My experience is with Mackinac City as much as the island. I’ve been here twice, once with a group of white friends during the Lilac Festival, and second with my wife. As a black queer woman, this place is UNBEARABLY WHITE, and cis, and straight. Both times I travelled i never experienced confrontations or direct microaggressions, however as a lady who keeps her fro nice and big and holds her wife’s hand without fear, we definitely got such an interesting variety of white people stares. From little kids (and adults tbh) having never seen a black woman before to old boomers staring like they are desperately trying to win an ugliest face contest and i’m the judge. Sometimes it was just a passive stare. White people always stare at black folks like fish in an aquarium. To avoid the worst of the alienation, I recommend going during the Lilac Festival or any other popular time. Thats when they get the most diverse travelers. Many of the island’s workers are from Jamaica on a visa every year, so as a black person they might assume you’re “the help” instead of a vacationer. The island is pretty and unique, with a lot of history, so there is a lot to see and a lot of natural beauty. If you’re really woke to the history of colonization, you’ll definitely find it bittersweet to explore, along with anywhere up north. Because as an overpriced gimmicky rich wypipo tourist trap built brazenly ontop of a sacred indigenous island, Mackinac Island is very visibly colonized. It will lay bare to you the tragedy of colonialism as you walk past all the haplessly racist white folk and their mansions to see these sites of indigenous importance museum-ified with the ferry as admission fee.
That might sound cynical and jaded to some, but when you travel anywhere northern michigan while black you’ll get it. Especially as a nature person. The farther north you go, the more white south it gets. We still deserve to see the world as much as we can though. So, my general travel tip when exploring northern MI is that you go for the natural beauty and avoid cities and towns as much as possible. Much of Michigan has a problem of the worst kinds of people squatting ontop of the most beautiful places.
Collie
03 Aug 2025
Rating
Traveling While Black
Things To Do
Adventure
History
Affordability
Relaxation
Local Food
Romance
Nightlife
Traveling While Black
Black travelers, proceed with caution to this location. As a Black woman, I faced everything from micro-aggressions to two hostile encounters. There were definitely nice people and staff at every place we were at were nice (though faced micro aggressions from some of them too) I just ultimately would never, ever return.
For the M-A: there are several Jamaican workers and staff on the island. Many people assumed I was a worker though I clearly was not in any staff attire.
For the blatant racism:
If that was it, oh well but I also had a police officer shout at me, a literal 10 -1q yr white child sneer at me and point because I set my purse down near him (in a public lobby while I looked for something) and a random white man scream at me while I was biking with my husband. I never start anything, but I will finish it so yes I did shout back at the cop and the random biker and lived to tell the tale but…its giving sundown down, you don’t belong here unless you’re working, not relaxing in luxury.
For the encounters I had, this was absolutely bonkers and something I never experienced. The taxi driver from the airport to the island dock clearly wasn’t used to Black people either, talking about how racism was stupid and he welcomed all people (so obviously he wasn’t hostile, but it’s the kind of conversation you have when you never see Black folks around your parts).
Lots of pro Orange Man merch in the kitschy shops on the island.
If you do want to go, because it is unique and beautiful with good food, I’d recommend only for a short time like a day or day 1/2, and go with a group for extra security. I was there with my white husband but that didn’t stop these encounters. As mentioned, not everyone was hostile, and we even had conversations with nice couples and people. The hostile encounters makes it totally unworth it for me.
Etoshia
07 Apr 2025
Rating
Traveling While Black
Things To Do
Adventure
History
Affordability
Relaxation
Local Food
Romance
Nightlife
Traveling While Black
I grew up in this area, as a black person, I do not recommend traveling to Northern Michigan in general. People are (usually) too scared to throw slurs, however people will stare, whisper, point and giggle, staff at establishments will treat you poorly and there’s not much to do. It’s pretty to see but this area struggles terribly with the opiate pandemic and relies heavily on Jamaican’s with work visas to keep the economy going April-October. Everything practically closes November- March. Again, as a black person who lived here for 20 years, I do not recommend traveling here.
Shar Wynter
27 Aug 2023
Rating
Traveling While Black
Things To Do
Adventure
History
Affordability
Relaxation
Local Food
Romance
Nightlife
Traveling While Black
Incentivized
We decided to visit Mackinac Island for my grandma’s 85th Birthday. It’s a unique experience because cars are not allowed on the island so you can only get around by foot, horse and carriage, or by bike. Overall it was a nice experience.
As a Black traveler I would say that it’s safe but perhaps not necessarily overly welcoming primarily because most of the Black people that you see there are working so they are not enjoying the island as tourists. We also had an issue hailing a horse carriage one evening.
