Below attached is the research essay with comments by the professor. I want you to make changes in the research essay as per the comments provided by the professor in the yellow text. Also, I have attached the checklist of the research paper which MUST BE FOLLOWED. Please ensure that all the points mentioned by the professor in the checklist is covered in the revision of the essay. For more information, I have also attached the topic on which the research essay is written. PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU THOROUGHLY GO THROUGH THE CHECKLIST ATTACHED BELOW. ALSO, WORD COUNT MUST BE 2100-2400 WORDS. I WANT THIS ASSIGNMENT COMPLETED BY 8 PM TODAY ITSELF (04/07/2020). DONT BE LATE.
Patel 1
Isha Patel
Professor Armes
ENGL 1320
20 February, 2020
Black Immigrants and Racial Discrimination
There are several cases that pop up each year regarding racial discrimination against the black
immigrants in the United States. There are cases that go unnoticed because most of the people
choose not to speak about it. In other cases, the society also would not accept that such activities
take place thus making it a challenge for them to keep up. There are numerous immigrants
getting into the United States voluntarily including Europeans and other whites but the racial
slurs are only directed towards the blacks migrating into the country. There are numerous
concerns in the country that raise the attention towards racial discrimination especially from the
people visiting the country. The discrimination ranges from when they are seeking to access the
public services in the country, from the justice department especially the police department.
Most of the immigrants move to the United States at a shot for a better life, education, medical
opportunities, job opportunities and escape from war among other vices in their parent countries.
However, the people are embraced to get into the country they still fail to live a happy and
comfortable life because the society does not entirely embrace them. Racism in the United States
does not necessarily focus on the Black immigrants but against the entire races that make it a
challenge for any individual with a different skin color in the country and this limits their access
to resources. This thesis is a bit confusing. Earlier in the introduction you say that “slurs are only
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directed towards the blacks migrating into this country,” but then in your thesis, you say “Racism
in the United States does not necessarily focus on the Black immigrants”. This first paragraph is
also a bit confusing since you mention only “Black immigrants.” Are you suggesting African-
American citizens do not experience the same racism as Black immigrants? I think you’ll want to
clarify the introduction and thesis.
The law enforcement across the country are mostly accused as being the most racist in
the country and them being with weapons impacts the immigrants and creates a negative picture
on the community. The police are the security front of the community thus it is important that
they make sure that they keep up with the demand of the country (Foner, 64). The law
enforcement officers in the country mainly judge and discriminate from racial discrimination but
not a specific group (Hmmm, you might want to research this a bit. I’m pretty sure the
Department of Justice has done studies on racial profiling and racial bias toward African-
Americans, at least in Ferguson, Missouri and in New York with the Stop-and-Frisk policy. But
there should also be a lot of other information dealing with this claim. It is evident that the police
do not have a specific time or information on people to approach them but the color of their skin
made the difference. The specificity of racism makes the difference because there is no specific
measure that shows the police selectively choose the black immigrants (See above comment).
There is no specific information that the police selectively choose a specific immigrant and opt
to treat them different instead they discriminate the entire race. There is little difference between
the original black American inhabitants and the immigrants entering the United States in the
current era. The world is not making progress on the social front that is not appropriate because
we are all human and this limits the interactions and relationships that we are creating as people.
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The law enforcement being the forefront and the leaders of the community and are
allowed to carry weapons makes them a very important in impacting security and confidence in
the people. The confidence that the officers instill in the community makes it easier to increase
the connection between the people and the races. The other native races (Whom specifically?)
depend on the interactions and the image the officers portray that then will help influence their
attitude towards the other immigrants because they are in the authoritative position (Bell,
Marquardt & Berry, 298). For instance, if the officers would treat the immigrants the same way
that they treat the whites then there would be no need for the community to fear them and treat
them differently. However, because the officers will approach the blacks with a negative
premonition even on the speed checks on the roads and demand them to evacuate their vehicles
while they do not do the same with the whites then they paint the blacks as dangerous or a threat
thus they have to fear them (This statement contradicts what was said in the preceding paragraph
– the one on which I commented). In the other incidences where the African Americans would
walk with hoodies in the society and police officers tackle them and even place them in their
vehicles and they do not do the same for the whites students in hoods (Word choice. Avoid slang
in academic papers). The security that the law enforcement officers provide in the community
makes a difference and impacts the perception of the people and because they have poor
relationships then it also makes it a challenge for the people to keep up.
