Why Are Europeans Afraid to Travel to the United States?

America is a vast country with everything from mountains and dense forests to deserts and sprawling beaches. However, despite all the beautiful diversity of locations and sites to see, there are many who say that they are scared of traveling to the United States. While this may seem perplexing to many Americans, after all, the U.S. is the purported ‘greatest nation on Earth’, why wouldn’t people want to visit? Unfortunately, all one needs to do is turn on the national news to learn the answer to this question.

A Nation Desensitised to Violence

Just between October 15 to the 16th, 24 people were shot in the city of Chicago, with four losing their lives to gun violence. On October 6th, in Arlington, Texas, four students were injured during a school shooting. In September of this year, CNN even reported that the growing spike in gun violence has set 2021 up to be one of the worst years in decades. According to the Gun Violence Archive, between January 1st and September 15th, approximately 14,516 people died from gun violence, while last year America saw record numbers of firearm sales, reaching an astonishing 23 million sales.

Gun violence has become a norm, accepted by many Americans as they watch the national news to see yet another incident, and this desensitization has led to many Europeans feeling unsafe when they travel to America. Traveling to the states has become a dice roll for many, with some worrying that even something as monotonous as driving could result in an outbreak of gunfire. As of September, Chicago has already experienced over 185 highway shootings, and Los Angeles is seeing similar spikes in freeway violence.

When it comes down to it, Europeans are baffled by America’s defense of guns while violence plagues many of the major cities. Even something as simple as passing laws mandating universal background checks for firearm buyers is met with stringent backlash from many, and it seems unlikely that any true forms of gun control will ever come to pass. As of 2021, only 19 states and the District of Columbia have passed some variation of red flag laws, which allow family members or the police to petition to have guns removed from someone who may show signs of being a danger to themselves or others. Additionally, only 21 states and the District of Columbia have managed to go beyond federal regulations to require background checks for all handgun sales, while 16 states permit open carry of weapons without any permits.

Due to the size of the United States and the rights of each state, it is difficult to push for any universal regulations, which leads to a lot of confusion, as well as many opportunities for people who may not be able to get guns in their own state to purchase them in others. Loose regulations like this make many Europeans feel unsafe, coupled with the prevalent reporting on violence and unrest, many don’t feel as if the United States is safe enough to travel to.

Racism and Inequality

Another topic that permeates the national news is the prevalent racism and disparity that comprises many of the institutions in the United States. The debate around the teaching of critical race theory in schools, which many have come to oppose as believing that it isn’t necessary. Although private schools make up around 25% of all U.S. schools, teaching roughly 10% of all PK-12 students, these debates are largely found in public school sectors. At its core, critical race theory is meant to instruct children about racism as a social construct, not just a personal bias. As an example, it explores patterns of discrimination inherent to things such as housing, schooling, and other opportunities that are regularly denied to people of color due to race-blind policies.

Consider the neighborhoods in the United States that many deem ‘dangerous’. Most of these will be areas where people of color are the majority and underfunding runs rampant in favor of funding for the white majority neighborhoods in the same area. Disparities like this are what cause desperation, which leads to increases in things like crime and gang violence. However, despite the national news emphasis on crimes committed by people of color, statistics paint a different picture. Take, for instance, burglaries. On average, there are 2.5 million break-ins each year in the United States, with 65% of these being home burglaries. Despite the racist stereotypes of majority black or Latino areas being more dangerous, crime statistics from 2019 show that 81,104 burglaries were committed by people identified as White, while only 34,188 were committed by those identified as Black or African American.

Coupled with this is the prevalence of police brutality towards people of color, particularly Black males, which has caused many protests and calls for police reform. The most notable of which is the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer who was later sentenced for using unlawful force.

Incidents like this make America seem more like the ‘third-world’ country that many media outlets paint as backward and needlessly violent. However, when America itself is examined by an outside observer, in this case, a potential European traveler, the problems become much more obvious.

Work to Be Done

While all of this may seem like a case against America, it is simply a critical look at examining why Europeans are becoming increasingly afraid of visiting the United States. Although there is a lot of work to be done, that isn’t to take away from the work that has already been done by Americans fighting for peace, equality, and nationwide reform. It may be easy to see all of the negatives while watching the national news, but under all of these problems lies a beautiful, diverse nation that is worth visiting at least once in your life.