African and American: West Africans in Post–Civil Rights America

Abstract

Based on ethnographic research and analysis of previous scholarship, Marilyn Halter and Violet Showers Johnson's African and American highlights the experiences of West Africans who settled in the United States beginning in the 1960s. During this period, the growth of West African immigrant populations was significant. The authors show that in the last decade West African immigrants to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, New York City, Philadelphia, and Houston all grew at more than 129 percent (p. 27). The Minneapolis–St. Paul area experienced the most significant growth with an increase of 628 percent (ibid.). To bolster their position that the “West African diaspora” comprises “communities in the making,” the authors tackle a number of themes. Two of the most prominent are identity and economic livelihood. First-generation immigrants from Africa, according to Halter and Johnson, arrive with ingrained ideas about their identity, ethnicity, and nationhood. They bring their cultural traditions and languages. Once in the United States, they are confronted with American ideas about race and blackness that differ from those of their countries of origin. They navigate issues of race and identity with U.S.-born black people and with those who have migrated from other parts of the world.