West Indian Immigrants

West Indian Immigrants

Author: Suzanne Model

Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation

Published: 2008-06-12

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1610444000

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West Indian immigrants to the United States fare better than native-born African Americans on a wide array of economic measures, including labor force participation, earnings, and occupational prestige. Some researchers argue that the root of this difference lies in differing cultural attitudes toward work, while others maintain that white Americans favor West Indian blacks over African Americans, giving them an edge in the workforce. Still others hold that West Indians who emigrate to this country are more ambitious and talented than those they left behind. In West Indian Immigrants, sociologist Suzanne Model subjects these theories to close historical and empirical scrutiny to unravel the mystery of West Indian success. West Indian Immigrants draws on four decades of national census data, surveys of Caribbean emigrants around the world, and historical records dating back to the emergence of the slave trade. Model debunks the notion that growing up in an all-black society is an advantage by showing that immigrants from racially homogeneous and racially heterogeneous areas have identical economic outcomes. Weighing the evidence for white American favoritism, Model compares West Indian immigrants in New York, Toronto, London, and Amsterdam, and finds that, despite variation in the labor markets and ethnic composition of these cities, Caribbean immigrants in these four cities attain similar levels of economic success. Model also looks at "movers" and "stayers" from Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad, and Guyana, and finds that emigrants leaving all four countries have more education and hold higher status jobs than those who remain. In this sense, West Indians immigrants are not so different from successful native-born African Americans who have moved within the U.S. to further their careers. Both West Indian immigrants and native-born African-American movers are the "best and the brightest"—they are more literate and hold better jobs than those who stay put. While political debates about the nature of black disadvantage in America have long fixated on West Indians' relatively favorable economic position, this crucial finding reveals a fundamental flaw in the argument that West Indian success is proof of native-born blacks' behavioral shortcomings. Proponents of this viewpoint have overlooked the critical role of immigrant self-selection. West Indian Immigrants is a sweeping historical narrative and definitive empirical analysis that promises to change the way we think about what it means to be a black American. Ultimately, Model shows that West Indians aren't a black success story at all—rather, they are an immigrant success story.


Book Synopsis West Indian Immigrants by : Suzanne Model

Download or read book West Indian Immigrants written by Suzanne Model and published by Russell Sage Foundation. This book was released on 2008-06-12 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: West Indian immigrants to the United States fare better than native-born African Americans on a wide array of economic measures, including labor force participation, earnings, and occupational prestige. Some researchers argue that the root of this difference lies in differing cultural attitudes toward work, while others maintain that white Americans favor West Indian blacks over African Americans, giving them an edge in the workforce. Still others hold that West Indians who emigrate to this country are more ambitious and talented than those they left behind. In West Indian Immigrants, sociologist Suzanne Model subjects these theories to close historical and empirical scrutiny to unravel the mystery of West Indian success. West Indian Immigrants draws on four decades of national census data, surveys of Caribbean emigrants around the world, and historical records dating back to the emergence of the slave trade. Model debunks the notion that growing up in an all-black society is an advantage by showing that immigrants from racially homogeneous and racially heterogeneous areas have identical economic outcomes. Weighing the evidence for white American favoritism, Model compares West Indian immigrants in New York, Toronto, London, and Amsterdam, and finds that, despite variation in the labor markets and ethnic composition of these cities, Caribbean immigrants in these four cities attain similar levels of economic success. Model also looks at "movers" and "stayers" from Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad, and Guyana, and finds that emigrants leaving all four countries have more education and hold higher status jobs than those who remain. In this sense, West Indians immigrants are not so different from successful native-born African Americans who have moved within the U.S. to further their careers. Both West Indian immigrants and native-born African-American movers are the "best and the brightest"—they are more literate and hold better jobs than those who stay put. While political debates about the nature of black disadvantage in America have long fixated on West Indians' relatively favorable economic position, this crucial finding reveals a fundamental flaw in the argument that West Indian success is proof of native-born blacks' behavioral shortcomings. Proponents of this viewpoint have overlooked the critical role of immigrant self-selection. West Indian Immigrants is a sweeping historical narrative and definitive empirical analysis that promises to change the way we think about what it means to be a black American. Ultimately, Model shows that West Indians aren't a black success story at all—rather, they are an immigrant success story.


