Black expats share why they’re happier living outside the U.S.

The U.S. has made some strides toward reaching racial equality since the days of the civil rights movement. 

But President Donald Trump has made ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives a priority under his administration. As the president has instructed federal agencies to end related programming and dismiss relevant employees, major companies like Target and Google have followed suit in rolling back their own DEI initiatives.

Both historically and now, it’s reasonable that many Black residents in the U.S. are saying they feel the American Dream is not a viable pursuit for them.

In fact, 75% of Black Americans report experiencing discrimination from time to time, if not regularly, according to a 2023 Pew Research survey. And 67% of Black adults say the U.S. political system was designed to hold Black people back.

Leaving the U.S. may not be a solution to racism, which certainly exists in other countries. Plus, it can be expensive or difficult to secure a job that lets you work abroad. But many of the Black expats CNBC Make It has spoken with report greater senses of security and more overall happiness.

Below, three Black Americans who moved abroad share their experiences. 

Cara West and her family relocated to the Greek island of Syros in 2024. She says the regularity and tragedy of school shootings in the U.S. was a large motivator for her to look for safer places to raise her daughter, but she says she found more security and acceptance for herself as a Black woman living abroad as well.

“I just get to exist in peace and I’m not worried about someone following me around at the store or treating me differently because of my skin color,” West recently told CNBC Make It.

The content creator and luxury travel concierge spent time living nomadically in several different places, including Portugal and Belize, before settling in Greece, and she “always felt welcomed,” she said. “I’m really seen first as an American, and not necessarily for the color of my skin.”

West often gets questions from her Black viewers about moving abroad. Many just don’t know where to start.

“I hope that the content that I create and the experiences that I’m able to showcase on my platform really helps people understand where there are safe places for Black Americans who are looking to either travel or to live abroad,” she said. 

Like West, Jamal Robinson says he’s seen more as an “American first” than a Black man when traveling, he recently told CNBC Make It. He retired in 2024 from his corporate tech career at just 39 and currently lives in Dubai, where he says he’s “much happier.”

“My experience has been very different than what I’m used to in America,” he said. “[In the U.S.,] you’re typically identified as a Black person first, and then after that you’re an engineer or a janitor or whatever they want to label you as.”

In addition to seeing Black Americans as just Americans, Robinson said when he’s been in places where locals aren’t used to seeing Black people, “it’s almost like you’re celebrated.”

“People will come up to you and they want to talk and engage with you,” he said. “For the first time in my life, [it’s been] a privilege to be a Black person, and it’s been really beneficial, the reception that I’ve received as I’ve traveled around.”

Both being American and being Black are rare characteristics for people living in Iceland. But Jewels Chambers, a Black woman who’s lived there since 2016, says that hasn’t been a problem.

“Living in Iceland has 1,000% had an amazing impact on my mental health,” she told CNBC Make It in 2024. “The nature aspect has helped me in so many ways, shedding this idea that it always has to be about my skin color has helped.”

While she doesn’t deny that racism exists in Iceland, Chambers says she’s been fortunate not to experience it herself. Through her podcast and YouTube channel, “All Things Iceland,” she shares what life is like as an expat and wants her audience to see the positive impact living there has had on her life.

“For many people who are of color, whether they’re Black or from some other ethnicity, they come here and say that they’re happy … they were just treated like another tourist,” she said.

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