Texan family moves $1 home in Italy over ‘police brutality, mass shootings and overall hatred’ in US – and blames Trump for mass ‘black exodus’

A family in Texas is moving to Italy permanently because of “police brutality,” “mass shootings” and the “general hatred” in the US after learning of a plan to sell low-cost homes that would otherwise sit empty.

Nadine Dawkins, 59, her husband Kim, 61, and their two children Lorenzo, 29, and DeNae, 27, have bought a home in the Italian town of Latronico in southern Italy for $46,700.

They were inspired to move after reading about Latronico’s initiative to sell cheap houses that are already habitable instead of ruins for one euro, or a little over a dollar.

They decided to leave America three years ago after the murder of George Floyd who died on May 25, 2020 after former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nine and a half minutes.

Nadine also lashed out at Donald Trump’s administration, saying its “racism” and “division” have led to an exodus of black people from the US.

The family is currently preparing for the life-changing move and will depart for Panama shortly before they fly to Italy.

Nadine, a retired former soldier and businesswoman, told CNN that Floyd’s death “showed the world how we as black people in America have been treated for centuries.”

She added that “all the racism, all the division, all the hatred that the last administration has brought to the fore” has led to an “exodus” of black people in America who are capable of doing so.

“Basically, police brutality against black people, mass shootings by domestic terrorists and just the general hatred in this country is why we are leaving the US.”

She claims that “Black American history has been lost” from American culture.

“We have to get out of America, so we’re leaving. The US is a divided and deeply divided country, voting rights being rolled back and black history being undone. I’m tired,’ Nadine added.

However, Italy currently has the most right-wing government since dictator Benito Mussolini in the form of the Brothers of Italy party, which has neo-fascist roots.

Black people in the country have often complained that racism is not taken seriously and say the problem is rampant.

Despite the possible hurdles, in 2021 they bought their new home in the heart of Latronico in the Pollino National Park, surrounded by hot springs. The city has only 4,000 inhabitants.

Nadine sees the move as a way to connect with her Italian heritage when her great-great-grandfather moved to America in the 19th century.

“After hearing my nonna’s stories, I always felt a connection to Italy,” she said.

“As a soldier stationed in the region many years later, I vowed to return. Years later, my husband and I brought our children here to see where they came from.’

Her Italian relative took the American name Clint Jeffrey. She doesn’t know much about her great-great-grandmother, Lucinda, who was a slave on an Arkansas plantation when Jeffrey bought her and “spent the rest of his days with her.”

Nadine added, “Unfortunately I have no additional information on Lucinda. All I know is that she was a slave, and he bought her.

“My grandmother and great-grandmother never told me about her again. I believe it was because of such atrocities that slavery, and the memories of it, had on them; because being born in the 19th and early 20th centuries was obviously a difficult time for all black people in America.”

Nadine, who has served in the military for 30 years, and Kim, who works for the US government, decided to send an email to the deputy mayor of Latronico, Vincenzo Castellano, one night during the pandemic.

‘We didn’t expect it, he contacted us the next day. We set up a video call, he sent us a video of our selected home,” she said.

“That sealed our fate: we bought the house sight unseen, without going to Italy.”

Castellano and his assistant helped them through the sales process and found local businesses to furnish and furnish their new home.

The deputy mayor was even given power of attorney for all technical matters and was responsible for translating the purchase deed into English.

The Dawkins’ three-story home in the historic district needed little renovation, but it did need fresh exterior paint.

The house has two bedrooms, a kitchen enlarged into a huge dining room and an underground cellar. They have added two bathrooms to the property.

Nadine wants to teach the locals English once she moves to the city and help put it on the map.

“We love the people,” she said. “We’ve never met one mean person, everyone offers coffee. One day we met a villager in a store and became like best friends – he took us to his house for espresso, even though I don’t even drink coffee.’

The family plans to spend six months a year in Italy due to tourist visa restrictions and the other six months in Panama.

But they will apply for a permanent elective residency visa that requires a certain amount of passive income annually.

Their ultimate goal is to gain Italian citizenship and Nadine hopes to trace her Italian ancestor’s ancestry.

She says the only challenge is overcoming the language barrier, but says people are patient when she uses her translation application.