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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:African immigrants and African-Americans: an analysis of voluntary African immigration and the evolution of Black ethnic politics in America
Author:Alex-Assensoh, Yvette M.ISNI
Year:2009
Periodical:African and Asian Studies
Volume:8
Issue:1-2
Pages:89-124
Language:English
Geographic term:United States
Subjects:immigrants
Africans
African Americans
Blacks
group identity
External link:https://doi.org/10.1163/156921009X413171
Abstract:Over the last four decades, more African immigrants (or continental Africans) have voluntarily migrated to America than were reportedly shipped to America through the slave trade. As continental Africans are making their homes in American cities, towns and rural communities, they are slowly changing the dynamics of American residential, cultural and economic life, and calling into question the very meaning of the terms 'Black' and 'African-American'. Yet, when it comes to American politics, the presence of voluntary African immigrants is largely overlooked, and it is assumed that Black political behaviour in the United States reflects unified, homogenous and distinctive racialized perspectives based on common ancestry, despite the large waves of African immigrants with diverse ethnic, national, cultural, and ideological differences. Marshalling a diverse array of data on African immigrants and native-born African-Americans, this analysis examines similarities and contrasts between native-born African-Americans and their African immigrant counterparts. The analysis demonstrates the emergence of multiple black ethnic identities, growing socioeconomic advantage of African immigrants over African-Americans as well as Latinos, and varied forms of political socialization as a result of vastly different associational and religious networks. Together, these trends signal the possible emergence of a new Black Politics that is more transnational and much less distinctive than in previous decades, with profound implications for traditional views, black political beliefs, and behaviour within the context of American racial politics. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
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