Overview:
Since the pandemic began, more U.S. Black women are making their home elsewhere.
More and more professional Black women are opting to make their home in another country, leaving the United States for a variety of reasons.
A recent report from Bloomberg shows that in the past three years of COVID-19, there had been an exodus of professional African American women searching for countries like Mexico, Portugal, the Caribbean and even Bangkok that would provide better protection, even if they have to relocate, withdraw their children and start businesses abroad.
There are two waves of Black women leaving the U.S.: those who can afford to leave without being dependent on employment and those searching for work in another country. Black women are the least financially secure group of Americans, with the racial wealth disparity reaching new depths between Black people and white people, Business Insider reported.
The racial wealth gap has been widening for years. In 1992, the median net worth of white families was between $100,000 and $150,000, which is far more than Black families, according to McKinsey.
In fact, from the 1990s to 2016, the median net worth of Black families has been consistently low. Bloomberg reported, as of 2019, Black Americans had one-sixth of the wealth of white Americans, with more than half of Black people saying it is challenging to overcome wealth inequality, according to a Pulse of Black America survey.
There is also a situation where Black women are fed up with poor healthcare treatment and issues regarding voting rights. Although racism still exists in traveling abroad, the advantages of displacing local residents in developing countries soften the blow as it is a higher privilege to be a Black woman with money, as many of their destinations have a lower cost of living.
“This is a movement,” said entrepreneur Stephanie Perry, who in 2015 left the U.S. after spending 12 months traveling across Southeast Asia, Australia and parts of Europe. “I think Black women have discovered that the American dream is not necessarily possible in America.”