The society is not opening up towards the African Americans including the immigrants
which are a problem that is emanating from the political climate and the leadership in the
country. The people are on the fore front of the country and it’s their place to make sure that the
society is living in peace and unity. It is evident that President Trump is against immigrants and
this pushes the community to stand against the immigrants because the leader instills the concept
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that the immigrants are entering the country to steal their opportunities and resources. True. It
would be helpful to illustrate this by bringing in a quote from Trump which shows this. Most of
the supporters in the country that stood up with the president and some of his agendas was to
make sure that the Americans reclaim their country. The message comes out wrong in the eyes of
some of the ethnic white communities because and thus builds up racism and differentiation in
the society. It is unethical for a leader to have such attitudes and behavior especially in a country
where all the people are immigrants. The Trump supporters especially the White Supremacists
started the belief that they cannot live with the same immigrants in the country and this is after
such campaigns and words started emanating in the open.
People have differences and feel different from the others but most of them learn to live
with it but when it gets public then it becomes a problem because some people will start hurting
others. The cases that involve the attacks on the black immigrants in the country are horrific and
bad and can trigger some xenophobic attacks and this will not be appropriate especially because
the country has numerous immigrants from across the world (Saleem, et al. 1339). Still a bit
confused. The paper’s title and thesis want to focus on “Black immigrants,” but the discussion is
much broader, including all immigrants and African-American citizens. You’ll want to adjust
your title and thesis. The United States is successful and wealthy to the current day especially
because it relies on the immigrants that visited the country back in the day as refugees. The move
made it easier for them to gain some of the giant companies (Such as?) including the current
president Trump whose roots date back to Europe. The concept makes the difference because
there is no discrimination against such people but they choose when to be discriminatory. The
concept is unethical and impractical which is not appropriate for the community because people
have to interact and depend on each other thus failure of creating and building such relationships
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changes the entire structure of the society. The black immigrants are in the country not to create
social indifferences but to try and find opportunities to improve their lives that is something that
the United States can offer.
The Americans moved from all over the world and dismissed the Native Americans from
their lands which were not appropriate and thus they have the audacity to dispel other people
from the same lands. The history of the country makes it important for them to appreciate
immigrants and because it is also important for them to access the reason that brought the people
into the country including the human rights. The United Nations through charity organization
recommends that a country should take in a certain capacity of immigrants into the country. The
Black immigrants get into the country for better opportunities and they do not interfere with the
social status in the country (Foner, 67). For instance, the blacks that died in New York, West
Indian are innocent victims of misdirected hatred. The people were no threat to the society and
this makes it a challenge because it meant that they were not a problem and instead they were a
form of opportunity in the country. It is unethical for the society to live in such animalistic habits
that hinder the people to show their humane side and instead keeps bringing the bad out of the
people.
The society is larger than an individual thus it is important to make sure that a single
person or the feelings of the few do not tarnish the reputation of the entire community. The
racists are few in the community and do not speak up for the feelings of the larger society which
is not appropriate. Most of the Americans relate well with the immigrants which is good but then
it is limited to a specific society because it should change the way that the society relates with
them thus making it easier for them (Krieger, 1706). For instance, the few people in the United
States selective states make it a challenge for the black immigrants in the new country because it
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is not appropriate for a selective group to make decisions regarding the others. The country has
numerous people from across the world that makes it important to make sure that they work
together and come up with proper concepts for their community. The interaction within the
society is not on the basis of the racial differences but the community in the general that then
changes the way that people look at each other. The relationship in the society should be open
and interactive that makes it easier for them to interact and come together which will help reduce
the rates of discrimination in the society.
