Natalie

I am planning to take my 15 year old daughter to Europe for the first time. We plan to travel for 2 months and go to England, France, Italy, Norway, Spain, Hungary and the Chech Republic. My question is this: my dauther is bi-racial (black and white) and I am white. Do you think that we might encounter any negativity in any of these countries? I wil very much appreciate your outlook. Thanks.

x

Despite what some of the "we are the world--Europeans will EMBRACE your daughter" responses might say, it depends on how dark she it, and on how rural you travel. There have been ugly racist incidents lately in Norway, Spain, France, and England, and in Hungary and Czech they don't see that many blacks. At the very least she might be an object of some inquisitive stares

troll

this is a troll! and one who has replied to themselves as well!

Natalie

X: We are planning mostly to visit the capitals (with 1-2 hour day trips). My daughter is not very dark (she is frequently mistaken for Puerto Rican - people try to speak Spanish to her). Do you think we should eliminate any of the countries from our itinerary, as I don't want to place us in harms way or cause her any undue discomfort? Thank you for your honest opinion.<BR><BR>Troll: Why are you do distrustful?

Florence

Bonjour Natalie,<BR><BR>I am a French "biracial" living in Switzerland, my mother is white. Have travelled all over Europe all my life, even in very remote rural areas.<BR><BR>x is either pulling your leg, or a troll. Europe is not perfect paradise, there are racists, but not that many. In 46 years, I can count on the fingers of 1 hand the number of times I've been attacked because of my skin color. As a tourist, I bet this is something that will never happen to your daughter. You'll meet "biracials", blacks, and mixed couples at every corners, even in Hungary and Chech republic, so your daughter will not be looked at twice on account of her color. <BR><BR>If you're alone with your daughter, in a restaurant for example, you might be asked if she has been adopted, which should never be taken as a negative comment, more as a way of starting a conversation. <BR><BR>Welcome to Europe and have the time of your life.

Leslie

Natalie - I must admit that, of the countries you mention, I've only been to England, France and Italy..but my observation is that (certainly in the big cities) these countries are no longer homogenous. They have become melting pots like the US and I believe you'll be comfortable. While prejudices probably exist, I doubt you'll be the target of anything but happy encounters with local people. <BR><BR>This is especially true if you attempt to speak a few words in their language and use all the common courtesies and smiles that a visitor should. <BR><BR>This sounds like a truly wonderful trip for you and your daughter. How lucky you are. Don't back away from any plans and don't be shy. All my best travel memories are of people we've talked with. <BR>

Natalie

Florence: Thank you for sharing your personal experiences with me. You have made me feel much better than X. I realize that everyone has a different story to tell and I hope that yours is the more common.<BR><BR>Leslie: Thank you for your thoughtful reply.

Grasshopper

My travel partner is African American, I am caucasian. We have NEVER noticed any level of prejudice or negativity at all. I agree with the former poster who said that Europe has become very multi-cultural.

Florence

Natalie,<BR><BR>I realise I used the word "attacked" to qualify what were only unpleasant remarks or attitudes. I've never been physically attacked. I grew up in Geneva in the 60, and for the first 10 years of my life, I was the only black kid in all the shools here. Never had a problem, my origins were never ever mentioned. Now, an average school here has children from at least 50+ different nationalities (the elementary school right behind my appartments building boasts 103 different nationalities for a little more than 500 kids), and this is the norm in most Western European countries ...<BR><BR>Not that there isn't any problems, but they're few, far between, and seldom based on ethnicity.<BR><BR>

Vita

I think that there are other issues that come into play here - one being gender, another being the fact that you are tourists and not living there. <BR><BR>I befriended an Algerian when I was in Rome, and through this friendship, witnessed racism against him. Even though I am also arabic (Arab-American, which might have made a difference) and the people making the racist remarks knew that I was, their comments were not directed toward me. They were, in fact, very nice to me. These comments were also made in his absence, and there was never any concern about violence, that I know of.<BR><BR>My point being that whether he was a victim of racism and I wasn't because of gender; the fact the he was living there, which might be more of an insult; or because my being American somehow precluded being Arabic, I don't know. Who said racism made any sense?

