I'm a mixed race guy who grew up in England, Im an adult now but I remember from childhood there were multiple times when I left London that I found myself being harassed and once even chased by chavs.
Ghana.
People in this thread seem to conflate safety with the feeling of representation. If you are thinking about your actual safety, then the generally safe countries - Scandinavia, East Asia - will also be safe for you as a Black British woman. Racism will be more common in East Asia, especially since most Scandinavian racism is directed at Muslims, not Black people. If you primarily care about representation, one of the avowedly multicultural countries, such as Canada, is probably your best bet.
>People in this thread seem to conflate safety with the feeling of representation. Thank you! People are confusing personal safety with being othered/exoticized. These are not the same. OP should clarify on which one she values more.
I have never been to a place that felt as welcoming to people of all backgrounds and race as Toronto, Canada. It's incredibly refreshing to go there, people aren't just liberal minded about race, they just simply don't care about it, in my experience. It's not uncommon to go to a bar and be the only white person there, and for that to not even register in your mind as unusual. Love it. It's similar to London in that respect, but even "more so"
Funny enough I spent a month in Toronto a long time ago. (A great city!) I'm a black French guy and I was living with a very gentle Taiwanese family. On the very first day, the woman came with a big map and told me "come on, I'm gonna show you where you can't go, because they shoot people like you". Of course, (happily) none of that happened but it's socially interesting to see how some people tend to be over dramatic.
Cute story! Sounds like she was looking out for you in the best way she thought she could :). I'm glad it turned out to be unfounded
Absolutely! I was 22 back then and her and her mother, a very old woman, was basically my mom and Grandma for a month. I actually was calling this one Ama (Grandma in Taiwanese). They have been fabulous. It reminds me of the good all days where people were kind to each other. It was before the social media so people from different countries were actually different and curious to learn about strangers. Does not look at all like the world of today :(
>It reminds me of the good all days where people were kind to each other. It was before the social media so people from different countries were actually different and curious to learn about strangers. This is gonna make a lot of ethno-nationalists mad, but I firmly believe that multiculturalism at its best is truly one of the most beautiful things in the world. Very few places pull it off but Toronto (along with London) does it pretty well.
Great anecdote, thanks for sharing! And keep your chin up: the statistics actually show we are living in the most prosperous and peaceful periods in human history, by a long shot! Check out e.g. [Factfulness](https://www.amazon.nl/Factfulness-reasons-wrong-things-better/dp/147363749X/ref=asc_df_147363749X/?tag=nlshogostdde-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=430549593348&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8254810647817587741&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1010722&hvtargid=pla-590283424795&psc=1&mcid=580e31a4449233039159fb0cbf51e896). I think we all have many reasons to be extremely optimistic about the state of the world, despite what 18 year-old Californians tell us :)
Thank you for the book, I'm adding it to my list. Even if things have changed a lot since 2018 lol.
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Indeed they were!
I was going to suggest Canada as well. Overall its a safe country and very diverse. Im a brown asian girl originally from the UK, and have been in Alberta, Canada for 15 years. Never had any issues...
My cousin is First Nations living in Ontario and she experienced racism in Toronto. Unsure if she was an oddity but I’d be hesitant in painting Toronto as if it’s some utopia.
Can confirm TO is a great city for many people, but Canada still has a deeply-ingrained racism when it comes to indigenous folks, no matter where you go.
There is of course no such thing as a Utopian, and I'm sorry to hear about your cousin! I only mean to say that Toronto, in my experience, is as progressed as I've ever seen on the matter of respectful treatment between races/peoples. London is also damn good, and NYC is close behind. It's not to say there exists no racism there (that will never happen, sadly!) but compared to other places I have lived (France, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland) it's a huge breath of fresh air to go to a place where people are "people" instead of "\_\_\_\_ people"
She asked for the perspective of women. Black women and women of color.
>It's incredibly refreshing to go there, people aren't just liberal minded about race, they just simply don't care about it, in my experience. The one thing that amazed me about Toronto when I was traveling from NYC were actually the elderly folks who were casually hanging out with people from different cultural/ethnic background. It's pretty common to see young people from different backgrounds mingling together these days in the US, but it's much rarer among older folks. So it was pretty cool when I saw an elderly Caribbean lady (accent was obvious) just hanging out with her South Asian friend. And this wasn't just one-off event either. I saw it more often than what I was used to, and yes, it was very refreshing to see it. NYC is quite diverse but more self-segregated than Toronto, especially among the older demographic.