Pro tip! There’s a surprising number of Jamaicans who work on the island. Check out the Black and Jamaican owned restaurant called Kingston’s Kitchen. The Sorrell Sangria is the best Sangria I’ve ever had!
Also recommend stopping by the Butterfly House! My niece and nephew really enjoyed it.
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My experience is with Mackinac City as much as the island. I’ve been here twice, once with a group of white friends during the Lilac Festival, and second with my wife. As a black queer woman, this place is UNBEARABLY WHITE, and cis, and straight. Both times I travelled i never experienced confrontations or direct microaggressions, however as a lady who keeps her fro nice and big and holds her wife’s hand without fear, we definitely got such an interesting variety of white people stares. From little kids (and adults tbh) having never seen a black woman before to old boomers staring like they are desperately trying to win an ugliest face contest and i’m the judge. Sometimes it was just a passive stare. White people always stare at black folks like fish in an aquarium. To avoid the worst of the alienation, I recommend going during the Lilac Festival or any other popular time. Thats when they get the most diverse travelers. Many of the island’s workers are from Jamaica on a visa every year, so as a black person they might assume you’re “the help” instead of a vacationer. The island is pretty and unique, with a lot of history, so there is a lot to see and a lot of natural beauty. If you’re really woke to the history of colonization, you’ll definitely find it bittersweet to explore, along with anywhere up north. Because as an overpriced gimmicky rich wypipo tourist trap built brazenly ontop of a sacred indigenous island, Mackinac Island is very visibly colonized. It will lay bare to you the tragedy of colonialism as you walk past all the haplessly racist white folk and their mansions to see these sites of indigenous importance museum-ified with the ferry as admission fee.
That might sound cynical and jaded to some, but when you travel anywhere northern michigan while black you’ll get it. Especially as a nature person. The farther north you go, the more white south it gets. We still deserve to see the world as much as we can though. So, my general travel tip when exploring northern MI is that you go for the natural beauty and avoid cities and towns as much as possible. Much of Michigan has a problem of the worst kinds of people squatting ontop of the most beautiful places.
Black travelers, proceed with caution to this location. As a Black woman, I faced everything from micro-aggressions to two hostile encounters. There were definitely nice people and staff at every place we were at were nice (though faced micro aggressions from some of them too) I just ultimately would never, ever return.
For the M-A: there are several Jamaican workers and staff on the island. Many people assumed I was a worker though I clearly was not in any staff attire.
For the blatant racism:
If that was it, oh well but I also had a police officer shout at me, a literal 10 -1q yr white child sneer at me and point because I set my purse down near him (in a public lobby while I looked for something) and a random white man scream at me while I was biking with my husband. I never start anything, but I will finish it so yes I did shout back at the cop and the random biker and lived to tell the tale but…its giving sundown down, you don’t belong here unless you’re working, not relaxing in luxury.
For the encounters I had, this was absolutely bonkers and something I never experienced. The taxi driver from the airport to the island dock clearly wasn’t used to Black people either, talking about how racism was stupid and he welcomed all people (so obviously he wasn’t hostile, but it’s the kind of conversation you have when you never see Black folks around your parts).
Lots of pro Orange Man merch in the kitschy shops on the island.
If you do want to go, because it is unique and beautiful with good food, I’d recommend only for a short time like a day or day 1/2, and go with a group for extra security. I was there with my white husband but that didn’t stop these encounters. As mentioned, not everyone was hostile, and we even had conversations with nice couples and people. The hostile encounters makes it totally unworth it for me.
I grew up in this area, as a black person, I do not recommend traveling to Northern Michigan in general. People are (usually) too scared to throw slurs, however people will stare, whisper, point and giggle, staff at establishments will treat you poorly and there’s not much to do. It’s pretty to see but this area struggles terribly with the opiate pandemic and relies heavily on Jamaican’s with work visas to keep the economy going April-October. Everything practically closes November- March. Again, as a black person who lived here for 20 years, I do not recommend traveling here.
We decided to visit Mackinac Island for my grandma’s 85th Birthday. It’s a unique experience because cars are not allowed on the island so you can only get around by foot, horse and carriage, or by bike. Overall it was a nice experience.
As a Black traveler I would say that it’s safe but perhaps not necessarily overly welcoming primarily because most of the Black people that you see there are working so they are not enjoying the island as tourists. We also had an issue hailing a horse carriage one evening.
Pro tip! There’s a surprising number of Jamaicans who work on the island. Check out the Black and Jamaican owned restaurant called Kingston’s Kitchen. The Sorrell Sangria is the best Sangria I’ve ever had!
Also recommend stopping by the Butterfly House! My niece and nephew really enjoyed it.