By Summer Jones
There is a famous Ruth Orkin photograph titled, “An American Girl in Italy” that captures a group of sexy Italian men fawning all over a fashionable woman while she walks down the street unaware of their gazing. A bright-eyed college student, I traveled to Italy with thoughts of this 1951 photo floating through my head. As an American (check) and a woman (check, check), I had no reason to doubt that I would have this same experience. I didn’t know what it felt like to travel abroad as a woman of color until I arrived in my dream country where I quickly discovered that my experience would be completely different than the woman in Orkin’s romanticized photo.
Not knowing what to expect during my first trip overseas, I touched down in “Bel Paese” with a very open mind. There was no mention of the racial issues faced by Italian soccer players or the possibility of racial encounters that were fueled by the rising number of African immigrants.
I was enchanted with Florence’s lush greenery, beautiful architecture, rich history and the opportunity to meet a lot of great people during my 4-month sojourn. Always seeking out my own small groups, I befriended an Italian man that loved Black American hip-hop culture (clothing, music, and Bronx style graffiti) at a hip-hop club called “Yab”. I instantly connected with an amazing study abroad student from Kenya. While I enjoyed hanging out with an awesome group of girls from California, Colorado and my home state of New Jersey; their experiences as young white women in Italy came with a different narrative.
Hanging with my roommate and friends in Italy
I remember an incident in Bologna with my roommate and friends where I stopped an older Italian man to inquire about directions to our hotel in my American-Italian accent. Appearing confused, he turned to my roommate and asked where I was from. When she replied with “the US”, he said to her “They have THOSE there”???
My experience as a student in Italy reinforced the importance of researching the culture as preparation prior to traveling to a foreign place. Before the era of social media “tagging”, “liking”, “geotagging”, I encountered very few Black Americans during my travels outside the US. Both enriching and challenging, I have experienced other race issues while traveling as an adult that are reminders that despite my love for travel the world is not always eager to embrace me.
Enjoying the night life in Morocco
Casablanca, Morocco: Sitting with 2 other Black women at the hotel bar when a Moroccan man come over and chatted us up. Next thing we know a group of angry women are approaching us with hatred in their eyes. They thought we were prostitutes and taking their potential clients.
Istanbul, Turkey: My friend and I were constantly stared at and at times mocked. Depending on expressions, they either thought we were celebrities or that we were on exhibit with the Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Tokyo, Japan: Standing in front of Tokyo Tower when a young Japanese woman asks to take a picture with me. (We all have those pictures with a random stranger -isn’t that weird?)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Summer Jones is the Assistant Vice President of the Division of Information Technology at a New Jersey University. When she is not lending her analytical and management skills to overseeing the Technical Support Services department, she enjoys learning about the rich cultures of foreign lands as she travels the world. Her adventures have included trips to France, Australia, Greece, Mexico, Mozambique, South Africa, Thailand, Dubai, Spain, Germany, India, Turkey, Morocco, Japan, Italy, Canada, Jamaica and she looks forward to creating more memories in Bali next Spring.