Black Identities

Black Identities

Author: Mary C. WATERS

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-06-30

Total Pages: 431

ISBN-13: 9780674044944

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The story of West Indian immigrants to the United States is generally considered to be a great success. Mary Waters, however, tells a very different story. She finds that the values that gain first-generation immigrants initial success--a willingness to work hard, a lack of attention to racism, a desire for education, an incentive to save--are undermined by the realities of life and race relations in the United States. Contrary to long-held beliefs, Waters finds, those who resist Americanization are most likely to succeed economically, especially in the second generation.


Book Synopsis Black Identities by : Mary C. WATERS

Download or read book Black Identities written by Mary C. WATERS and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 431 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of West Indian immigrants to the United States is generally considered to be a great success. Mary Waters, however, tells a very different story. She finds that the values that gain first-generation immigrants initial success--a willingness to work hard, a lack of attention to racism, a desire for education, an incentive to save--are undermined by the realities of life and race relations in the United States. Contrary to long-held beliefs, Waters finds, those who resist Americanization are most likely to succeed economically, especially in the second generation.


Pilgrims from the Sun

Pilgrims from the Sun

Author: Ransford W. Palmer

Publisher: Macmillan Reference USA

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13:

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In Pilgrims from the Sun, Ransford Palmer chronicles the migration of people from the English-speaking Caribbean to the United States, detailing the largely economic reasons for their departure and the cultural reasons for their successful settlement. Close to 700,000 West Indian immigrants and their children live in America today with the greatest concentrations in the New York City and Miami areas. The high value they place on hard work, education, home ownership, private savings, and family loyalty writes Palmer, has helped to rank West Indians among the most socioeconomically successful immigrant groups in the United States. Palmer looks not only at West Indians permanently residing in the United States - many of whom are employed in services, the fastest-growing sector of the economy - but also at temporary residents, in particular farm workers in Florida's sugar industry and students, and at the problem of illegal immigration. He assesses the interrelationship of migration, employment, and trade in the island and U.S. economies, and he argues that only accelerated economic growth in the islands will stem the tide of migration. Despite recent attempts by many Caribbean countries to free up their economies and to create development programs in cooperation with the European community as well as the United States, the promise of higher living standards in America remains too powerful for many West Indians to resist.


Book Synopsis Pilgrims from the Sun by : Ransford W. Palmer

Download or read book Pilgrims from the Sun written by Ransford W. Palmer and published by Macmillan Reference USA. This book was released on 1995 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Pilgrims from the Sun, Ransford Palmer chronicles the migration of people from the English-speaking Caribbean to the United States, detailing the largely economic reasons for their departure and the cultural reasons for their successful settlement. Close to 700,000 West Indian immigrants and their children live in America today with the greatest concentrations in the New York City and Miami areas. The high value they place on hard work, education, home ownership, private savings, and family loyalty writes Palmer, has helped to rank West Indians among the most socioeconomically successful immigrant groups in the United States. Palmer looks not only at West Indians permanently residing in the United States - many of whom are employed in services, the fastest-growing sector of the economy - but also at temporary residents, in particular farm workers in Florida's sugar industry and students, and at the problem of illegal immigration. He assesses the interrelationship of migration, employment, and trade in the island and U.S. economies, and he argues that only accelerated economic growth in the islands will stem the tide of migration. Despite recent attempts by many Caribbean countries to free up their economies and to create development programs in cooperation with the European community as well as the United States, the promise of higher living standards in America remains too powerful for many West Indians to resist.


