Negotiating the Boundaries of American Blackness

Author(s):  
Angellar Manguvo

African students in the United States are assigned a racial identity ‘Black' in accordance with racial stratifications of the U.S. society. This designation makes it necessary for them to negotiate the structural constructions of American Blackness. Guided by social constructivism, the author explored African students' negotiation of Black racial solidarity. African students' racial solidarity was embedded within shared perspectives of common fate, which provided a reference for collective Black identity but; however, did not culminate into strong racial in-group loyalty. African students' racial solidarity was mitigated by the desire to exonerate themselves from inherent Black stereotypes. This was exacerbated by their non-prototypic cultural characteristics, which, according to native-born counterparts, rendered them ‘illegitimate' in-group members. The increasing presence of foreign-born Black students unveils both commonalities and heterogeneity among Black student populations, which scholars of Black Studies must reflect upon to explore ideological standpoints of Blackness.

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 286-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Skop ◽  
Wei Li

AbstractIn recent years, the migration rates from both China and India to the U.S. have accelerated. Since 2000 more than a third of foreign-born Chinese and 40% of foreign-born Indians have arrived in that country. This paper will document the evolving patterns of immigration from China and India to the U.S. by tracing the history of immigration and racial discrimination, the dramatic transitions that have occurred since the mid-20th century, and the current demographic and socioeconomic profiles of these two migrant groups.


2018 ◽  
Vol 677 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Lee ◽  
Karthick Ramakrishnan ◽  
Janelle Wong

Asian Americans are the fastest-growing group in the United States, increasing from 0.7 percent in 1970 to nearly 6 percent in 2016. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2065, Asian Americans will constitute 14 percent of the U.S. population. Immigration is fueling this growth: China and India have passed Mexico as the top countries sending immigrants to the United States since 2013. Today, two of three Asian Americans are foreign born—a figure that increases to nearly four of five among Asian American adults. The rise in numbers is accompanied by a rise in diversity: Asian Americans are the most diverse U.S. racial group, comprising twenty-four detailed origins with vastly different migration histories and socioeconomic profiles. In this article, we explain how the unique characteristics of Asian Americans affect their patterns of ethnic and racial self-identification, which, in turn, present challenges for accurately counting this population. We conclude by discussing policy ramifications of our findings, and explain why data disaggregation is a civil rights issue.


1998 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Ellis ◽  
Richard Wright

This paper compares characteristics of recent immigrant arrivals in the United States using two measures from the decennial U.S. census: the came-to-stay question and the migration question. We show that a little under 30 percent of immigrants who reported they came to stay between 1985–1990 on the 1990 U.S. Census Public Use Micro Sample were resident in the United States on April 1, 1985. A similar analysis of the 1980 censue reveals that 22 percent of immigrants who reported they came to stay between 1975–1980 lived in the United States on April 1, 1975. Thus among recent arrivals, defined as those who reported they came to stay in the quinquennium preceding the census, a large number were resident in the United States five years before the census date. Furthermore, the proportion of recent arrivals present in the United States five years before the census increased between 1975–1980 and 1985–1990. We show that the profile of recent arrivals is sensitive to their migration status. Generally, in both the 1975–1980 and 1985–1990 cohorts, those resident in the United States five years before the census have significantly less schooling and lower incomes than those who were abroad. Accordingly, we argue that estimates of the skill levels and hourly wages of recent arrivals to the United States vary with the way arrival is measured. Researchers who rely on Public Use samples of the U.S. census for their data should be aware that the year of entry question implies a broader definition of arrival than the migration question. We caution that immigration researchers should consider the idea of arrival more carefully to help distinguish newcomers from the resident foreign born.


2008 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 583-609
Author(s):  
Frederick Douglass Opie

In May 2006, foreign-born workers, largely from Latin America, mobilized across the United States in response to calls from anti-immigrant groups for tougher federal policies against illegal immigrants. About 400,000 protested in Chicago, 300,000 in Los Angeles, and 75,000 in Denver. In fifty cities between Los Angeles and New York, workers organized walkouts, demonstrations, and rallies in an effort to show just how important they were to the smooth operation of the U.S. economy.