The United States has immigrants from across the world including the Asians, Arabs
among others that makes it a country of opportunities. The fact that black immigrants are most
victims in the country makes the difference because they are a target which is not appropriate
especially because they have to keep up with the community. The differences indicate that the
darkest skin color in the community make the difference and thus the most target that then makes
it bad. Most of the students (Why students?) in the country that are native whites make the most
population and thus cannot stand the black immigrants in the countries (Earlier you said, “Most
Americans relate well with the immigrants …”). The society is filled with the negativity against
the immigrants into the country starting with the American political and government hierarchy
that then makes it a challenge for the insignificant to maneuver through the hatred and
judgmental society (Park, 83). The concept makes the difference in the community because
people already have negative perceptions that do not include the black immigrants taking away
their opportunities. The black immigrants are a threat in the country according to the natives of
the country and thus the bad blood also builds among the youths that then see the others as a
threat. The students stay in hatred and negativity with the bad knowledge that the job
opportunities will belong to the immigrant’s students in their class that then makes it a challenge.
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Conclusion
The assimilation and immigrants in the country appear as a threat in the country because
they appear to take the peoples jobs since they always have the status of education and
employment. The people in the United States take the immigration as potential thereat which is
not appropriate and misdirected because the people are innocent. The government in place and
some of the leaders has a major contribution towards the racial discrimination in the country
because they encourage the people to feel like the outsiders in the country are a threat. The
government through the various leaders should discourage their citizens from remaining racial
discriminative and since they already welcomed them into their country it is not necessary to
subject people into further trials. We are all humans and despite having a black, white or brown
skin complexion we are all people and at the top of the animal kingdom and thus it is important
to make sure that we bring out the best out of each other instead of behaving like the same
animals that do not have the people skills which is unethical.
Patel 8
Works Cited
Bell, Myrtle P., Dennis Marquardt, and Daphne P. Berry. “”Diversity,” Immigration, and the
New American Multi-Racial Hierarchy.” Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 29, no.
3, 2014, pp. 285-303.
Krieger, Nancy, PhD., et al. “Racial Discrimination, Psychological Distress, and Self-Rated
Health among US-Born and Foreign-Born Black Americans.” American Journal of
Public Health, vol. 101, no. 9, 2011, pp. 1704-13.
Nancy Foner. “Black Immigrants and the Realities of Racism: Comments and
Questions.” Journal of American Ethnic History, vol. 36, no. 1, 2016, pp. 63–70.
Park, Young. The Dark Side: Immigrants, Racism, and the American Way. Bloomington, Ind:
iUniverse Com, 2012. Print.
Saleem, Farzana T., et al. “The Impact of African American Parents’ Racial Discrimination
Experiences and Perceived Neighborhood Cohesion on their Racial Socialization
Practices.” Journal of Youth and Adolescence, vol. 45, no. 7, 2016, pp. 1338-1349.
Patel 9
Hi Isha,
For revision:
1. Address comments throughout the paper.
2. This paper needs a clear focus. As it stands, it tries to tackle law enforcement and
discrimination, immigration and xenophobia, hate crimes, Native American displacement, and
job competition. The two paragraphs on law enforcement seem to contradict each other. This part
of the paper ultimately feels like it’s undermining the paper’s premise on discrimination. There
are several contradictions throughout which would benefit from more analysis and clarification.
For revision, I would choose one topic related to discrimination and explore that. You could, for
example, write an entire paper on law enforcement and discrimination, or immigration and
xenophobia, but, in a paper of this length, it is not really possible to address all of these topics.
3. Clarify which information is from your sources. The citations seem as if they have been
randomly dropped into places. I cannot really tell what each source is actually adding to the
discussion. The easiest way to fix this is to include a quotation from each source. Take a look at
the handout on Canvas which deals with citing sources.
Thanks.
120
Revision Checklist
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[ ] Does the paper cite 5 different academic sources?
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Block Quotes
[ ] Are quotations longer than four lines put into block quotes? Example below.
Dr. So-and-so states:
A block quote will be introduced with a colon like the colon above after the word states.
