YouTuber Zoie Marie is an American living in Germany with roots in Jamaica. IN the video below she narrates her experience as a black person in Germany.
While being black abroad makes you definitely stand out, Zoie affirms that being black in Germany is more of a shocking experience than in America.
America has a somewhat diverse set of people and this contact dims the sense of shock but does not completely eliminate it.
The YouTuber says that she gets stared a lot where she lives, that is the southern part of Germany, and that it borders on uncomfortable as people do not stop staring even once you stare back.
“The staring gets a little intense and it is hard to blend in here, very hard to disappear into the wall because you’re black and it just is what it is,” Zoie says.
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Zoie narrates that people cannot relate to her being American and instead ask her for her ‘real’ country of origin.
This she says, is offensive as it means that people don’t believe a black person can be German, or American in her case.
What angers most black people are the ignorant comments that come from people who seem to be in a hurry to put black people in a sort of labelled box so they can ‘feel safe’.
Marie says that she struggles with a lot of people comparing her skin color to theirs and even going to the extent of doing comparisons with other objects.
Aside from the comments that her skin is beautiful and smooth, she also adds that people say rash things like, “oh my God your skin is like so dark!” and proceed to compare it to theirs when they get a tan.
Zoie’s content is mostly lifestyle and a compilation of beauty, style and fashion. She also travels a lot and hence this is shown on her instagram page.
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The YouTuber mentions severally that she loved to travel and that she ended up in Germany because of this same reason and that she got a scholarship.
She further talks about her travel and experience on her blog which comprises of hotel recommendations, destinations and favourite places to dine. She also narrates her experience as a black person touring Germany.
Zoie writes in a blog post that one thing she felt quite odd in Germany is the term some people use for black people.
“I’ve heard it numerous times from people around me or people that I know, when they refer to a dark skinned person they say in German ‘Schwarze or Schwarzer’ which to me translates as ‘blacky‘ and I find it absolutely offending.”
This is because if they would speak about an Italian person or a German person they would refer to them from their country (Germany or Italy) and NOT by the color of their skin.
“In New York if anyone called me ‘blacky‘ it would be a situation and I’m sure my friends and family agree,” she affirms.
In conclusion the YouTuber says that Germany is beautiful and a place she enjoys living in and she loves that it’s her home.
Germany is not a racist country but being black there are those cases of racism that one will have to go through from some odd people.