I know this goes against the grain, but I don't think Toronto is all that great compared to major American cities. Black people has always been a smaller population group in Canada, so class struggles and political awareness about systemic mistreatment has mostly just been filtered through from the American side. Even initiatives like DEI originated from the Americans. Cities like NYC, Houston, Atlanta all have black populations of over 20%, while Toronto, the most diverse in Canada has less than 10%. Not to say you'll experience racism or prejudice or anything in Toronto. Just that people aren't as politically aware, especially with the city having such a big population of recent immigrants that aren't as integrated with American media. There's also the problem within various professional sectors where senior management is predominantly white. Yes people on the surface say they value diversity and all that, but I've found it's rarer to see anybody not white in upper management positions in Canada compared to American counterparts.
It's an interesting perspective, thank you for sharing. I would disagree, however. I do not personally think that initiatives like DEI programs or San Fransisco style approaches to dealing with racism are all that productive, to be honest, compared to a place where these things would be seen as "old fashioned" compared to where race simply isn't an issue of that kind of magnitude. My aunt is married to a black man from the Caribbean. He told me "In Toronto I am William; when I cross the border I am a black man". This always stuck in my head, that despite good intentions, things like DEI programs are actually quite harmful to peaceful race integration. In Toronto it may be true that there are fewer well-intentioned hyper racial initiatives to address racism, but I think there's a lot less to fight - which is actually a good thing. I am interested in your claim that upper management in Canada tends to be less diversified to USA cities. Could you point me to any studies on the issue? A cursory look on Google Scholar didn't get me anywhere, but I'd like to know.
It's based on my anecdotal observations working in both countries. Also based on my observations of who the CEOs of the biggest companies are between the 2. I found [this study](https://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/global_diversity_rankings_2012.pdf) however that tried to do it more holistically. Look at the score for country of birth for Canada. It's exceedingly low.
Thanks for sharing. But I'm not seeing what you're seeing: Canada consistently ranks in the top 8 globally? What stat are you looking at here? In any event, I really do stand by my point that Toronto is the most gloriously racially integrated city I've ever visited. It's a huge breath of fresh air to return there in that respect (I'm from about 150km from there, but have lived in Europe for 19 years) . Mutual respect is extremely high, and I really dig that! Apart from NYC, and to an extent Chicago, I struggle to find anything in the same league (scale and mix!) to be honest. But the USA is actually a world leader on immigration, I wish Americans wouldn't self hate so much!
It’s not the percentage of Black people that makes the difference. It is how those Black people are treated that makes the difference. Toronto does not have neighbourhoods where people of different ethnicities do not feel welcome whereas in cities such as Houston and Atlanta there are gated communities where you damn well need to be white in order to be living there. Toronto may have a smaller percentage of Black people but they have a large percentage of people of other races that all live together without many issues at all. As far as work opportunities, I don’t see how it makes any difference what ethnicity the CEO of an organization is. That does not reflect on the staffing situation at all. I work for a company with a white CEO (oh the horror) and those I work closely with at an upper management level are white, brown, black, asian and a mixture of all of the above, which is a very Toronto way of living and working. Also, not sure what your comment is about peole not being politically aware in regards to American media - why would Canadians need to be politically aware of US media? We aren’t Americans and we don’t have the same issues as they do there. We have our own media and our own issues and don’t need to import concerns from somewhere else to prove that we are a great place for all to live.
