A Black Texas couple is planning on permanently moving to Europe, citing racism and police brutality as some factors for their move outside of the United States.
Nadine and her husband Kim Dawkins of El Paso, told CNN that they purchased a home in Latronico, Italy — a town in the southern region of Basilicata — in 2019 due to the low prices of the properties. The following year during the COVID-19 pandemic and the surge of anti-racism protests, they decided that they were going to leave the U.S., more specifically after the murder of George Floyd.
Floyd’s death sparked a wave of demonstrations across the world after he was killed by a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer who knelt on his neck during an arrest. A video of the incident was recorded and widely shared on social media.
“[It] showed the world how we as Black people in America have been treated for centuries,” said Nadine, a 59-year-old military veteran, per CNN.
She continued: “Basically, police brutality towards Black people, mass shootings from domestic terrorists, and just the overall hate in this country is why we are leaving the USA.”
Their new three-story abode has two bedrooms and has undergone a few simple renovations, CNN reported. They added two additional bedrooms and expanded the kitchen by adding a dining room to the space. In addition, there’s an underground cellar, and they upgraded the balconies that have panoramic views, per the report.
The duo paid nearly $47,000 for the home.
The Dawkins family members aren’t the only Black people in recent years who have decided to ditch the U.S. for overseas. Others have opted to live in places like Trinidad and Tobago, Germany, Spain and Ghana —to escape the ripple effects of racism for a better quality of life, USA Today reports.
Ghana became a popular destination following the events of 2020, resulting in an uptick of Black Americans applying for visas, CBS News reported. While there, many people prioritized connecting with the past and the experience of their enslaved ancestors.
Similarly, Nadine has had a strong connection to Italy after finding out she has an ancestor, her great-great-grandfather, who moved from there to America in the 19th century, according to CNN. He changed his name to Clint Jeffrey and purchased her great-great-grandmother Lucinda, who was enslaved in Arkansas. However, not much is known about her, she said.
“Unfortunately, I have no additional information about Lucinda. All I know is that she was a slave, and he purchased her. My grandmother and great-grandmother never told me anything else about her,” Nadine added, CNN reported. “I believe it was because of such atrocities that slavery and the memories of it had on them; because, of course, being born in the 1800s and early 1900s was a hard time for all Black people in America.”
According to the report, the couple plans to stay in Latronico for six months a year, and the remaining time, they will live in Panama. From there, Nadine and her family will work on obtaining citizenship in Italy. She hopes to continue digging into her family history and track down where her ancestor is from.
Although many people flee to Europe in an effort to escape racism in the States, it’s still prevalent in countries like Italy. Last year, advocates spoke out about racism and discrimination following the death of a 39-year-old Nigerian street vendor, who was reportedly attacked in broad daylight.