A block quote does not have quotation marks around it. Also, a block quote is indented
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Journal of American Ethnic History Fall 2016 Volume 36, Number 1 63
© 2016 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
Black Immigrants and the Realities of Racism:
Comments and Questions
NANCY FONER
BLACK IMMIGRANTS, AS VIOLET SHOWERS Johnson reminds
us, are an important part of the history of immigration to the United States,
and they continue to be an important part today. This is especially striking
given their growing number—and proportion—in the foreign- born popula-
tion. By 2013, according to U.S. Census data, the number of black immi-
grants in the country had climbed to nearly 4 million, more than a fourfold
increase since 1980; they now represent almost one in ten of all immigrants
and 9 percent of the nation’s black population. Currently, about half of black
immigrants in the United States are Caribbean- born, and a little over a
third are from Africa. Indeed, the rise in the black African- born population
is noteworthy, more than doubling between 2000 and 2013, when it had
reached 1.4 million.1
The encounter with the American racial system, as Johnson makes clear,
is a central component of the black immigrant experience in the United
States, regardless of where they were born. This is brought out in Johnson’s
focus on three violent incidents in the last thirty years: the 1988 killing of
Ethiopian student Mulugeta Seraw in Portland, Oregon, and, in New York
City, the 1999 fatal shooting of West African Amadou Diallo, and the 1997
beating and sodomy of Haitian immigrant Abner Louima. This kind of anti-
black violence is mercifully rare, but the incidents underscore, tragically and
dramatically, some essential features of the role of race for black immigrants
in the United States.2 Johnson’s discussion points to many key aspects of the
impact of racism. It also provides the basis for some additional comments,
and raises questions for further study, on several topics she considers or
alludes to: negative encounters with the police, differences between the
black foreign- born and the second generation, relations between blacks of
immigrant origin and African Americans, and the role of the particular city
of settlement in influencing how race and racism are experienced.
Although I would not go so far as to characterize New York City as
tantamount to a police state, as one of Johnson’s discussions seems to sug-
gest, there is no question that blacks, native- and foreign- born alike, often
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64 Journal of American Ethnic History / Fall 2016
experience racial discrimination and harassment from the police. In a large-
scale study of young adult members of the second generation in the New
York City metropolitan area, West Indians reported the most discrimina-
tion (compared to Dominicans, South Americans, Chinese, and Russians),
especially in public places on the streets, in stores, and from the police. In
an essay drawing on data from the study, Mary Waters makes the point that
anonymous encounters with shopkeepers, security guards, and particularly
the police in public spaces “are powerful because they are so purely ‘racial.’
In such confrontations class differences do not count. . . . Nor do ethnic
differences. . . . A police officer rarely has a basis for knowing if a young
man on a public street is African American or West Indian, middle class or
poor. If the police officer discriminates, it is on the basis of race alone.”3
Experiences with the police have an especially deep impact on black
young men because no matter how unfairly these young men are treated, it
is imprudent and even dangerous for them to argue back. Not only are the
young men left bitter and frustrated, but relations with the police reinforce
a sense of exclusion from the wider society because the police are armed
representatives of the state: “Negative treatment by them, in some way,
represents negative treatment by the larger society.”4 Waters also notes that
because second- generation West Indians spend so much time in segregated
neighborhoods, schools, and workplaces, they usually do not experience
much discrimination from whites in these settings. The better- off are more
likely to find themselves in integrated settings and thus have more “oppor-
tunities” to be the victims of this kind of discrimination in these places.5
This discussion of the second generation brings up another topic that
Johnson mentions: the different impact of race for the first and second
generations. At the end of her article, she refers to a 1.5 generation Haitian
American (who came to the United States as a child) who thought of herself
as Haitian and black whereas her Haitian- born parents and grandparents
“adamantly identify as Haitian and not black.”6 The issue of identity has
been explored in a number of studies of Afro- Caribbeans, which reveal
a somewhat different picture. True, for those in the first generation, an
ethnic or home- country identity is usually their primary group identifica-
tion, a pattern reinforced by, among other things, continued ties to their
societies of origin, social networks in the United States, and a desire to
distinguish themselves from American blacks. Yet, at the same time, the
immigrant generation may embrace a racial identity “without contradiction”
and move back and forth between ethnic and racial identities depending on
the situation.7
JAEH 36_1 text.indd 64 8/15/16 2:58 PM
Foner 65
Of particular interest have been the identities that develop among the
second generation, who were born and raised in the United States. Ethno-
graphic research shows that the second generation, with roots in the Com-
monwealth Caribbean, often see themselves as black and as West Indian;
whether a racial or ethnic identity is more salient depends on the context, the
audience, and the circumstances.8 Nearly all of the second- generation West
Indians whom Milton Vickerman interviewed saw themselves as “partially
West Indian”—specifically as “West Indian blacks.” They were more con-
scious of race as a life- shaping issue than their parents were because they
had grown up in the American, rather than the Caribbean, racial system.