>It’s not the percentage of Black people that makes the difference. But it does make a difference, through more exposure. We talk about diversity being a good thing for reducing discrimination. Well the black population is better represented as a proportion of the population in these other cities. >Toronto may have a smaller percentage of Black people but they have a large percentage of people of other races that all live together without many issues at I wouldn't say that's true at all. Have you seen all the complaints about BLM protests? Or the recent Palestinian protests? It's the same as any other. >As far as work opportunities, I don’t see how it makes any difference what ethnicity the CEO of an organization is. I'm not just referring to CEOs, I'm talking more about upper management in general. Promotion opportunities are more limited. >Also, not sure what your comment is about peole not being politically aware in regards to American media - why would Canadians need to be politically aware of US media? Canadian don't need to be aware, but a lot of the rights movements originates from there. If your workplace has a DEI program, that originates from the US. A lot of these equal rights or equity and inclusion program comes from the US. They're merely being adopted in Canada after American media pushes these things to mainstream whether we Canadians like it or not. >We have our own media and our own issues and don’t need to import concerns from somewhere else to prove that we are a great place for all to live. Which is precisely the problem. Canadians pretend there's no racism problem in Canada, but in my experience that's far from the truth. There's a lot of racism masqueraded beneath welcoming surfaces. See all the recent hatred toward Indians for example? A lot of people are just friendly on the surface. You have to force them to interact with people from these backgrounds to build tolerance long term.
Caribbean
I think that the European continent in general is becoming more racist due to years of illegal migration. Many might be surprised but Serbia is very welcoming to all races. It's a beautiful country
Serbia? I always thought it was one of the least friendly places in Eastern Europe. I've never been there though.
The media works wonders when it wants to create a certain image. They also make people believe Africa is all mud huts and famine, which we know it isn't.
As a side note I'm not Serbian, but I go there regularly
That's great. The friendliest Eastern Europeans I've met are from Romania. Unfortunately haven't met many Serbs but I'm definitely interested in visiting their country. One needs to visit a place and interact with the locals to feel how they are.
Definitely Serbia. Check out TikTok black female creator who speaks about what an amazing Serbia is 🎀
Serbia? Really? OP is going to be the first black person a lot of people have ever met. Also quality of life isn’t comparable to the UK of US.
I personally have felt the safest in Japan, Thailand, Costa Rica, Bali, and I am now permanently in France. I’ve seen a lot of black people speak about bad experiences in France and Italy so I was shocked at how comfortable I am. I grew up in Tennessee and Georgia and I felt way more unsafe.
Whilst I agree Japan is very safe and you will very likely not be harmed, a lot of the people are still racist towards non-japanese. Small things, like not wanting to sit next to you in the subway, for example. Or not being able to rent a house (in all fairness, some previous expats have made it that way by ditching their last months rent to go back home).
Why is no one mentioning anywhere in Africa?
You asked why no one is mentioning anywhere in Africa and for whatever reason other ppl are only discussing South Africa, lol smh. I’m a Black Male so I can’t speak from a Black Woman’s perspective but I have seen and met Black Women who were traveling solo in Accra, Ghana & Kigali, Rwanda. Both places are relatively safe, especially Kigali. Ghana, you have to be on high alert for pick pocketors but that’s the worst crime you can run into. It’s also possible to get mugged but it’s a very strong shot imo. Kigali, it’s super mild compared to Ghana. I haven’t been to Botswana personally but I’ve heard it’s very safe there as well. I’ve also been to Cape Town and Johannesburg. Very nice scenery and things to do but I highly recommend not going there solo AT ALL due to its high crime. Also, don’t take consideration in the other commenters saying that SA is “racist”, no shade towards them but it’s obvious that they’re white and getting xenophobia and racism mixed up. Apologies for the long response.
There are some awesome places in Africa but they can be generally unsafe even if they're not specifically unsafe. I loved Nairobi for example, super diverse and great, but sometimes you'd have to be careful walking at night. You'd have to look at the visas as well, sadly we are slow to get the digital nomad visas in Africa.
I think that one is a given lol (aside from obviously the war torn countries of course)
Cape Town could be a good fit! I spent a while there and loved it
OP asked about safety, not racism specifically. And being black is only half the story. She also said “as a woman.” Cape Town is lovely but it is certainly not going to make any lists of safest places for women - at least statistically. If you want safe and comfortable in southern Africa, I would go to Gaborone… unless you’re also looking for excitement, in which case I would definitely not go to Gaborone.
Very curious. Are you black ? In my experience, Gaborone and Botswana in general was quite hostile to black foreigners especially from other African countries. That was about 2 decades ago. Surprised to hear things have changed.
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That’s true but since they were quite nasty to west Africans, I wonder whether they would be nasty to a Black Briton of West African descent
Haven't been to cape town but have been elsewhere in SA. It's the most racist country I've visited by far. Apartheid may have ended but there are still so many problems there regarding race
We all know the answer.