Daedalus ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 142 (3) ◽  
pp. 48-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Tienda ◽  
Susana M. Sánchez

This essay provides an overview of immigration from Latin America since 1960, focusing on changes in both the size and composition of the dominant streams and their cumulative impact on the U.S. foreign-born population. We briefly describe the deep historical roots of current migration streams and the policy backdrop against which migration from the region surged. Distinguishing among the three major pathways to U.S. residence – family sponsorship, asylum, and unauthorized entry – we explain how contemporary flows are related both to economic crises, political conflicts, and humanitarian incidents in sending countries, but especially to idiosyncratic application of existing laws over time. The concluding section highlights the importance of investing in the children of immigrants to meet the future labor needs of an aging nation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 363-368
Author(s):  
Barbara S. deRose

Introduction: Alarming increases in childhood disease outbreaks present particular threats to children of immigrants in the United States. The researcher explores issues Latino immigrants experience when vaccinating their children in U.S. health care system. Methodology: A purposive sample of 11 Latino immigrants who sought immunizations for their foreign-born children during their first 5 years in the United States was obtained. Interview questions, probes, and data collection methods were based on interpretive phenomenology. Results: Trust issues emerged as the main theme from the Latino immigrants’ perspective based on interactions with the health care system: trusting themselves as parents to vaccinate children, trusting/mistrusting the U.S. health care providers/facilities, and mistrusting the U.S. health care system. Discussion: The researcher reports disparities in access to health care within a family unit. Parental distress results when Latino immigrants experience health care disparities between U.S.-born and foreign-born children. This can be mitigated by making vaccination practices and health care policies consistent.


Demography ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Van Hook ◽  
Anne Morse ◽  
Randy Capps ◽  
Julia Gelatt

Abstract One of the most common methods for estimating the U.S. unauthorized foreign-born population is the residual method. Over the last decade, residual estimates have typically fallen within a narrow range of 10.5 to 12 million. Yet it remains unclear how sensitive residual estimates are to their underlying assumptions. We examine the extent to which estimates may plausibly vary owing to uncertainties in their underlying assumptions about coverage error, emigration, and mortality. Findings show that most of the range in residual estimates derives from uncertainty about emigration rates among legal permanent residents, naturalized citizens, and humanitarian entrants (LNH); estimates are less sensitive to assumptions about mortality among the LNH foreign-born and coverage error for the unauthorized and LNH populations in U.S. Census Bureau surveys. Nevertheless, uncertainty in all three assumptions contributes to a range of estimates, whereby there is a 50% chance that the unauthorized foreign-born population falls between 9.1 and 12.2 million and a 95% chance that it falls between 7.0 and 15.7 million.


2012 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 1150-1155

Barry R. Chiswick of George Washington University reviews, “Jewish Economies: Development and Migration in America and Beyond. Volume 1. The Economic Life of American Jewry” by Simon Kuznets and “Jewish Economies: Development and Migration in America and Beyond. Volume 2. Comparative Perspectives on Jewish Migration” by Simon Kuznets. The EconLit Abstract of the first reviewed work begins: “Three papers present Simon Kuznets's previously unpublished scholarship on Jewish economic history in the United States. Papers discuss economic structure and life of the Jews; economic structure of the U.S. Jewish population-recent trends; and economic growth of the U.S. Jewish population.” The EconLit Abstract of the second reviewed work begins: “Three previously published papers examine Jewish migration. Papers discuss immigration and the foreign born; Israel's economic development; and immigration of Russian Jews to the United States-background and structure. Index.”


2020 ◽  
pp. 96-116
Author(s):  
Taylor N. Carlson ◽  
Marisa Abrajano ◽  
Lisa García Bedolla

Chapter 5 examines the relationship among network characteristics, political knowledge, and policy attitudes by ethnorace, nativity, and gender. While we are unable to distinguish between selection and social influence, we uncover some interesting patterns. Network size is positively associated with political knowledge for both men and women, but we observe variation by ethnorace and nativity. Network size is not associated with political knowledge among Latinos, and discussion frequency is not associated with political knowledge among Blacks, Latinos, or Whites. Discussion frequency is positively associated with political knowledge among both the U.S. and foreign born, but network size is only associated with political knowledge among the U.S. born. For policy attitudes, we explored two issues that are important for marginalized ethnoracial group members: environmental policy and social justice policy. We find substantial variation in the relationship between network characteristics and policy preferences among the ethnoracial groups in the sample.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-339
Author(s):  
Daniel Herda

Citizens’ tendency to overestimate the size of immigrant populations has been the subject of several studies over the past three decades. While we have learned a great deal about the extent, causes, and potential consequences of this population innumeracy, our understanding remains static. The current letter offers the first longitudinal consideration of immigrant population size misperceptions with an analysis across a nine-year span in the U.S. This study considers: 1) whether misperceptions have changed over time; 2) how these changes compare to the growth of the actual foreign-born population size; and 3) whether these changes are related to demographic and ideological factors. Results indicate that misperceptions have grown rapidly in the U.S, far outpacing the modest, actual increases across the period. Pooled cross-sectional analyses indicate that demographic factors do not explain the growth in misperceptions. However, the overestimates of politically conservative Americans have grown increasingly extreme over time.


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