Black American living in London who’s had ‘one racist experience from a white person’ feels more ‘segregated’ here.

‘There are a lot of first and second generation people in London so they’re more likely to spend time with people or identify [with] people who come from their country of origin which makes sense’ Londoner Aurora Victoria who has lived in London for the last nine months took to social media platform TikTok to share her experience of being a Black American in the UK compared to the US in honour of Black History Month in the US [which is in February]. 

Londoner Aurora Victoria who has lived in London for the last nine months took to the social media platform TikTok to share her experience of being a Black American in the UK compared to the US in honour of Black History Month in the US [which is in February]. Incredibly cautious throughout the entire video, Aurora discussed the idea of community and identity being different between the two countries when it comes to being Black.

Discussing the differences, Aurora said whilst every month was Black History Month, she does get to celebrate the month twice each year as Black History Month in the US is in February whilst in the UK it’s in October. She said: “So I think now that I have been here almost nine months in the UK, the UK has Black History month in October, but I get to celebrate it twice now in the year.”

Talking about her experience of being a Black woman between the two countries, Aurora cautiously explained that her experience of being Black in the UK meant she saw different identities and identity groups stick together, whereas in the US being Black was a more homogeneous experience. She said: “In my experience, the one thing that is different between the UK and the US, is the minority experience is a lot more, communal. As a minority [in the US] we… not like stick to together but are more communal in the US.

“Whereas here I feel like it’s actually more segregated. I just feel like there is a lot more camaraderie of the minority experience in the US whereas in the UK I think it’s quite segregated.

“A lot of these people are first of second generation so they’re most likely to spend time with people or identify [with] people who come from their country of origin which makes sense. Whereas African Americans, we are all just Black so it’s just a very different type of experience.”

Discussing her general experience of racism she said: “From my experience, people wonder if the US is more racist than the UK and what are your experiences like. And to be honest, I don’t think that either country is more or less racist. I think it’s a different type of racism.

“In regards to racist experience with white people, I think I have had one experience here that I would categorise as racist from a white person.”

Author: Andrew Collins

andrewc@gmail.com

London, UK