I'm Dutch and only know Scandinavian cities from video unfortunately, but i want to comment and say i personally like Amsterdam aside from the very pretty city center that looks like a festival grounds half of the year. Other cities and towns here that might be worth considering too (some economic activities are very tied to a certain area). Don't worry about racism in the streets, if you don't speak Dutch you always have the I'm just a tourist card in your back pocket. You might be discriminated by some small companies that prefer Dutch speaking colleagues though, in certain workfields this is a bigger problem than in others. Public transport is great, if you can afford to move here you can afford PT as well. Owning a car would be a much bigger problem if you want to live inside 'The Ring' because parking is crazy expensive and it you'll have to wait a few years before you can get a residence permit (there is a queue basically). Many people in Amsterdam do not have a car, depending on what kind of work you do you might not need one either. My advice would be to travel to the places that you like, maybe you'll instantly feel where you would like to settle long-term.

Been around in both areas often, I'm Dutch and went to Oslo. Family has visited Copenhagen. All are walkable by US standards, by European standards as well. For Dutch standards, it varies a bit.

Overview

As for public transit, generally I'd say the NL are the best in the world (though Switzerland is somewhat better in its quality and reach to smaller towns). Still, all capitals and 100k+ cities in the Nordics should be decent in terms of public transit, walkability and bicyclability. Don't expect a utopia of perfection, but it's certainly better than NYC. Like every country, we have our nice things, problems and issues, just a bit differently.

Nordics

Of the big Nordic cities, Copenhagen is the most bicycle friendly, clearly the winner. I'd even go as far as to call them excellent for Dutch standards. The rest of Denmark is likewise decent. Odense pops out most in mind, they have a particular extra focus on bicyclists.

In Norway, Oslo is a relatively good one as well, lots of bicycle paths. Most Norwegians will take you into account when you bicycle along the roads, by driving a bit slower near you.

In Sweden, Malmö and Uppsala are good for bicycling. Stockholm, compared to other Nordic capitals, has a better cuisine and nicer architecture, but the biking is meh.

For Finland, the capital Helsinki according to the Copenhagenise Index, is number 6 out of all cities, so should be pretty good (the index only takes into account cities with 100k+ people, though).

Iceland is a beautiful country, but it's very car-focused. Reykjavík has quite some bits to improve regarding bicycle friendliness. It could be considered walkable, though it is not quite bicycle-friendly yet.

Faroe Islands: sorry buddies, I don't know too much about you.

The Netherlands

Amsterdam is on par with Copenhagen and good (but so are virtually all Dutch cities), though it suffers from a lot of tourists walking on the bloody bicycle lane. I've had to ring more than often to yell them away.

Utrecht I'd actually label more bike-friendly. It has or is going to have a neighbourhood that's completely car-free. The mid-sized cities Groningen and Nijmegen (nicknamed "Havana at the Waal") are great as well.

Of Dutch big cities, Rotterdam and The Hague are imho the worst. They have a more carbrained infrastructure. On a world scale it's still bicycle friendly, but you will encounter wide roads where other Dutch cities instead have bus lanes, bicycle lanes, etc. It's improving, though.

Discrimination
Most of the Nordics as well as the Netherlands are actually fairly sympathetic to Cuba and we like Cubans (not the far-right ones in Florida though, we detest those that voted for Trump).

With regard to discrimination, I think you'll find that it depends on how well you learn the national/local language. Most people in the NL and Nordics can speak English decently, but socialise in their native language. The better and sooner you learn that, the easier it'll be adapting. Discrimination isn't as overt or common as in the US, but usually is more 'casual', more subtle. Think à la, not getting hired as fast because of foreign names, lower salaries, that stuff. It's prohibited though, and so do report that.

But on how you'll be treated, approximated, you'll be fine. People are curious and like to hear from elsewhere. Jamte's law applies. Don't stick out too much, don't brag about being rich, don't put other people down, that all helps.

And, this goes for everyone (even native people included), but it's harder to get yourself into friend circles as an adult. Not impossible, though! Your best bets are through study, work, and hobbies. So seek those out.

Around 30 % of inhabitants of Oslo own a car. The rest rent one when they need to and otherwise do fine without.

But you are focused on the biggest cities. Living there is expensive. I live a while out and commute in several times a week, but walkability and ability to live without a car can vary a lot the further from the bigger cities you get.

Having recently moved back to where I'm from in Norway, I was at first surprised at how much more multi cultured the smaller city has become in the last few decades, so I'd expect you should mostly not need worry, but sadly I can not guarantee you'd never experience being looked at as an outsider. You might experience it more from being a US-ian than from not being blond and blue eyed, though.

Can only speak about copenhagen, but depending on your job and budget for an apartment, you can get by exclusively with a bike and the bus.

Doubt you'll feel much discrimination in Copenhagen, but it is a very different social culture. Don't confuse people who don't want to talk with you as them hating you. We're just not as social with strangers as a lot of other countries.

stockholm is very walkable and has super-convenient public transit, but bike paths are so-so. were i to live in stockholm i would instantly get rid of my car. alas, it's very hard to get an apartment for anything approaching a reasonable price. go outside the city and the price drops sharply, as does the convenience.