Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

Old Town Poznan is a nice place also. I love the old colorful buildings and the vendors along the street.

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

Salsa Poznan is awesome! That is a larger city also so I never get as many stares there. Be sure to go to the Galeria, I wish we had malls like that here! Congrats and good luck!

To krysia: you are correct about the bars, I would never go alone. It's never been to bad for me because I go with group. And the folks I go with know most of the people there.

Bart1991: I have been to Lubin, that's a great city, never had a problem, only stares.

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

Just don't stray off the beaten path and you'll be fine in most Big American cities.

The problems arise when you live there... depending on what side of town.

It seems as if some here are starting to characterize the states as cities where tourists are getting slaughtered by the thousands (Most of those people getting murdered in D.C. aren't tourist). That's not what I meant when I said I feel safer in Poland than in Chicago. I lived in Chicago, and not on the good side of town.

To those criticizing Przemos Gurl... Traveling to a new foreign country can be a scary thing, especially when the country is portrayed the way Poland is here... all most people here know about Poland is from the black and white war movies, and rumors of racism because there aren't many people of color living there. I can understand how that could give pause to someone.

To those that are getting indignant about it, put yourself in others shoes. Imagine a white person going to a 98% black country for the first time... How many questions would you ask first?

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

I'm originally from Chicago also... And I am black ,and I felt safer in Poland then I do in Chicago.

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

Hey no problem. I was worried the first time I went also.

Zubrowka and apple juice.

Zubrowka is a vodka with a long blade of grass in it. When I drink it in Poland the guys laugh sometime because it's really a "woman's" vodka... according to them. I don't care, I like it :)

Life / Is Poland a safe country for people of color? [241]

Dzien dobry!

I am an African American male and my wife is from Poland. We've been together for 5 years. We met in the US while she was traveling and working on a J1 student visa. She went back and we did the long distance thing for 2 years before we were married. I would visit her in Poland in the winter and she would come to the states in the summer for three months on a J1. I was very apprehensive the first time I went to Poland because I heard there were no blacks there. On the plane over there was a black couple going to school in Poland. And there also was a pretty mulatto girl that was half Polish and African American. I thought 'Wow!! 3 blacks on the plane, so I guess there ARE many black people in Poland... NOT!! From the time I got off the plane until the time I went back to the airport three weeks later, those were the last black people I saw :)

I didn't encounter any racism, to be honest with you I was treated like a superstar or maybe just an abnormality. What I encountered was intrigue. In smaller cities, such as the one my wife is from, Wagrowiec, people just stared constantly... with no shame or attempt to hide it. I was taken aback by that initially until I saw that they were just interested in talking to the American "murzyn". In large cities, such as Bydgoszcz and Poznan I encountered much fewer stares and in the many subsequent trips that I've made to Poland over the years now, I have seen black people in larger city, although like I said before I didn't see any on my first visit. Poland's economy is wide open for opportunity, I guess people from other countries are looking to get in now, I've seen many people from African.

I remember going to a club and all eyes were on me-especially-the ladies :) Everyone is curious. Ok, so I was sitting at the table and I really had to go to the bathroom but it was on the other side of the club... geez, if I get up everyone is REALLY going to focus on me... If I sit here and **** my pants they'll have good reason.. so I gotta go. I get up and go to the bathroom and I swear nearly every male in the club is trying to high 5 me while I'm headed to the bathroom. I get in and they are all poking their heads in trying to get a look... maybe they wanted to know if the rumor is true :)

I have a ton of story's from my many travels, such as one year old babies tracking me like a Patriot missile over his mothers shoulder, or a guy running through the bar yelling "Tupac! Tupac!" when he saw me. It goes on and on...

What I can tell you is that all I encountered was good people... very friendly and often times shy (most of the young people speak English but many will be too embarrassed to speak with a native English speaker) with an understandable curiosity. A black female friend of mine went to Poland to visit her boyfriend a couple years and she had the same experience, and she went to a small city. Many stares but nothing overly negative. She even went back several more times.

Word of caution: On my first visit I met up with some white American guys from my work that was there visiting girls they met in the states also. These guys were very cocky and had the upidity "I'm American" attitude. Things almost went really bad for them in a club. Luckily I was there to calm things down. I spoke enough Polish to get by and my being black helped (different). They were mesmerized by the murzyn :)

Just stay humble and keep in mind that you are a guest in another country and you should be fine.

Be sure to drink Zubrowka i sok jablka (apple juice).

P.S. People know me in my wife's city now so I get much fewer stares... or maybe I'm just used to it so I don't even notice anymore.

Do widzenia!