While they had a strong sense of a shared bond with African Americans,
they saw their West Indian identity and cultural values as setting them apart
from generalized negative views of blacks.9
Class, gender, and residential patterns may also make a difference.
Middle- class second- generation Afro- Caribbeans, according to one study,
seek to avoid identification with poor and working- class African Americans
as they struggle to maintain a middle- class identity in the face of persistent
negative stereotyping of blacks; second- generation Afro- Caribbean men,
another study argues, feel racial exclusion more strongly than women do
and thus tend to identify more strongly with African Americans; and a West
Indian identity is nurtured and reinforced among the second generation who
grow up and continue to live in neighborhoods with a critical mass of Afro-
Caribbeans.10 Whether second- generation Africans follow the same patterns
is an open question since research on them is sparse given that large- scale
African migration to the United States is relatively new. One question is
whether they will be less likely than their counterparts with roots in the
Commonwealth Caribbean to embrace their “home- country” heritage, and
might even seek to hide it, given that the label “African” comes with more
negative stereotypes (for example, as “culturally backward” or ”primitive”)
than does the “West Indian” label.11
Identity issues are bound up with the question of relations between black
immigrants and African Americans. Many ethnographic studies note the
attempts by black immigrants to distinguish themselves from—and avoid
the stigma associated with—poor African Americans.12 West Indians, for
example, often assert an ethnic identity as natives of a particular Caribbean
island or as West Indians more generally, in order to make a case that they
are culturally different from black Americans, often saying they have a
stronger work ethic, are more law- abiding and family- oriented, and place
more value on education.13 Waters argues that although this strategy may
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66 Journal of American Ethnic History / Fall 2016
help individual West Indians, it ends up reinforcing stereotypes of blacks
as inferior.14
Distancing, however, is only one part of the equation; identification with
African Americans on the basis of the shared experience of being black
in America, or a linked racial fate outlook, is the other part.15 Both black
immigrants and African Americans experience similar episodes of racial
discrimination and perceive important social institutions as being biased
against blacks. To be sure, as Johnson suggests, Afro- Caribbean and African
immigrants have carved out strong ethnic communities and organizations,
and, in places where their numbers are sufficient, they and their children
have often served as ethnic voting blocs, with politicians playing the “eth-
nic card” to gain their support. Yet there is also intermingling with African
Americans in neighborhoods, workplaces, and schools and, as examples in
Johnson’s article indicate, there is sometimes joint, even if often fragile,
coalition- building. In New York, as political scientists have observed, West
Indians vote like African Americans in most instances, and only when one
of their own is competing with an African American incumbent do they part
ways.16
An example of the tangle of cooperation and conflict in black immigrants’
relations with African Americans comes from a recent study of Liberians
in New York City in the borough of Staten Island. On the one hand, both
Liberians and African Americans sought to distance themselves from each
other—each, interestingly, claiming superiority over the other—and tensions
arose over competition for jobs and housing. On the other hand, Liberian
community leaders embraced strategies to work with African Americans and
used African American organizations to advance their own group’s causes,
including coming together to elect black American candidates for office who
spoke for “black interests.” On a more personal level, close friendships, and
occasionally more intimate and romantic relationships, developed between
some Liberians and African Americans in the neighborhood.17
Finally, Johnson’s article raises questions about the impact of the particu-
lar urban context on black immigrants’ racial encounters and reactions. It is
not surprising that two of the incidents in Johnson’s account occurred in New
York City, which has long been home to the largest black immigrant popula-
tion in the United States. (As of 2013, 27 percent of the nation’s foreign- born
black population lived in the New York- Newark- Jersey City metropolitan
area, with the Miami- Fort Lauderdale- West Palm Beach metropolitan area
in second place with 12 percent.18) Already, by the time of the Diallo and
