Parsing the Gulf between Africans and African Americans

Abstract

Abstract:The rise in African immigrants to the US provides an opportunity to assess relations between Africans and African Americans in college. An online survey of 322 current and recently-graduated college students (including 45 Africans, 160 African Americans, and 117 whites) assessed respondents' experiences of racism in US high schools and colleges. Semi-structured interviews of 30 students (10 African, 10 African American and 10 white students) supplemented these data. Even within a sociopolitical context of more visible racial intolerance, Black intra-racial cohesion was absent. Although more first-and second-generation Africans (73%) felt that they had been judged while living in the US compared to African Americans (34%) or whites (20%), for 70-80% of respondents, this had occurred only in high school. Despite experiencing these judgments, Africans' identity related more to their focus on education than their race, reflected in a higher proportion who felt intense family pressure to attend college (65%) compared to African Americans (37%) and whites (39%). Interview data confirmed previous reports in the literature that African Americans lack a sense of connection to Africans, attributed to Africans' purported sense of superiority and disregard for African Americans' ongoing struggle to end oppression. These mixed-methods data suggest that intermingling in the college environment has not resulted in first-and second-generation Africans and African Americans sharing a common in-group, race-based identity. We discuss the implications of overlooking ethnic distinctions due to presumptions of racial homogeneity that deprive Black individuals of their uniqueness.

Disinformation creep: ADOS and the strategic weapon-ization of breaking news

“…Including immigration as a distinguishing factor is justified by legitimate statistics around how Black immigrants have much higher levels of wealth and educational achievement, as well as better health outcomes (Brown et al, 2017) versus native-born Black Americans, differences that can indeed be directly attributed to racial stress and intergenerational trauma that started in slavery and persists today (Doamekpor & Dinwiddle, 2015), despite evidence that this divergence is the fault of treatment by the dominant white culture (Iheduru, 2013), and not of the immigrants. Animating ADOS grievances are the negative attitudes that Black immigrants can hold about native-born Black Americans (Nsangou & Dundes, 2018;Telusma, 2019), as well as perceptions of dominant cultural narratives favoring those who are apart from the direct legacy of the trauma of slavery and the indictment that legacy presents for the moral foundations of the United States.…”

‘Studying in this England is wahala (trouble)’: analysing the experiences of West African students in a UK higher education institution

“…African-Americans also seemingly held stereotypical views about African students, notably that they were 'savages' and that 'Africa is a jungle'. More recent research by Nsangou and Dundes (2018) focusing on university students and graduates suggests that the tensions between the groups result from social and economic rivalry. The view that '[African Americans] lack a sense of connection to Africans, -due to Africans' purported sense of superiority and disregard for African Americans' ongoing struggle to end oppression.'…”

“…Contrastingly, in America several studies have been undertaken (e.g. Boafo- Arthur, 2014, Nsangou andDundes 2018). These highlighted students' experiences of racist marginalisation, low academic expectations on the basis of their ethnicities, and acculturative stress.…”

Maintaining cultural identity: A systematic mixed studies review of cultural influences on the self‐care of African immigrants living with non‐communicable disease

“…Notably, social ties, cultural beliefs and practices of African immigrants extend across national boundaries (Olupona, 2007). African immigrants tend to identify with and maintain a strong connection with African immigrant communities, keeping closely connected kinship networks while maintaining meaningful transnational linkages with the mother country (Arthur, 2000a; Nsangou & Dundes, 2018; Schwartz et al, 2006). They maintain their indigenous culture and view their ethnic identities as factors protecting their overall well‐being (Arthur, 2000a).…”