I hope this is not too stupid of a question, if it is I already apologize in advance.
Basically my girlfriend and I who are from Germany are planning to travel to the USA. We were hearing stuff that some Americans socially divide people by their ethnicity. I just wanted to ask online whether this is true and if there could be any concerns because my skin is very bright and my girlfriends skin is very dark.
Normally we never really cared or talked about this since at least in our community (where we are from) no one makes a thing out of it and we both just identify as German. But I heard that in some procedures in America you have to say what your ethnicity is? We even heard things like that in some places they divide people by “skin color” and base different cultures on that (we noticed that people from America even speak and behave differently based on whether they identify as “black” or “white”) and even have schools for primarily people with dark skin or so. And this concept is very new to us since our skin was never any topic for us and we are somewhat insecure that someone could say something since we look so different and are a couple and we don’t know if this could be “weird” for some Americans?
I assume that’s probably not the case and I’m somewhat misinformed, which is why we just want to make sure there isn’t anything that we have to know or potentially have to be concerned about.
As many people said there is racism in the US, but that’s cause everywhere has its flavor of racism.
If you’re visiting the US as tourists it’s highly unlikely you’ll encounter anyone being outwardly racist, especially if you keep to major tourist destinations.
In any major US city you’ll run into people of all different colors and people from all over the world working and living together, just like most big/international cities.
I have lifelong experience in the deep south and rural areas which is where the worst of it is. They usually will not say anything to your face but some they might say something to their friend behind your back (and be completely embarrassed if they find out you overheard it). Remember these aren’t cartoon buff guys with bats where half of them are named Skeeter. It’s not as overtly in your face as much as media likes to portend.
It’s also wildly different who is black. If it’s the man who’s black, then there is this sentiment that “they’re invading our women” and it gives them a predatory feeling. But if a white man picks a girl of any race then they don’t really care. It’s the same sentiment that if a white man wants to date a black girl or smash his hand with a hammer or eat 200 hot dogs in a sitting, he’s got that god given American Freedum to do what he wants.
I will add though that as a White man, I dated a black woman and was constantly harrased in public by black men and women.
You’ll be fine everywhere you go. No one will even notice you. What you see online and how it is in real life are wildly different. Enjoy your trip
Depends where in the US you are going i guess but in general people aren’t openly racist to strangers. I can’t imagine you would have any issues. 2 years from now who knows, things are going to shit quicker than I could have ever imagined. People are going to be asking about your accent likely, we don’t meat Germans very often. I don’t think I have ever met one in person. I live in the middle of nowhere though. I’d guess most if any attention you get would be positive.
Almost nobody is going to care unless you go places nobody cares about.
We don’t segregate people by color, but some people self segregate. There are areas with more black people or more white people, but there is no laws that say you or her can’t go somewhere because of skin color.
I am assuming she is black. There is a small chance that some people will say rude things to one of you because you are with someone of a different color. Don’t confront them, just walk away. The cops would love to ruin their whole day, so govern yourself accordingly.
We see a lot of Germans in the tourist spots, your accent will be considered adorable and we will love to know where you are from and will likely fail to repeat the name of your home city unless it is Berlin, Frankfort, or Munich. If you are from Bayern, you are from Bavaria. If they ask you to say something in German, “etwas” is funny, but you will have to follow it up with an actual sentence. Throw in an “umgebung”, it’s a fun word to us.
Also you need to understand that America is very large. Germany is smaller than our states of Illinois and Indiana, look at those states on a map and understand that things are further apart than you may think.
If you can manage the 2hr drive, Chattanooga has an awesome aquarium with a massive glass walled tank.
Ask the hotel desk where are some good local spots to get food, but the best places are not in the information pamphlet they may hand you. I hope your pants fit loose, our food can put weight on you very easily if you take in too much of our hedonistic freedom. Tip your servers, that is how they afford to live.
Ich höffe das Eures Urlaub wunderbar sind und der Amis sind freundlich. Ich weiß das Sie Amerika lieben werden. Mein Deutsch schlecht ist, tut mir leid, es ist zwanzig Jahre her dass ich Deutsch gelernt habe.
Gut gemacht
So others have already addressed most of your concerns, so, I’ll just leave it at that.
but, eh, I do want to point out that it’s surprising to me that EU people frequently seem to assume we’re all just one big sameness. Like you would look at me weird if I suggested French and Spanish cultures were the same, right? In terms of population size and landmass both, the US is more comparable to the EU as a whole, and we have a lot of diverse sub cultures here.
Some of that is divided along racial lines- do remember that roughly half of the 340 million people in the US aren’t white, and even if we were, most of our states have their own cultural quirks (and that includes variations in accents and dialects.) Which really shouldn’t be that surprising, considering at 85 million, Germany has subtle variations of culture too. y’all don’t all speak Standard German (which is funny because we tend to think of the stereotypical German as being Bavarian. complete with the lederhosen. I blame Oktoberfest.)
hell, some of your dialects may in fact be different languages than Standard German (Low Saxon, for example.)
Suffice it to say, we’ve got a lot of variation here, and the culture that you experience will largely depend on where you go. and since you’ve mentioned Nashville… definitely need to try the BBQ there. it’s delicious.
I’ve lived all over the US. You won’t have any such issues. Enjoy your trip and take some nice photos!
If you get lost or need some help, say you are visiting from Germany and need some help. People will be glad to give it.
Your description sounds to me like someone was trying to explain how the US is a melting pot of cultures and they did an extremely poor job 😂
Essentially because we are a country of immigrants people with similar cultures tend to group together. For example there are parts of cities that are predominantly Italian or Chinese. Not because we are racist but because that just happens naturally. People want to share an experience a culture similar to their home country.
Obviously there is always a chance that someone will say something but just ignore them or tell them to mind their own business. You have our blessing to treat those people with absolute disrespect.
I’m an American. Wanna trade places? Germany seems a lot less Nazi recently.
Don’t come here. Shit’s fucked.
If you encounter the police, they can kill your girlfriend and earn a 6 month paid vacation.
This is not a joke. Act accordingly.
Not helpful or likely.