Louima incidents, New York City had become a majority minority city with
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Foner 67
a sizeable black immigrant presence. In 2000, foreign- born blacks (the
majority Afro- Caribbean) numbered a little over half a million, or about a
quarter of the city’s non- Hispanic black population; by 2010, with continued
inflows, about a third of the city’s non- Hispanic blacks were foreign- born,
many of them then, as in the previous four decades, working in low- level
service jobs.19 This is a striking contrast to the other city Johnson considers,
Portland, Oregon. In 1988, when the attack on Mulugeta Seraw took place,
Portland had a small black population, and only a few hundred Ethiopians,
most of them students; currently, Portland has the distinction of being one
of the whitest cities in America.20
Given the realities of race and racism in urban America, wherever black
immigrants settle in any number, they are likely to encounter prejudice
and discrimination from some sections of the majority population, yet how
these (and other) dynamics of the black immigrant experience unfold varies
from one location to another. Undoubtedly, the number and proportion of
black immigrants, as well as African Americans, in the population matter.
A broad range of additional features may also be relevant. These include
the city’s history as a receiving area for immigrants generally (and black
immigrants specifically), the particular configuration and diversity of immi-
grant groups and native minorities, the spatial distribution of immigrants and
native minorities, and the structure of the labor market and political system.
Then, too, there are the characteristics of the black immigrant streams to
different cities—their national origin makeup as well as their educational,
occupational, gender, and age composition.
As yet, there has been little attempt to systematically analyze the differ-
ences in the black immigrant experience across cities and to weigh just how
significant they are compared to the overwhelming importance of being
black in America. Given the prominence of New York City and Miami as
areas of settlement, a comparison of these two cities would seem particularly
relevant. There are some marked contrasts. Black immigrants have been a
notable presence in New York since the early twentieth century, whereas in
South Florida, legal segregation made the region unattractive to large- scale
black immigrant inflows until the Civil Rights Movement and legislation
(as well as a growing economy) had an impact. Unlike in New York City,
Miami’s blacks now live in a Latino- dominated city and county, overtaken
demographically, politically, and economically by the Hispanic majority,
especially the large Cuban community, who have transformed the cultural
and linguistic character of the region.21 Haitians, who are a particularly large
group in the Miami area, appear to be more highly stigmatized and visible
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68 Journal of American Ethnic History / Fall 2016
there than they are in New York City, where they do not stand out as much in
the public eye, perhaps, in part, because of the significant number of “boat
people” who arrived in Miami in the 1970s and 1980s.22 Also in contrast
to New York City, where Haitians generally live in the same neighborhoods
as do English- speaking West Indians, Haitians have their own distinctive
neighborhood in Miami, Little Haiti, which has been home to many poorer
Haitians.
Just how, and to what extent, these and other features particular to each
city make a difference—to black immigrants’ identities, for example, experi-
ences with racial discrimination, relations with other ethnic minorities and
African Americans, and political clout and representation in elected posi-
tions—is a subject that requires systematic comparative study. Cross- city
comparisons, moreover, need to go beyond New York and Miami to other
urban areas where the black foreign- born are now a significant presence,
including Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; and Minneapolis. Both across cities,
and within each one, we also need research that compares the experiences
of black immigrants from different countries and regions, particularly those
from Africa as compared to Afro- Caribbeans, something that is especially
pressing given the sharp climb in the African immigrant population in recent
years.
It is a tribute to Johnson’s article that it raises so many issues and ques-
tions. As black immigrants continue to grow in number, and as their children
and grandchildren come of age and make their place in metropolitan areas
around the country, we have much to learn about how they are faring and,
most relevant to the concerns here, how they are confronting and dealing
with the realities of race and racism in twenty- first- century America.
