this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2025
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12
How is it to have very pale skin in America? (lemm.ee)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) by Social_Discussion@lemm.ee to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
26 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Hi I'm from Europe and unfortunately in the past few years I realized how much racism there is in the world which really messes up my mind since that concept didn't exist for me as a kid and I thought it's normal that people look different.

Having very pale skin and not having visited too many countries I was wondering if I might encounter any problems in America because of my skin. Can I just talk to anyone or will people reject me because of my skin? (I have blond hair too)

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[–] iamanurd@midwest.social 18 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

If the bright color is white, you’re probably ok. I say probably because shit is extra weird right now. As I understand it, the darker colors risk being “deported” and by deported, I mean being sent to concentration camps in other countries.

I never would have thought the above sentences would be typed by someone in a rational frame of mind, but… here we are in 2025.

As delightful as you sound, my advice would be to not visit us. We’re in a dark place. While I’d love to meet people like you, we don’t deserve it right now. Shame on us.

Edit: typing is hard

[–] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 24 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

The racism you see on the news certainly exists, but remember what you see on the news is news because it is rare. You don't see every obituary and car crash, because such common occurrences aren't news.

It is something I wouldn't put too much thought into regardless of your race.

[–] Social_Discussion@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

So do Americans actually label people with different skin types as different "races"? That sounds a little radical

[–] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Categories most would recognize are 'asian', 'black', 'white', and sometimes 'hispanic' or 'middle eastern'. Most people aren't going to get much more specific than that.

[–] Social_Discussion@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Oh okay. I would call these ethnicities

[–] higgsboson@dubvee.org 4 points 1 day ago

Well... since "race" isnt a real thing, it is that too.

[–] XeroxCool@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

In my usage, ethnicity refers to somewhat socially-defined regional identities. Basically, what country/group is your ancestral origin. You might call this a nationality, but, to me, that implies I'm assuming you're not a US national/citizen. This also gives a leeway to include ethnic groups not restricted to a particular country such as certain groups of Jews, nomadic groups like Romani, or sub-groups of countries like Sicilian.

But I really don't ask often because it's not really important and can easily be taken as an insult.

[–] Social_Discussion@lemm.ee 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Yes that's why I'm asking because I personally don't look at people at how they look and just wanna make sure it's the same in America because here in Europe I think they have quite a lot of racism and I'm not too sure about America

[–] XeroxCool@lemmy.world 1 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

If it's a US city you've heard of, racism probably won't stop you from living there. You might find pockets, but larger cities should be ok overall. Often they'll have pockets of people that might hate you for a myriad of reasons. Maybe their ethnicity already hates yours back home. Maybe you're part of an immigration wave that happened at the same time as there's, making the two hate each other to step on the other to lift their own (NY Italian and Irish in the early 1900s). Maybe they believe immigrants are consuming all the resources and you're the reason they're poor (general hate from whites across the country, but localized majorities do it too).

But, overall, cities will generally have less meaningful racism because, as it turns out, if you spend your life next to other races/ethnicities, you realize we're all human living the same struggle. Urban/suburban metro areas surrounding them will be similar. Sometimes there's simple cultural misunderstandings, but once you see the first generation children raised in the local area, you see it has nothing to do with race after all.

But this is not a guarantee it'll be all dandy and magically happy. I don't know your ethnicity and I don't know where you want to go. Even if I did, I don't know everything.

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

American here: there’s a LOT of racism in America. And in certain regions, it’s a lot worse. Even in some neighborhoods of “good” places, it’s worse. Be careful if you’re not white. Be especially careful if you’re in any of the southern border states and you look even remotely Hispanic.

[–] bluGill@fedia.io 4 points 1 day ago

Some do. Some do not care. Of course some in europe would label German and French different - in the us both are white.

[–] hddsx@lemmy.ca -3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Depends on where you go, really. Generally if you stick to cities and tourist areas you’ll be fine. But if you want to wander into small towns….

[–] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

No, it's a small enough problem everywhere in the US that putting any real thought into "will people reject me because of my skin" (as OP asks) is overthinking it.

[–] IndieSpren@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Having any skin other than what you have is how you experience racism in America.

[–] Social_Discussion@lemm.ee -2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

So are you saying it's only when you have dark skin? Because I often heard it's also the other way around that some Americans generally separate based on that, just wanna make sure. In some online content it seems like people with darker skin in America sometimes group together called "African-American community" and I'm not sure if they would accept you and interact normally with you when you have lighter skin

[–] SharkEatingBreakfast@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 day ago

I experience racism because my surname doesn't sound white.

Skin color is only one factor these rascist idiots use as justification. If it ain't one thing, it's another.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 day ago

Bro, what?

[–] Azzu@lemm.ee 9 points 1 day ago

You're likely gonna experience racism in some form in any community you go to where you are the minority. People are racist, not people of some specific skin color.

So your assessment is correct, if you go to a majority black community you're probably gonna find people racist against white people.

But when you go to the US, white is still the majority. And if you're not the majority, you're mostly still a large part. Statistically, the most racism you'll experience is everyday racism, where maybe some black people believe you're an asshole even though you aren't. Most of the time you're not going to experience anything.

[–] BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Either you live in a cave in some remote mountains or this is a troll. African American community lol, light skin, it's called being Caucasian or white . People in America are people just like everywhere else, just the same as the people where you live, they ain't a different species, just different customs

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

depends on what you mean by "very bright skin"? It also depends very much on where in America you're talking about.

Remember, geographically, the US is more on par with the whole of the EU than any single country in the EU; and similarly with population size as well. You're going to have a different experience going to CA than NY, or texas or Iowa. Or even Austin, Texas and some rural small town full of nothing but inbred rednecks in Texas. (same also for some parts of CA, if we're being honest. There are some very republican strongholds in CA.)

[–] Blaze@sopuli.xyz 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

!AskUSA@discuss.online

[–] Social_Discussion@lemm.ee 0 points 1 day ago

Thanks I'm going to post there

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

In certain communities, you may be distrusted, for valid reasons, especially right now when people are afraid, angry and confused. By and large, it's probably regional, and then community dependant.

[–] Peasley@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The way you dress and carry yourself also informs the way different communities react to you. It's not so much about fitting in as it is about not giving people red flags. Different communities have different red flags.

That's my perspective coming from one of the more diverse parts of the Bay Area.

[–] Maeve@kbin.earth 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

True. I'd imagine regional makes a difference. Texas may be different than the Bay area or PNW.

[–] capuccino@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Come to Latam, don't go to USA.