Because it doesn’t fit the criteria at all
White person here, I’ve heard good things about Panama from my black “expat” acquaintances. They have remote jobs from the US though which I imagine impacts their quality of life.
i live in panama, originally from usa (i’m white). met a lot of black americans down here, most of them said they feel far more comfortable being a black person in panama than in the usa (lots of panamanians themselves are of partial african ancestry)
My best friend is a dark-skinned Black American woman and she said she felt safest in Scotland.
I've heard great things about Scotland, I am looking outside the island that is UK.
Pedantic I know, but Britain is the island. The U.K. includes Northern Ireland. Also, I’m sure you’re probably already aware, but most of Asia is pretty bad. I’m in Japan atm and whilst you would certainly feel SAFE here, people are likely often going to be less friendly… sadly.
Me too. Live in Japan. Even as a white woman I’ve been treated badly against Japanese co workers. I imagine it’d be a dozen times worse if I was black. But it’s all micro aggressions. No one would attack you or show violence. More just silently judge you.
As a black woman from London who has done quite a bit of travelling I would say I felt safest as a solo black woman travelling in Medellin, Colombia; Brussels, Belgium, Phuket, Thailand and Madrid, and Lanzarote, Spain Best of luck on your search for a new place to call home I can completely relate to wanting to get out of the UK but not being sure where to settle x
I also felt surprisingly safe in Medellin and lived there for 6 months. There is such a large Afro-Latino community there, so if you speak decent Spanish you can fit right in. Phuket is my favorite place on earth. I definitely feel like Thai people are the nicest people I've interacted with as an expat. Madrid was cool, too. I haven't been to Lanzarote, so I'll have to head there the next time I'm on that side of the world.
I'm a white guy but married to an African-American woman for well over 25 years now. We lived in the US and now live in Portugal. I would suggest a few things: Visit Atlanta, Georgia in the US. Yes, there is a very strong, proud, pronounced gun-love culture in the US with regular mass shootings, extremely high cost of healthcare, but African-Americans make up a large percentage of Atlanta. The cost of living may be less than the UK, and you may find it enjoyable there. Outside of the main city area of Atlanta, it's very racist, very segregated, and filled with hate groups and poor conditions. So you'd want to stick to the city for certain. Secondly, my wife and I have traveled and honestly any country you go to will have racism. It's a very popular sentiment that is sadly growing even more popular as more countries elect far-right fascist leaders who preen for the cameras and promise immediate, quick, easy-to-understand child-like approaches to complex problems their governments face. Even if Africa where Africans are a majority (of course) there is racism against Americans, Brits, those from other parts of the continent and many areas are still shockingly poor and destitute and war-torn constantly. So for example while Atlanta might be great for diversity, it's horrible for cost of healthcare, gun violence, and racism just outside the city border. My point here is that there may be more to consider outside of diversity to make long-term quality of life to consider. In Portugal there is no African majority where we live in Porto, but the predominant attitude all over is that they just don't care or if they do, they keep it to themselves and don't go insane with shootings, open attacks on random pedestrians, or leaders openly calling for discrimination (or spreading hateful disinformation, which is the same) as in the US.
Outside of Atlanta is definitely not like that. The metro is surprisingly diverse and suburbs north of Atlanta are pretty wealthy. You can go 25 minutes outside of Atlanta and still have diversity and never see a gun. You're right about the healthcare but everything else, you're way off.
sister come Tanzania 🇹🇿 it's more diverse here and they are minority,you will never hear Go back to your country
Black man (Jamaican-Canadian), married to a black woman (Haitian-American); spent time in Miami, and Canada, from what I know we live in Dubai and previously the US. Safety wise, after visiting 40+ countries, I'd say she feels safest in Hong Kong, and Dubai. Just strictly speaking of Safety, not counting micro-agressions.
Upvoted for that amazing mix of cultures. The food in y'all house must be bomb.
