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Old 01-23-2010, 11:14 PM
 
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I found something online encouraging African-American students to study abroad:Top 10 Reasons for African American Students to Study Abroad
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Old 01-16-2011, 07:36 PM
 
Location: Duluth, Minnesota, USA
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1. There are far more white people than black people in the U.S.

2. Blacks earn far less on average than whites, and rent far more often. This, along with anecdotal experience, leads me to believe that blacks are far more likely to belong to either the lower or working class than whites.

3. Like the white lower and working class, the black equivalents of these strata seem to delegate travel to an unfavorable position in their consumption preferences. I am from the white working class, and I know few (other than military personnel) in it who are extensively traveled or have even traveled at all abroad; and many of these people could very well afford to travel, but instead prefer to spend their money on (not in order) trucks, muscle cars, four wheelers, motorcycles, snowmobiles, guns, large flat-screen TVs, rims, car audio systems, liquor, and drugs. I'm not saying the black working or lower class shares exactly these preferences, but leisure travel seems to be strongly tied to class, even compensating for income, and the middle- and upper-middle classes seem to travel a lot more, especially abroad and especially on trips of "cultural" significance (as opposed to vacations to Cancun or Las Vegas). I am confident that the upper-middle-class black population tends to be well-traveled, only there are far fewer of therm than whites.
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Old 01-16-2011, 07:48 PM
 
Location: Duluth, Minnesota, USA
7,646 posts, read 18,050,410 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marma View Post
Jay,

I will give you my educated guess, although I am sure some people will get on my case for this. I lived in atl for ten years and had an abundance of African American friends.
There is less "exploration" and "curiosity" for practical, cultural and socioeconomic reasons among many African American families.
African Americans mostly come from slavery and repression in the past of our country, in case you didn't know that. Many are still trying to climb the socioeconomic ladder to the level in which travel is an affordable option for "entertainment" or "educational" purposes. So, even those who can afford to travel are in a network and culture of others who cannot, so as a result they don't take much interest either. Thus, travel is not considered as much a part of African Culture as it is in white American culture. That said, there are plenty of affluent African Americans who love to travel. But aside from relocations due to Katrina, you will notice MOST African Americans are comfortable among their people in the towns they grew up in, just like most Americans. It is also not as easy for an African American to uproot as it is for a white American.
Make that "white middle class American". Working-class whites are the same way.
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Old 01-16-2011, 08:22 PM
 
Location: Carrboro and Concord, NC
963 posts, read 2,400,056 times
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Black man here. Most of the states E of the Mississippi River, plus the W Coast states. For 5 years in the 1990s I played bass in an indie rock band, and we made no $, and gained no fame at all, but we drove all over the place. On my own, I've been to Venezuela, several places in the Caribbean. I am definitely non-wealthy - lower-middle-class bohemian would be a generous assessment.

My parents, individually or collectively: South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Canada, The Netherlands, Russia, Venezuela, South Africa.

One cousin lived/worked in Seoul for a couple years. Another lived - over a 15-year period - in Jamaica, Greece, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and The Philippines. Yet another cousin has been a session jazz musician; he's been to Japan, the UK, France. And yet another cousin joined the Peace Corps and lived in Ecuador and Belize for about 10 years.

None of us are wealthy. It actually is possible to travel cheaply - you MUST plan very, very well, and traveling light is not a challenging thing to learn at all. I think a lot of people of all backgrounds think travel must always be running off to a week of regal splendor in some hot country, and that's actually both expensive, and not necessarily the most interesting way of seeing places. I've made it a point of keeping in touch with friends I've picked up in various places (regardless of race). If and when you go back, they can sometimes provide accomodations, or at least show you around, help you out with any language barriers that might exist, and generally turn you on to the 'what to do'/'what to avoid' stuff that might not make it into some travel guide.

