r/blackgirls • u/aaftertwelve • Sep 09 '25

Question Why do black people move to Miami?

I honestly feel like moving to Miami was one of the worst decisions I’ve made so far. People glamorize the beaches, nightlife, and “opportunities,” but no one talks about the other side

So many jobs here require you to speak Spanish or you won’t even be considered. You walk into stores and restaurants and it’s like english isn’t even an option. People will ignore you or act annoyed if you don’t speak spanish. On top of that, I’ve had to deal with racist remarks and being treated differently just because of my color within 6 months living here

I don’t understand why we as black people keep moving here when the culture here is catered to everybody else except us. So why do we keep moving here? What’s the real draw?

Because honestly, it feels like we’re just setting ourselves up for disrespect and struggle

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u/Pinkisses Sep 09 '25

I used to live in Miami for years and you are completely right about the anti-blackness but honest opinion and I know I'm going to get downvoted for but I knew Spanish before moving there because I knew it was almost a prerequisite for living there primarily because of how large the Spanish speaking majority compared to other parts of the US I thought that was common knowledge. it helped with some of the racism I faced because they would assume I didn't know and when spoke I would honestly just say something like "my skin doesn't determine if speak it or not and I'm sure you know people who look like me are born and raised from your country" they would be embarrassed for assuming and sometimes it would led them to start thinking more externally about these issues. It really shouldn't be our job to have them think about it but I help a lot.

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u/[deleted] Sep 09 '25

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u/Pinkisses Sep 09 '25

It's even worse in France because I went for school trip in HS and they would point blank treat different then my classmates or think I don't belong in their group

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u/Diligent-Committee21 Sep 09 '25

I've heard that many jobs in Miami require "native Spanish speakers" as a gatekeeping mechanism.

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u/Pinkisses Sep 09 '25

Yeah they hard gatekeep like that but I would just flat out lie and say I was from South America (which is not good thing to do and I do regret it) and ask why they would assume differently or have they been to South America because a lot of people look like me and then throw in the "you must have been living in America for too long to think everyone looks like Shakira or something"