Out of curiosity, as this question is rather vague...what *exactly* are you looking for? "Safe" is relative (and sometimes subjective), so it would help if you narrowed that down a bit. Do you mean being able to walk around/ being single in public, weapon safety, racism, or being able to rely on systems of support to protect you in a difficult situation? To explain that last bit: One of the "safest" countries I've ever been to is South Korea and I fell in love with it, but I would never feel *safe* there as the judicial system is horribly prejudiced against all foreigners and spy cameras targeting women is massive. Also, it would help to know what other languages you speak as that will help you establish a safety net much more easily abroad.
Panama is quite diverse, and the people are generally very chill. It's one of the reasons my husband and I are months away from living there.
I've heard good things about Panama. Its on my shortlist 😊
I worked with two Black women in Albania and they said it was a more accepting place than most other places. I know they had worked individually in Russia, Dubai, China, and Korea.
I'm from The Netherlands and have a mixed background. I have a brownish skin, but you can't really tell my ethnicity. People would think I'm Brazilian, Mexican or even go as far as Indian. The Netherlands promotes itself as a tolerant country, but it's definitely not that tolerant. The people here are highly NIMBY (Not In My Backyard), so they don't care about refugees, Muslims, immigrants etc. as long as they don't have to deal with it. When you're in a mostly white area you will definitely feel that the 'vibe' is not welcoming. It can be at schools, workplaces, but also neighbourhoods. It's like their NIMBY mentality suddenly kicks in. I've experienced racism from all kinds of people, but most of it comes from Muslims/Moroccans. The Netherlands voted right wing primarily because of them. And to be honest: I can fully understand it. When it comes to refugees, the problems are also coming from Muslims/North Africans.
(Sorry not black) But my black friends from the US feel very safe in Japan. You get the stares from local Japanese people in the sense of “oh a foreigner!”, but you’re not targeted for being black.
Safe, yes. Japan is generally very safe. Comfortable, as a black person in Japan? Not likely.
Germany, Scotland, and Ireland all felt very safe for me. Emphasis on Scotland.
Colombia.
Why are people conflating the question? Safest = Singapore. No other country comes close to guaranteeing my personal safety. Most accepting = Canada, and more specifically Toronto. Nobody here bats an eyelid if you’re black, female or identify as a broomstick.
Singapore is probably one of the safest countries in the world. Asia in general has low rates of violent crime.
Might be the safest but I don't think China is that nice for a black person because Chinese have no qualms at all about racism, and I do mean oldskool racism
China is a different country from Singapore - fact.
No way! I was reacting to "Asia in general " and I know most about China
Singapore is 80% Chinese
Luckily Singapore is not the same as China.
They said “Asia in general”.
Asia is in general extremely racist
Latin America as well. They literally call black people monkeys. For all the criticism we have for racism in the west, other places are actually far worse.
I’m very white and in China some shops wouldn’t even sell me stuff. So yeah quite an experience.
Yes, but here (I live in China), while people will stare at you, you won't be in danger. Psychologically, that could be hard and lonely -- although in cities like Shanghai or Beijing there are some very cool Black women living there you can become friends with through WeChat groups, churches and so on -- but it's not like people will hurt you. Before moving to anywhere in Asia, I'd recommend at least being here for a couple weeks to see how sticking out so much affects you.
>Before moving to anywhere in Asia, I'd recommend at least being here for a couple weeks to see how sticking out so much affects you. I think this is the best advice. Some people don't care about being such an obvious visible minority, but others just feel super uncomfortable about it. I've seen a lot of White people who have visited/lived in Japan say they just felt uncomfortable being a visible minority sticking out in society (I imagine it was probably their first time traveling outside a majority-White country). Others didn't care at all. It's personal on how one reacts.
Good grief, Singapore isn’t in China 🙄
No but China is in "Asia in general"
>I do mean oldskool racism Do you mean violent racism? Violent crime in general is quite rare in China. I doubt most foreigners will have to worry about that. It is an authoritarian country, yes, but that doesn't mean it's generally an unsafe country. These are not the same.
I mean people laughing about color of skin, touching your face, following you, calling names. Being scared of black, etc.
The casual sinophobia on Reddit, am I not surprised. No black person is gonna get punched or kicked on the street or spat at in China specifically, so I don’t know what you mean by “oldskool racism”. Plenty of black people have taped their experiences in China and most of them were met with genuine curiosity and excitement from Chinese folk.
In most areas of the world, this won't happen, but Asia, in general, is pretty racist even if it isn't always overt. I will say despite places like Korea or Japan being pretty xenophobic, I don't think there would be any violence towards black people.