clr

We took our bi-racial daughter to Europe. I can comment on England and France.<BR><BR>In England, on one to one basis, we did not encounter negativity based on race. All difficulties came from American vs British way of doing. HOWEVER, once there was perceived barrier between us and the people, things changed. If the passengers were in a train and they felt they were isolated by a sheet of glass, then all the eyes stared at us sitting on a platform.<BR><BR>In France, they either stared at us more discreetly or just plain didn't give a darn about mixed couples. We moved around transparently.<BR><BR>Germany was a different matter. Middle age to senior people stared at us shamelessly. The people sitting next to us at restaurants would stare as us during the entire meal. Very creepy. Younger people and people we had to deal with, ticket window, restaurants, stores, etc, didn't stare at us.

olga

In Spain, at least in main cities, there is no significant racism against african americans at all. You might get looks of admiration, though, since a lot of spaniards, both male and female, think the black race is very beautiful.<BR><BR> (By the way, what´s wrong with calling it black, I still don´t understand american political correctness)<BR><BR>As for clr, I don´t think people on that train in England where staring at you because of the race issue. Europeans use public transportation a lot, everyday to go to work, for instance, and you do get so bored of seing the same things over and over that you stare at anything that moves.<BR>We are also quite rude starers -is there such a word? sorry! - compared to most americans I know. <BR>My husband is american and sticks out like a sore thumb and when we first moved here he used to get very uncomfortable with peope staring directly at him in a very obvious way.<BR><BR>We don´t even notice we are doing it, most times. &gt;I speak for myself, at least. It´s not meant to offend, it´s just curiosity. <BR> <BR>I must say though, that there is visible racism towards northafricans and gipsies. I think it´s more a status issue than a race issue. <BR>African americans that come to Spain are usually middle class or high class people, some even athletes or celebrities, so there is a certain aura of "coolness" about them from most spaniards´perspective.<BR>In the U.S., some people look down on them because they have historically been the low end of the status scale.<BR><BR>Here, now it´s the poor southamerican and northafrican immigrants and the gipsies that get the worst part, also because there is a lot of crime associated with some of them -logically, the rich people do´t need to steal...-.<BR><BR>Sorry for the social comentary... Just wanted to be helpful.

EP

Hmmm... When I sit in a train and look at the platform, of course the people there might think that I stare. Perhaps I even do. But that is just to pass time. After all, I may already have stared the person opposite me for the last two hours. Platform is great variety. I don´t care if the people standing there are purple. They are variety to my dull train trip.<BR><BR>And yes, I might even look at people in restaurants. Why not? I may be interested. I certainly don´t mean to be rude.

sam

clr - I may get slammed for making a huge generality here, but I notice that in Germany - most people stare. No hiding it - they look you up and down and up and down. Doesn't matter what color or age you are. It's just the way things are there, from what I have seen. While in America - we may look and then look away if we're bagged, there, there is no self-consciousness about it.

Natalie

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond. It sounds like anything is possible, but not probable. I'm feeling much more positive.

x

gee olga those 10 inches really clouds your view

honey

clr, Germans stare at everybody. It doesn't matter what color, sex, age, etc you are. You can either ignore them, stare back or make a face at them.

olga

Dear X,<BR><BR>I don´t get what you mean. Could you be more specific in your comment?

egg

Cir:<BR>In the UK the latest figures are that 40 per cent of black men have a white wife/partner so mixed race children ate ten a penny. If people were staring at you, why do you assume it's because of your daughter's colour? Also, why should the interest be negative?<BR>It may be because of your American clothes or behaviour. It might possibly be because your daughter is a very pretty child. Many mixed-race children are.