NOTES
1. The three largest source countries for black immigrants are Jamaica (18 percent),
Haiti (15 percent), and Nigeria (6 percent). These, and the other, figures provided in the
paragraph are from Monica Anderson, “A Rising Share of the U.S. Black Population Is
Foreign Born: 9 Percent Are Immigrants; and While Most Are from the Caribbean, Africans
Drive Recent Growth,” Pew Research Center, April 9, 2015, http://www.pewsocialtrends
.org/files/2015/04/2015–04–09_black- immigrants_FINAL . “Black immigrants” and
“foreign- born blacks” in that report refer to those born outside the United States, Puerto
Rico, or other U.S. territories, whose race is black or mixed- race black, regardless of Hispanic
origin, in 2000 and later U.S. Census Bureau surveys. For the 1980 and 1990 Census years,
when respondents could make only one selection in the race question, “black immigrants”
or “foreign- born blacks” refer to those born outside the United States, Puerto Rico, or other
U.S. territories, whose race is black, regardless of Hispanic origin.
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Foner 69
2. In one of my own publications, I use the Howard Beach 1988 incident in New York
City this way, in which a Trinidadian immigrant was beaten by a mob of white youth and
chased onto a major highway where he was killed. See Nancy Foner, “Black West Indian
Americans,” in Immigrant Struggles, Immigrant Gifts, ed. Diane Portnoy, Barry Portnoy,
and Charlie Riggs (Fairfax, VA: GMU Press, 2012), 177–92.
3. Mary C. Waters, “Nativism, Racism, and Immigration in New York City,” in New York
and Amsterdam: Immigration and the New Urban Landscape, ed. Nancy Foner et al. (New
York: NYU Press, 2014), 159. For a fuller account of the results of the study, see Philip
Kasinitz et al., Inheriting the City: The Children of Immigrants Come of Age (Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press, 2008).
4. Waters, “Nativism, Racism, and Immigration,” 158.
5. Ibid., 161.
6. Violet Showers Johnson, “When Blackness Stings: African and Afro- Caribbean Immi-
grants, Race, and Racism in Late Twentieth- Century America,” Journal of American Ethnic
History 36, no. 1 (Fall 2016): 56; quote refers to Barbara Ceptus, “Growing Up Haitian,
Growing Up Black,” ColorLines 8, no. 3 (Fall 2005).
7. See, for example, Nancy Foner, “The Jamaicans: Race and Ethnicity among Migrants
in New York City,” in New Immigrants in New York, ed. Nancy Foner (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1987), 195–218; Nancy Foner, “West Indian Migration to New York:
An Overview,” in Islands in the City: West Indian Migration to New York, ed. Nancy
Foner (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001), 1–22; Reuel R. Rogers, Afro-
Caribbean Immigrants and the Politics of Incorporation: Ethnicity, Exception, or Exit (New
York: Cambridge University Press, 2006); Mary C. Waters, Black Identities: West Indian
Immigrant Dreams and American Realities (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1999).
8. Sherri- Ann Butterfield, “‘We’re Just Black:’ The Racial and Ethnic Identities of Second-
Generation West Indians in New York,” in Becoming New Yorkers: Ethnographies of the New
Second Generation, ed. Philip Kasinitz, John Mollenkopf, and Mary C. Waters (New York:
Russell Sage Foundation, 2004), 288–312; see also Alex Stepick et al., “Shifting Identities
and Intergenerational Conflict: Growing Up Haitian in Miami,” in Ethnicities: Children
of Immigrants in America, ed. Rubén G. Rumbaut and Alejandro Portes (Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press, 2001), 229–66.
9. Milton Vickerman, “Tweaking a Monolith: The West Indian Immigrant Encounter with
‘Blackness,’” in Islands in the City, ed. Foner, 237–56.