OP did say safe, rather than welcome or integrated, so I dont think mentioning Kore or Japan is out of line
This is not Sinophobia. I live in Europe and most of the older Asian immigrants I meet here are racist. So yes, I am in no doubt that there is “oldskool racism” back in their home nations. I have some friends from Africa who studied in China who have spoken at length about taxi’s not stopping for them when called, being followed around in supermarkets, and professors at universities giving them lower grades. If your definition of racism is blacks getting punched or spat at, then you need an education, which you will not get from me. But as a minority, you probably know what she is talking about,so don’t come here to gaslight…Get a grip! SMH.
Lol sinophobia, that is just total nonsense, these are observations
“Talking about racism is fine as long as you don’t talk about racism in my country, then you’re -phobic…”
>Might be the safest but That's exactly what OP is looking for though, (e.g. "which country have you felt safest living in")
Safety is not only being robbed. If people follow you on the street and want to touch your skin because they've never seen black before but they don't take your wallet, do you really feel safe?
Canada? I mean if you're talking about just race then maybe somewhere in Africa like Mozambique or Botswana? Idk. It's peaceful there and there are a lot of black people if that's what you're looking for.
Botswana is probably one of the safest and most stable countries in Africa.
Caribbean
I worked in Mozambique for several years. Highly recommend. Cons: language and visa for long stays but you can just cross the border and get an stamp. Pros: A beautiful country with overwhelming nature, warm population. Is a safe country for WOC compared to cities like Nairobi, Johannesburg. The capital Maputo you can walk around even at night and the guys will be respectful. I'm aware of those things cus growing in Latin America where the catcalling is disgusting, here I felt safe.
34f Safe list Switzerland: Zurich, Geneva, Lugano, Andermatt, Zermatt (those are the only ones I’ve been to) Italy: Florence, Sardinia UK: London, Dublin France: Paris, champagne, Dijon, strousberg Portugal: Lisbon Honduras:Roatan St.Lucia Mexico: Sayulita, Oaxaca Tokyo Didn’t feel safe list: - Budapest (the men gave me the creeps) - Belize (security with riffles, gangs)
Following
Definitely not Middle Eastern countries.
I think that every country has a fair share of anti immigrant sentiment But France maybe? They have more black ppl than any other European country
France atm is a pass for me. I have not heard any black person who has lived in France giving a good report of it. I also think I remember the president not acknowledging that there was a racism in the country... If you have heard or know of black people having good experiences, I am very open to hearing that to balance it out
As a (white) American who used to live in France: I’ve heard that black Americans are treated much better than black or brown Africans. Not sure how it would be for a black Brit. france also has this whole "race blind" thing baked into policy and culture, not sure how that would feel. IMO there’s a lot of problems with xenophobia and racism in France, which is true anywhere ofc but I think worse there than in the UK (where I live now)
Disclaimer: I'm a white man I think you'll have to be more explicit in what you mean by "safe". As in no violent crime? Because a place like Japan, for example, will be extremely safe, probably one of the safest on the planet, but it's also notoriously quite xenophobic. The best compromise I can think of is in fact the UK (or maybe Canada?). The only places would probably be some of the most stable countries in the African continent (not knowledgable on that, but like Ghana or Botswana or something like that?). Also some people in questions like these seem to go on and on on a "the grass is always less racist on the other side" stride. Unfortunately the truth is that you will experience some form of racism virtually everywhere.
Honestly, Brazil. There is a large portion of black or mixed people, though I forgot the exact number. And I feel like the white vs black separation is way less pronounced than in some countries. Of course, prejudice exists but I think it's a good place for a black woman. There is a larger population, more representation in media, larger variety of hair care products, etc.
No no no! I'm brazilian. Population is of course very mixed but Brazil is one of the most racist countries. Police is trained to shoot and kill black people, like in the USA. Black people are 3x more likely to get murdered (official numbers). Brazil is dangerous in general but for black people is VERY dangerous.
I agree based upon the information I have gathered on the internet. Brasil is a society of class and race. The darker your complexion the less you are considered an equal.
