A Black American raised in Europe has gone viral after sharing his experience about being Black in Poland during the popular “Of Course” trend video. While he and his two lady friends thought the gag would be funny, many on the X platform blasted him for staying in a place where he experiences racism.
The medical student, whose X handle is @cardioddity, wanted to set the record straight after he and a couple of his friends blazed the internet with their “We’re Black in Poland … Of Course… ” videos on TikTok. The first video posted on Jan. 10 has amassed 2.2 million views.
The second video posted on Jan. 19 got even more views, with 2.8 million watches on the social media platform.
In the videos, the three say a series of statements that start with “We’re Black in Poland, of course …”
“We’re Black in Poland, of course, I’m going to get asked if this is my real hair,” one says, as another ping-pongs, “We’re Black in Poland, of course, the picture for our residency got denied because we had an Afro.”
“We’re Black in Poland, of course, you get called slurs at the Christmas market,” quips one of the three.
Nearly simultaneously, another chimes in, “We’re Black in Poland, of course, everyone thinks we’re refugees,”
‘We’re Black in Poland, of course, people are gonna mistake us for being Black celebrities,” one of the girls jokes, as the young man says, “We’re Black in Poland, of course, you’re going to get chased at night on the regular.”
Social media chimed in with comments ranging from co-signs from other Black and brown people in “The Land of Fields” to comments telling them to leave if they didn’t like how they were being treated.
One of the people in the video decided to address some of the comments that he received on his social media.
“As the guy in the vid and looking at the replies/qrts, 1. BLAMING me for being a victim of racism is a weird af 2. i’m obviously here to better my life and get an education,” he posted, adding, “3. As an American, Americans, i know y’all not talking about black safety rn 4. I got time today.”
He shared with the people in his comments that he was currently in the country because the education is cheaper and he was in medical school, wondering why people watched the video and opted to shame him instead of lending support.
“Fighting for my life against the people I thought would support me about doing whatever it took to be an educated black person,” he said.
According to the student, he was born in the United States and has a U.S. passport, but he grew up in Vienna and Rome, where he attended various private international schools. As people asked him why not just go back to America, he shared that in addition to medical school being less expensive, he enjoys being able to travel easily to other countries like Italy or Nigeria.
“I’m an American and I totally cannot relate,” one person said in his comments. “I don’t impose myself in spaces where I’m not welcomed. That’s low self esteem.”
He replied, “It’s a country not a club. of course there are black spaces and a black community. y’all acting as if us three in the video are the only black people there.”
………it’s a country not a club. of course there are black spaces and a black community. y’all acting as if us three in the video are the only black people there
— Heartrender (@cardioddity) January 22, 2024
Others added that they understood where he was coming from. An X user blasted people who tried to suggest that America was any better than the European countries, adding that its just a different shade of bigotry.
“As someone who has experienced racism in a variety of European countries (Italy was the worst btw), Americans gotta sit this one out,” one guy wrote. “If I had to choose between micro aggressions and accidentally crossing the thin blue line I’m choosing life.”
One person tweeted, “Lmfao the reality is the anti blackness be everywhere, some covert, some overt and you can suffer through the price of an education in the US with covert racism, or have it be overt and have healthcare and quality inexpensive schooling. Not ideal but real!”
Ironically, a fall 2023 report titled “Being Black in the EU” by the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) revealed that Poland stands out as one of the least racist countries in Europe. The findings from the study indicate people of African descent are the least likely to encounter discrimination in Poland, compared to 13 other member states.
According to the study, only 21 percent of respondents in Poland reported experiencing discrimination in the last five years. Following closely were Portugal and Sweden at 27 percent. In contrast, the highest proportions of individuals reporting discrimination were observed in Germany (77 percent), Austria (76 percent), and Finland (66 percent).