As examples: I have some close friends, a husband and wife - she is Latino, he is white. They live in very modest financial circumstances - he's in grad school (no real income), she is a teacher who moonlights as a cashier. They are FAR more well travelled than the vast majority of wealthy people I know - they've been to 6 continents. They use the frequent flier miles. They made the effort of learning some languages - she speaks Spanish, French and English fluently, he speaks Thai. France, Latin America (Puerto Rico, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Colombia), S.E. Asia they stay with friends, which cuts expenses in half. I have an open invite to tag along on one of their trips if and when I can set up the time off.

Likewise, I have an ex (still a friend) who is a native of India, with a sis in Hong Kong, and travels back yearly - I have open invites to tag along, I know the families, it's something I plan to do.

So. Some black folks who travel. We know other folks who travel as well. Like everything, it's all about networking. Do that, and you don't need to be well off to do it.
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Old 01-16-2011, 09:40 PM
 
Location: Duluth, Minnesota, USA
7,646 posts, read 18,050,410 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by davidals View Post
Black man here. Most of the states E of the Mississippi River, plus the W Coast states. For 5 years in the 1990s I played bass in an indie rock band, and we made no $, and gained no fame at all, but we drove all over the place. On my own, I've been to Venezuela, several places in the Caribbean. I am definitely non-wealthy - lower-middle-class bohemian would be a generous assessment.

My parents, individually or collectively: South Korea, Japan, Mexico, Canada, The Netherlands, Russia, Venezuela, South Africa.

One cousin lived/worked in Seoul for a couple years. Another lived - over a 15-year period - in Jamaica, Greece, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and The Philippines. Yet another cousin has been a session jazz musician; he's been to Japan, the UK, France. And yet another cousin joined the Peace Corps and lived in Ecuador and Belize for about 10 years.

None of us are wealthy. It actually is possible to travel cheaply - you MUST plan very, very well, and traveling light is not a challenging thing to learn at all. I think a lot of people of all backgrounds think travel must always be running off to a week of regal splendor in some hot country, and that's actually both expensive, and not necessarily the most interesting way of seeing places. I've made it a point of keeping in touch with friends I've picked up in various places (regardless of race). If and when you go back, they can sometimes provide accomodations, or at least show you around, help you out with any language barriers that might exist, and generally turn you on to the 'what to do'/'what to avoid' stuff that might not make it into some travel guide.

As examples: I have some close friends, a husband and wife - she is Latino, he is white. They live in very modest financial circumstances - he's in grad school (no real income), she is a teacher who moonlights as a cashier. They are FAR more well travelled than the vast majority of wealthy people I know - they've been to 6 continents. They use the frequent flier miles. They made the effort of learning some languages - she speaks Spanish, French and English fluently, he speaks Thai. France, Latin America (Puerto Rico, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Colombia), S.E. Asia they stay with friends, which cuts expenses in half. I have an open invite to tag along on one of their trips if and when I can set up the time off.

Likewise, I have an ex (still a friend) who is a native of India, with a sis in Hong Kong, and travels back yearly - I have open invites to tag along, I know the families, it's something I plan to do.

So. Some black folks who travel. We know other folks who travel as well. Like everything, it's all about networking. Do that, and you don't need to be well off to do it.
What's the education level of your most educated parent? I find that a far better (simple) metric of class than income. You can make little money, especially in this economy as a student, but come from a middle-class family and have a middle class worldview. Likewise, you can be from a working-class family, whose parents have only a high school education or less, and make plenty of money as a plumber or electrician. The simple fact that you joined and are active on these forums and wrote those paragraphs in an eloquent and organized manner suggests to me that you are an educated (undergrad or above) individual who most likely comes from the middle class. But that's in no way certain.
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Old 01-16-2011, 10:00 PM
 
Location: Atlanta
492 posts, read 1,021,784 times
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This thread makes me think about a conversation I had with a coworker the other day.

My coworker who is bulgarian, and travels quite frequently, asked me have I ever traveled abroad to any other countries. I explained to her how I personally as a young black male dont really have any interest in traveling abroad, like to Europe for example. She asked me why, and I told her for one, I dont really have a connection to anything abroad, and two, I dont want to be an outcast (the only black guy), as I already experience that here on occasions in America. I wouldnt want to put myself in an uncomfortable situation in a place Im unfamiliar with. She explained to me that there are a lot of black people over there and she kind of made me rethink my stance on the issue. I may want to travel to Africa one day, but even then thats still a stretch.

