Anyone ever been the target of racism abroad?

manly5000 · Post by **manly5000** » December 10th, 2012, 6:21 pm

Hey guys,

An incident from many years ago popped into my head tonight and got me thinking... Has anyone here who has spent a lot of time abroad ever been harassed by the local populace just for being foreign?

What happened to me was, way back in the day when I was with my ex-wife (who was originally from Mexico) visiting some of her famly and friends in the country, we went to a small town in the southern part of the state of Jalisco where her sister was going to secondary school, or junior college, or something like that. Long story short, there was this huge gang of teenage boys in the town, I'm talking like 30 or 40 of them, all walking around in a pack. As soon as they saw me they all began to make this loud "barking" kind of noise at me over and over, also throwing out some profanities in plain English... I had the displeasure of staying the night there and any time I would see some of them they'd start doing it again. Was glad to get out of there, but I never had anything like that happen in any of the other small towns and cities in Mexico, and I had visited quite a few. The people everywhere else were friendly as can be, even in the slums in the outskirts of Guadalajara.

I've never heard of this kind of harassment and I guess part of me was wondering if they were going to get physical. Was the first time I've ever experienced something like this. I'm white, not sure if that matters in Mexico but I was a full on gringo apparently.

Any of you guys experienced harassment abroad? What do you make out of what happened to me... lol.

Just thought this could make for some interesting stories!

lone_yakuza · Post by **lone_yakuza** » December 10th, 2012, 6:27 pm

Renata · Post by **Renata** » December 10th, 2012, 6:42 pm

manly5000 that's scary ... I would be real intimidated by such a large group I've never experienced anything on such a large scale. The worst racism I ever had was being told by my ex's mother in the UK; 'I really love you but I don't want any brown grandkids'

colibri · Post by **colibri** » December 10th, 2012, 6:44 pm

mmm weird O_O im guessing they did it because they were retard teens.... did they said any specific word in spanish ?

zboy1 · Post by **zboy1** » December 10th, 2012, 7:00 pm

Renata wrote:manly5000 that's scary ... I would be real intimidated by such a large group I've never experienced anything on such a large scale. The worst racism I ever had was being told by my ex's mother in the UK; 'I really love you but I don't want any brown grandkids'

Wow, that's messed up Renata. Yeah, the U.K. is a pretty racist place in general even though it's a diverse country--just like America.

S_Parc · Post by **S_Parc** » December 10th, 2012, 8:13 pm

zboy1 wrote:
Renata wrote:manly5000 that's scary ... I would be real intimidated by such a large group I've never experienced anything on such a large scale. The worst racism I ever had was being told by my ex's mother in the UK; 'I really love you but I don't want any brown grandkids'
Wow, that's messed up Renata. Yeah, the U.K. is a pretty racist place in general even though it's a diverse country--just like America.

Believe it or not but a lot of older generation parents (or grandparents) think this way, but will never utter it in public with others watching. This is all over Anglo-Sphere, including the US/Canada.

Contrarian Expatriate · December 11th, 2012, 1:39 am

One comes to expect that every now and then. I've gotten comments and provocations on occasion, but it does not detract from the wonderful experiences with the majority of people I encounter.

Usually, racism is from people who are on the lower socioeconomic and educational levels. Most of the time, they see "different" people as a threat to their piece of the pie or a threat to their access to women.

All in all, I can tell you that nothing abroad compares to the racism in the USA. While it may be covert now, it is there like in no other country I have visited and I have been to almost 80 countries.

Dragon · Post by **Dragon** » December 11th, 2012, 2:02 am

lone_yakuza wrote:Well well well. I guess one white guy now knows what it's like to be an East Asian-descent male outside of a few larger cities on the west coast of the USA or east coast larger cities, and pretty much most places in the Anglosphere or some places in Europe.

Join the club, bro.

Ah, lone_yakuza...I can always get a laugh from you. You are truly the slightly crazy Asian Crusader all Asian men need.

Voice of Reason · Post by **Voice of Reason** » December 11th, 2012, 2:12 am

lone_yakuza wrote:Well well well. I guess one white guy now knows what it's like to be an East Asian-descent male outside of a few larger cities on the west coast of the USA or east coast larger cities, and pretty much most places in the Anglosphere or some places in Europe.

Join the club, bro.

Can't a white guy just share an experience without it being turned into an issue about another race?

I understand you have had racial troubles, but can't you just save it for another thread and let this guy tell his story in peace?

Voice of Reason · Post by **Voice of Reason** » December 11th, 2012, 2:13 am

Contrarian Expatriate wrote:One comes to expect that every now and then. I've gotten comments and provocations on occasion, but it does not detract from the wonderful experiences with the majority of people I encounter.

Usually, racism is from people who are on the lower socioeconomic and educational levels. Most of the time, they see "different" people as a threat to their piece of the pie or a threat to their access to women.

All in all, I can tell you that nothing abroad compares to the racism in the USA. While it may be covert now, it is there like in no other country I have visited and I have been to almost 80 countries.

Yes.

Usually racism is from people who haven't traveled themselves, and hence have a closed mind.

skateboardstephen · December 11th, 2012, 7:33 am

zboy1 wrote:
Renata wrote:manly5000 that's scary ... I would be real intimidated by such a large group I've never experienced anything on such a large scale. The worst racism I ever had was being told by my ex's mother in the UK; 'I really love you but I don't want any brown grandkids'
Wow, that's messed up Renata. Yeah, the U.K. is a pretty racist place in general even though it's a diverse country--just like America.

yeah dude seen some chicks from the U.K. in a local bar.They looked busted.And one of them came to me and asked me a question with this British accent i was like avoid avoid avoid avoid. They would not even talk to the Afro-Brazilian men there just these two white guys from peru.

S_Parc · Post by **S_Parc** » December 11th, 2012, 8:00 am

Contrarian Expatriate wrote:Usually, racism is from people who are on the lower socioeconomic and educational levels. Most of the time, they see "different" people as a threat to their piece of the pie or a threat to their access to women.

There was a time that I used to believe this until I'd met folks with advanced degrees, who're basically Nazis or Klansmen at heart. The difference is that they know that they can't express themselves in public, esp in a place like America.

lone_yakuza · Post by **lone_yakuza** » December 11th, 2012, 3:43 pm

lone_yakuza · Post by **lone_yakuza** » December 11th, 2012, 3:47 pm

manly5000 · Post by **manly5000** » December 11th, 2012, 3:50 pm

Good replies and insight everyone, thanks.

yakuza - It was indeed interesting to see what it's like to be the target of racism. Not in a good way of course but interesting all the same. Not really "complaining" about it tho... just wanted to share a story and get an idea of what I might expect when the time comes to leave the US and relocate to the country of my choosing. If it happens again (and I'm sure it will sooner or later considering I want to live in whatever country I go to) I'll just let it go, unless I have to physically defend myself, wife, or family of course.