Visited America for the first time as a black man

I'm from the UK and today I visited New York City having never been to the United States of America before. I decided to travel alone and met a great bunch of people in the hostel I'm staying at.<br><br>I met this American guy who's name I forget and he was really friendly and nice and showed me around the city and told me about some of the different places we passed. Initially I was very unaware of the history America has with racism, and I just blindly asked him about the places and statues we saw. But I think he was slightly annoyed or uncomfortable with my questions, I don't really know. He told me that all history is bad and that people should look to the future. I just found this answer strange and confusing, I accepted his answer and we continued to explore up until I asked another question about a statue, and then he was clearly more frustrated with me this time. I asked why he was so annoyed all of a sudden and he responded by saying 'you shouldn't be asking me about this stuff'. I didn't want to press the issue any further as I just accepted his response.<br><br>I continue to explore on my own and met some more Americans who were just as nice. I continue to ask these people the same questions and they seemed to have a lot more to say, which confused me even more.<br><br>I'm black and I just don't really understand how anyone can be racist towards me. I just want to make friends and learn about the places I visit.<br><br>I don't really know what to say.<br><br>Edit: I think I need to say this. I wasn't asking the questions in a negative light. I was asking the questions out of curiosity. And I was asking all questions in general regarding the monuments, not specifically asking about anything regarding race.<br><br>Edit 2: Thank you to all the Americans who have shared their stories with me. I continue to appreciate all the positive comments and I'm really sorry to those who have had negative experiences.