There are still a lot of places statewide that I havent visited, as well as some others statewide that I have no intentions on visiting because there is no cultural connection there for me as a young black male. And no it doesnt have to be a connection as far as being black/urban/hood or whatever, but it has to appeal to me. Like for example, Colorado, London, Mexico, etc. do not really appeal to me personally for some reason. NYC, Chicago, Spain, Jamaica, maybe Greece all do appeal to me for some reason, but the average black person could care less about visiting some of these places.

But to sum it all up, I think a reason, other than finances, why many african americans do not travel as much is because there arent as many places that we have connections with culturally like whites (Italians, Irish, etc.) do.

Last edited by VA7cities; 01-16-2011 at 10:21 PM..
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Old 01-16-2011, 11:03 PM
 
Location: Southwest Suburbs
4,593 posts, read 9,148,401 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by VA7cities View Post
This thread makes me think about a conversation I had with a coworker the other day.

My coworker who is bulgarian, and travels quite frequently, asked me have I ever traveled abroad to any other countries. I explained to her how I personally as a young black male dont really have any interest in traveling abroad, like to Europe for example. She asked me why, and I told her for one, I dont really have a connection to anything abroad, and two, I dont want to be an outcast (the only black guy), as I already experience that here on occasions in America. I wouldnt want to put myself in an uncomfortable situation in a place Im unfamiliar with. She explained to me that there are a lot of black people over there and she kind of made me rethink my stance on the issue. I may want to travel to Africa one day, but even then thats still a stretch.

There are still a lot of places statewide that I havent visited, as well as some others statewide that I have no intentions on visiting because there is no cultural connection there for me as a young black male. And no it doesnt have to be a connection as far as being black/urban/hood or whatever, but it has to appeal to me. Like for example, Colorado, London, Mexico, etc. do not really appeal to me personally for some reason. NYC, Chicago, Spain, Jamaica, maybe Greece all do appeal to me for some reason, but the average black person could care less about visiting some of these places.

But to sum it all up, I think a reason, other than finances, why many african americans do not travel as much is because there arent as many places that we have connections with culturally like whites (Italians, Irish, etc.) do.
There are a million black people in London alone. So if you have second thoughts about traveling to Europe, start there.
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Old 01-16-2011, 11:27 PM
 
Location: metro ATL
8,180 posts, read 14,787,562 times
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I've heard of several places in Europe that are more or less welcoming to African Americans. One of my childhood best friends, who has made a career for himself in the Navy, says that he'd jump at the chance to live in Spain if he could. The latest issue of Ebony magazine has a piece about Black Americans who have lived/live abroad in Rome. As an African American myself, there are several cities abroad that I'd absolutely love to experience.
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Old 01-17-2011, 01:23 AM
 
Location: Austin, Texas
3,092 posts, read 4,940,013 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicagoland60426 View Post
There are a million black people in London alone. So if you have second thoughts about traveling to Europe, start there.
I'm a bit skeptical about that population figure you threw up considering Great Britain as a whole MIGHT have as many black people as the entire state of Texas.
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Old 01-17-2011, 01:28 AM
 
Location: Austin, Texas
3,092 posts, read 4,940,013 times
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As far as this thread it self. Black people don't normally travel as much for economic reasons as well as cultural reasons. It's no secret by now that our income is lower than whites. But we also don't have the same cultural curiosity for European destinations that whites do.

Personally, I would love to experience London, Paris, Rome, and Venice. But that's more of an exception than the rule.

BTW, I wish people would stop going on about how much more progressive and welcoming towards black Europe is. It's easy to be progressive with a few token blacks spread throughout who by and large have assimilated and conformed to the dominant white culture. But when Europe has a huge black population with their own developed culture like the U.S. does and those Europeans still have the same attitude, then we can talk.
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