10. Butterfield, “We’re Just Black”; Mary C. Waters, “Growing Up West Indian and
African American: Gender and Class Differences in the Second Generation,” in Islands in
the City, ed. Foner, 193–215; Nancy Foner, “Black Identities and the Second Generation:
Afro- Caribbeans in Britain and the United States,” in The Next Generation: Immigrant Youth
in a Comparative Perspective, ed. Richard Alba and Mary C. Waters (New York: NYU Press,
2011), 256.
11. See, for example, JoAnn D’Alisera, “Images of a Wounded Homeland: Sierra Leonean
Children and the New Heart of Darkness,” in Across Generations: Immigrant Families in
America, ed. Nancy Foner (New York: NYU Press, 2009), 114–34; and Bernadette Ludwig,
“Liberians: Struggles for Refugee Families,” in One Out of Three: Immigrant New York in
the Twenty- First Century, ed. Nancy Foner (New York: Columbia University Press, 2013),
200–22.
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70 Journal of American Ethnic History / Fall 2016
12. See, for example, Foner, Islands in the City; Milton Vickerman, Crosscurrents: West
Indian Immigrants and Race (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999); Waters, Black
Identities; Bernadette Ludwig, “America Is Not the Home We Dream Of: Race, Gender, and
Refugee Status among Liberians in Staten Island” (PhD thesis, Graduate Center of the City
University of New York, 2014); Katja M. Guenther, Sadie Pendaz, and Fortunata Songora
Makene, “The Impact of Intersecting Dimensions of Inequality and Identity on the Racial
Status of East African Immigrants,” Sociological Forum 26, no. 1 (March 2011): 98–120.
13. Milton Vickerman, “Jamaicans: Balancing Race and Ethnicity,” in One Out of Three,
ed. Foner, 176–99.
14. Waters, “Growing Up West Indian and African American,” 212.
15. Vickerman, “Jamaicans.”
16. John Mollenkopf, “The Rise of Immigrant Influence in New York City Politics,” in
New York and Amsterdam, ed. Foner et al., 216; Rogers, Afro- Caribbean Immigrants; see
also Cristina M. Greer, Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American
Dream (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013).
17. Ludwig, “America Is Not the Home We Dream Of.”
18. Anderson, “A Rising Share.”
19. John Mollenkopf, David Olson, and Timothy Ross, “Immigrant Political Participa-
tion in New York and Los Angeles,” in Governing American Cities: Inter- Ethnic Coalitions,
Competition, and Conflict, ed. Michael Jones- Correa (New York: Russell Sage Foundation,
2001), 32; Nancy Foner, “Introduction: Immigrants in New York in the New Millennium,”
in One Out of Three, ed. Foner, 1–34.
20. In 2010, 76 percent of Portland’s population was non- Hispanic white, with blacks
comprising 6 percent. Steve Dotterrer and Uma Krishnan, “Briefing on Race, Ethnicity,
Mobility, Income, & Poverty in Portland,” Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, August 9,
2011, https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/article/360870.
21. In 1960, blacks greatly outnumbered Hispanics in Miami- Dade; by 1990, there were
more than twice as many Hispanics as non- Hispanic blacks in Dade County. Guillermo
Grenier and Max Castro, “Blacks and Cubans in Miami: The Negative Consequences of
the Cuban Enclave on Ethnic Relations,” in Governing American Cities, ed. Jones- Correa,
143.
22. The Miami metropolitan area has the nation’s largest black Haitian immigrant com-
munity—more than 211,000 black Haitian immigrants, equal to 36 percent of its population
in the United States (Anderson, “A Rising Share”). For beginning attempts at comparisons
of Afro- Caribbean populations of New York and Miami, see Nancy Foner, In a New Land:
A Comparative View of Immigration (New York: NYU Press, 2005); and Philip Kasinitz,
Juan Battle, and Ines Miyares, “Fade to Black? The Children of West Indian Immigrants in
South Florida,” in Ethnicities, ed. Rumbaut and Portes, 267–300. A doctoral student at the
CUNY Graduate Center, Vadricka Etienne, is currently conducting research in New York
and Miami for a comparative study of Haitian ethnicity in the two areas, including how
members of the second generation are raising their third- generation children.
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