You become black when you move abroad
We never really talk about the discrimination we receive in oyinbo land.
Hi guys,
Hope you are well. I’m doing okay, Alhamdulillah.
I write this at 9:27 am on a Sunday morning, even though I have been in front of my laptop since 7:43 am. I started off thinking about this newsletter, then moved to playing around with the theme, watching some reels on IG, reading Let's Talk About Social Media, and doing some basic research for another newsletter I have been thinking about starting.
I recently heard someone say everybody that shares personal content has two fears:
What if nobody reads it?
What if everybody reads it and judges me?
He made an argument that the fears were irrational, as they could not both be true.
If nobody reads your blog/listens to your podcast/watches your YouTube channel, then there’s nobody to judge you! And if so many people consume your content and learn your personal aspirations x struggles and decide to judge you for them, then you don’t have poor viewership!
I have no takeaways for you from this, it is just something I currently have cause to think about.
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One thing many people abroad don’t talk about much is racism.
Sure, we retweet #BlackLivesMatter and are active in the Black or African societies at work or school. But we never really talk openly about the subtle discrimination we face in our migration to oyinbo land for economic mobility.
And there are probably a few reasons for this.
One.
Many of us actually don't believe we have encountered racism. We know some other people that have been discriminated against and we have seen football fans boo black players and so on. But not us. We have white friends and they treat us with love and respect. Being black is really not an issue.
Two.
It's social suicide. Just the way many people don’t like hearing about death, they do not want to have heavy conversations that generally leave everyone feeling worse than before. We don’t want to be that person that brings it up in a non-black setting, and then be tagged henceforth as ‘that guy that carries being black on his head’.
And many more reasons.
I attended an event a few weeks ago where the speaker talked about the racial profiling he receives as a black man in Google’s New York office, and I resonated a lot with it. When I shared with my sister that I had experienced much of the same, she was shook.
And then it hit me that since nobody talks about these things, there is no way the average person living in Nigeria (or in an area dominated by black people) would be aware. So I am going to share two experiences I have had living in oyinbo land.
Side note: I have been extremely fortunate and have very little to complain about. Every negative experience I have had is probably not actual racism, but a form of racial profiling.
Side side note: My memory is sometimes fuzzy and the details might not be 100% accurate, but I will tell it as I remember it.
1. Louvre Museum
In October last year, I took a trip to Paris with an Indian friend. Among other places, we wanted to visit the Louvre, the world’s second-largest art museum and home of the Mona Lisa. My friend, RD, found some promotion they were running that allowed the museum tickets for both of us to be free.
And so we arrived at the entrance holding tickets that showed €0 payment. We joined a queue where building security verified the tickets and let people into the museum. RD was right in front of me. They took one look at his ticket, signed or stamped on it, and let him in.
But when I reached the front of the queue, the security man was confused.
Security: Why is your ticket showing €0?
Me: I used the promotion so I didn’t need to pay…
Security: Which promotion? You need to pay to enter here.
Me: The same one as my friend you just let in. Didn’t you see his own?
Security: I don’t know about this…
The security man put me on hold and went to ask someone about it. Maybe a minute or two later, RD returned to the entrance after realizing he couldn’t find me inside. Just as he was about to show his ticket as proof, the security guy also appeared to have identified which promotion we used.
He then stamped my ticket and let me in.
Whew.
Initially, I was just happy to be let in and forgot about it.
But looking back, it was clear that the museum security checked my ticket in detail (vs RD who he let in immediately) because I am a black man. And since a black man is much more likely to cheat the system or engage in illegal activities, then there was a need for him to scrutinize the details on my ticket more closely.
2. Random store
This was maybe November or December last year.
It was getting colder as we approached winter and I was out to buy a winter jacket and boots ki otutu ma pa ota mi. As I entered the store, the security man stood up.
Lmaoo I found this one quite funny. There were other people ahead of me entering the store, but the security guard was seated close to the entrance. As I entered, he immediately stood up and was at alert.
Like oh, our thief has come o, let's pay attention. 😂
Interestingly he was a black man as well.
I have a few more experiences but am already low on energy and need to round up this newsletter lol.
So what now?
I have seen a trend. Many of my negative experiences due to the color of my skin were during interactions with security. And this is yet another way that clean, upstanding residents of African descent are forced to suffer for the actions of our friends who engage in petty theft, yahoo yahoo, fraud, etc.
They have set us up to be profiled negatively again and again for the rest of our lives (or as long as we live in white-majority countries).
The aim of today’s newsletter is not to rant - I am perfectly fine ranting privately to my loved ones. Nor is it to discourage people from living abroad - there are many valid reasons for which young people are actively leaving our country, and there are valid reasons to stay too.
It is just to shed some light on something I don’t think nearly enough people talk about.
** Jara content:
I have been thinking for a while about starting a new newsletter. I am very much still thinking about it, but decided to share anyway and see how it goes.
Unlike this newsletter in which I write about many things that cross my mind, the focus of the new community is 100% on optimising for a successful career.
The idea is to learn together about career fulfilment, social anxiety in the workplace, quitting/being fired, code-switching, how and when to pivot, building professional relationships, etc.
It will not be a public community of 1500 people. Instead, I am thinking of experimenting with a small, closed door group of about 20 to 30 people. It will be a paid subscription, and only available to those who are invited.
If you are interesting in signing up for this, please join the waitlist here.
Super excited about this!
Have a great week. 💫
Hameed
You become black when you move abroad
Hehehe
I work remotely for some guys and I must say convincing them that I am different was tough. Anyway, I could prove it to them, AlhamduliLlah.
Thank you for sharing your stories baba, na wisdom full am.
About the paid newsletter, I have filled the survey and I left a threat 😂
Uncle Hammed sir, with the advent of the new one will this one become obsolete? Thanks for always.