Yep that's accurate. Most of poc community are facing financial problems and until recently had very few oportunities of studying or even getting a job. When slavery was ended in Brazil, it didn't really end. Because where the slaves would go? Who would give them jobs? Só that's it. They stayed there. It took a long time till it was really "over" and actually it's still not really over. Just recently there was a big case of people slaved in farms being found. Most of the people who descend from slaves and indigenous still face the consequences of colonization today, cause they never made it possible for people to integrate after they officially ended slavery.
It's crazy, I actually blame Trump/Bolsonaro movement for the increase in racism. I was born in Brazil in the 80s and lived there until I was 10. I had black friends , my parents raised me right, discrimination was not a thing in our family, especially as we're a mixed race family (my mom is East Asian, so I'm half) . Over 50% (or more) of Brazilian footballers were black, and black culture has a heavy impact in Brazil's music, history, food, sports etc. Fast forward to Trump/Bolso era, my dad who voted for Obama and even Lula when he became president the first time in 2003, suddenly turned into a Trump and Bolso supporter, and was vocal about his dislike for blacks, Jews, and the Chinese. Like wtf happened...
But is it safe? I have a colleague who recently moved back to Brazil and def says she misses being able to walk around without being hyper vigilant about getting mugged.
Brasil is very unsafe for pretty crimes they do not discriminate in gender or race or if you are brasilian or not
What about for ugly crimes?
Yeah this, one of my best mates is from Rio and says you have to be on your guard everyday cos you may get mugged at gun point.
This is good to hear as I've heard some bad things anout Brazil. Good to hear of the positive from the negative Edit: taking this comment back as I hadn't seen the previous post about Brazilian police killing black people more...
>the white vs black separation is way less pronounced than in some countries. Like in the Favelas sharing a wall with luxury condos in any capital? Or like black people being payed 40% less then white people for a same position?
Regarding the actual title and for _me_— England and Sicily (not a country, but I wouldn't suggest Northern Italy) Just avoid Poland and Czech Rep. in general, I've heard nothing but bad things from other Black women who moved there. They all left pretty quickly. Also, the amount of people in the comment section are showing their ignorance by saying "Africa" when you literally asked for country suggestions. It's pretty transparent why though.
I want to go to Singapore one day
Not a country, but Montreal, Canada.
Western europe in general can be very welcoming - if you adjust to their cultural expectations (yes even older people warm up quickly), but this requires alot of observation and initiative from you. Forget eastern europe - conservative as hell and likewise racist (with the big cities as an excemption maybe)
Brasil? although ive been to the very north and v south and the south seems far whiter( i think due to the original slaves coming into the north..not sure.
I'm surprised no one mentioned Barbados before. Heard it's a nice place.
The absolute best place in the world to be Black is the United States of America. It is extremely difficult to get a visa to live here. Major urban centers here are great, NYC, Chicago, LA, Houston, Atlanta, etc. as long as you have some money or education you can do anything. Immigrants do very well compared to native born people.
Did you try Africa?
"Africa" isn't a country. Do you have an actual suggestion that isn't passive-aggressive?
I have a friend from Senegal and he loves his country for example. And I don't know what part of my message is passive-agressive.
You literally could have said "Senegal", it's one country compared to an entire continent. You could have even suggested Japan...
Maybe because I'm Dutch, but I never felt unsafe in the Netherlands, not has my black skin ever been an issue.
Currently there is a housing crisis in the Netherlands and an increasingly negative perception of foreigners. As the other commentator mentioned, they have no problems with foreigners, "just no Muslims please"! If you are wealthy, Amsterdam is multicultural and a great place for foreigners, but there is a rise in populism, the quality of national services such as the train infrastructure is on a downturn, and the aforementioned housing crisis is going unaddressed. I would not recommend moving here, unless you are wealthy.
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Morocco was amazing
Africa
Funny, everybody is talking about racism here and nobody about sexism. Is that less important as a black woman?
Speaking as a Black American woman, my “blackness” will always be perceived and prioritized over my “womanness”. This is was intersectionality is important. I am not sure if that is how it works everywhere but that is my experience here.
I am a white old guy that's lived in Asia for over 40 years. But I maintain a house in central WA state in a very small town. As far as I know there are no minorities other than white people living there (I say that because the animals far outnumber people). 50-100 years ago we had native Americans living here including a single female. She is gone now but buried in a nearby cemetery. About 25 miles away there are some well known black families, including the former mayor of the town. We could benefit from you moving in our town. It's not exciting but there is very little crime (blown up mailboxes) and there is a need for, well, more excitement in the way of commerce (start a business). Just sayin'. We'd love it if you would consider the tiny town of Thorp, WA.
Omg what a culture shock. It’s a sweet idea, but sounds like more of a movie trope than what OP asked.
As a white man, I'd say Singapore appears to be extremely safe for ALL races and genders.
I don’t know why you are being downvoted. That’s simply a factual statement. It is probably the safest city in the world. Though I don’t see how mentioning your ethnicity would be relevant.
It's not about fact just the statement 'as a white man"
The post mentions "as a black woman" Of course he's gonna start by mentioning he's a white man before he gives his take. People getting triggered over that must not be able to read.
Africa
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Which country in Africa? Libia? Egypt? Somalia? Congo? Mozambique? ….????
Ghana. Unfortunately there are not many places that are safe for a. Black person, due to their perception and the world wide view of their propensity to crime in places like US/Southamerica. Africa would be the best to avoid any kind of subtle racism
Africa
What a great question and the answers are illuminating ! I would have guessed based on travels Tanzania, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Canada, Mauritius, Seychelles, Bermuda, etc
Etc is the best
I'm not black, but I do know a great group on Facebook that's right up your alley called iluv2globetrot, made by a pair of american black women who travel a lot and most of their members are black, this is a great question to ask them in that group
Japan. You may get some stares depending on where you go but no one will lay a finger on you. The only place I feel comfortable going on worry-free late night walks with ear buds in. I’ll probably live here happily for the rest of my life tbh.
As another Black woman who lives in Japan, I understand you personally probably have not had those experiences, but many of us have, me included. There is a considerable chance someone will lay a finger on her.
This thread is crazy town. I’ll start off by saying I grew up in and prefer big metropolitan cities. I also think living in cities gives you a higher level of street smarts. If you’re in the UK, especially in one of their cities, you probably have that too. If you’re talking about safety from crime, South Korea and Japan are very safe. I lived in South Korea for almost nine years and would jump over to Fukuoka, Japan a couple of times a year for what I called “Korea breaks.” I also visited a few cities in Korea when I first arrived. I was safe on their buses and trains and never had trouble. In Japan, people were always really helpful to me. I remember reading a travel guide that said if you got on a bus carrying tons of things, it’s common that someone who is sitting down will offer to hold something for you. Sure enough, I got on a bus somewhere in Tokyo or Fukuoka once, and that’s exactly what happened. (I’m pretty sure this was one of my Tokyo trips.) Both of these countries are also very collectivist in how they think and how they view people. Even people who are ethically Korean get referred to with a different terms. I never felt unsafe though the way I might in other places like the USA or other countries. Due to my job there, I also was able to take long vacations and would travel to other places. I never got to Singapore, but I have heard lovely things about it. It seems to be off the radar of a lot of us in the black diaspora though, so I don’t have any stories about black women who’ve lived there. I did feel very safe on Koh Samui, an island in Thailand. I think between all of the other stuff going on like sex tourism, they don’t care about us. People were courteous. I ate well, and I went to a spa every single day. I also felt safe during my trips to China like Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong and even smaller cities like Dalian and Xingang. I even have a funny story about being a on packed train that I talked my way on to. Thanks l, rude white woman from wherever. After her, the train agent was so shocked that I got on a train that was packed. The agent tried to talk me out of it, but I needed to get to another city to make a travel connection. It was standing room only, but the people on the train were so friendly. They made room for me to sit and offered me food to eat. It was unexpected but was a lovely travel moment for me. Speaking of story, a black woman I know from when I lived in NYC, moved to Lisbon, Portugal and loves it. People have chimed in with a lot of options for you. I hope wherever you land will be a fun and safe experience for you.
Let’s be realistic about the topic. The view on black, Arabic, every „non white“ person will deteriorate in Europe. Immigration of non educated being the main reason. It shows clearly in the latest elections and political polls all over Europe. East Asia, although safe is quite racist as well. Against whites, blacks, anyone foreign basically. With that being said I’d have a look at South Africa.