Crosscurrents

Crosscurrents

Author: Milton Vickerman

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 211

ISBN-13: 9780195117455

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Crosscurrents: West Indian Immigrants and Race offers an insightful examination of the complex relationship between race and ethnicity in contemporary American society. Based on interviews with over one hundred Jamaicans in New York, this book presents first-hand accounts of racial experiences among West Indian immigrants living in New York City. It provides an in-depth view of what it means to be West Indian in the United States. As more and more West Indians enter the United States, they raise a wide range of questions regarding race and ethnicity. West Indian immigrants come from societies where blacks represent the majority, where race is downplayed, and where a high degree of emphasis is placed on merit-based achievement. When these immigrants arrive in the United States, they quickly learn that racial identity is considered vitally important and that there is a stigma placed on darker skin. Vickerman offers a comprehensive analysis of West Indians efforts to cope with this new reality and to develop their own separate identity as West Indians. In particular, he examines how West Indians react to the American emphasis on race -- how they both distance themselves from and identify with African Americans. Vickerman provides a fascinating analysis of the cross-pressures that frame West Indians' perspectives on American society. He shows how they, along with other immigrants, will have an important impact on the American conception of race. Crosscurrents: West Indian Immigrants and Race is essential for a wide variety of courses including race and ethnicity, immigration, black studies, comparative studies, and sociology. By examining the experiences of West Indians, students will learn just how much race remains a crucially important and unforgiving factor in the lives of all blacks in the United States.


Book Synopsis Crosscurrents by : Milton Vickerman

Download or read book Crosscurrents written by Milton Vickerman and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1999 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Crosscurrents: West Indian Immigrants and Race offers an insightful examination of the complex relationship between race and ethnicity in contemporary American society. Based on interviews with over one hundred Jamaicans in New York, this book presents first-hand accounts of racial experiences among West Indian immigrants living in New York City. It provides an in-depth view of what it means to be West Indian in the United States. As more and more West Indians enter the United States, they raise a wide range of questions regarding race and ethnicity. West Indian immigrants come from societies where blacks represent the majority, where race is downplayed, and where a high degree of emphasis is placed on merit-based achievement. When these immigrants arrive in the United States, they quickly learn that racial identity is considered vitally important and that there is a stigma placed on darker skin. Vickerman offers a comprehensive analysis of West Indians efforts to cope with this new reality and to develop their own separate identity as West Indians. In particular, he examines how West Indians react to the American emphasis on race -- how they both distance themselves from and identify with African Americans. Vickerman provides a fascinating analysis of the cross-pressures that frame West Indians' perspectives on American society. He shows how they, along with other immigrants, will have an important impact on the American conception of race. Crosscurrents: West Indian Immigrants and Race is essential for a wide variety of courses including race and ethnicity, immigration, black studies, comparative studies, and sociology. By examining the experiences of West Indians, students will learn just how much race remains a crucially important and unforgiving factor in the lives of all blacks in the United States.


Caribbean New York

Caribbean New York

Author: Philip Kasinitz

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 9780801499517

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Since 1965, West Indians have been emigrating to the United States in record numbers, and to New York City in particular. Caribbean New York shows how the new immigration is reshaping American race relations and sheds much-needed light on factors that underlie some of the city's explosive racial confrontations. Philip Kasinitz examines how two forces--racial solidarity and ethnic distinctiveness--have helped to shape the identity of New York's West Indian community. He compares "new" (post-1965) immigrants with West Indians who arrived earlier in the century, and looks in detail at the economic, political, and cultural rules that Afro-Caribbean immigrants have played in the city during each period.


Book Synopsis Caribbean New York by : Philip Kasinitz

Download or read book Caribbean New York written by Philip Kasinitz and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since 1965, West Indians have been emigrating to the United States in record numbers, and to New York City in particular. Caribbean New York shows how the new immigration is reshaping American race relations and sheds much-needed light on factors that underlie some of the city's explosive racial confrontations. Philip Kasinitz examines how two forces--racial solidarity and ethnic distinctiveness--have helped to shape the identity of New York's West Indian community. He compares "new" (post-1965) immigrants with West Indians who arrived earlier in the century, and looks in detail at the economic, political, and cultural rules that Afro-Caribbean immigrants have played in the city during each period.


Islands in the City

Islands in the City

Author: Nancy Foner

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2001-08-15

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 0520935802

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This collection of original essays draws on a variety of theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and empirical data to explore the effects of West Indian migration and to develop analytic frameworks to examine it.


Book Synopsis Islands in the City by : Nancy Foner

Download or read book Islands in the City written by Nancy Foner and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2001-08-15 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of original essays draws on a variety of theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and empirical data to explore the effects of West Indian migration and to develop analytic frameworks to examine it.


The Other Black Bostonians

The Other Black Bostonians

Author: Violet M. Johnson

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2006-12-06

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 0253112389

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This study of Boston's West Indian immigrants examines the identities, goals, and aspirations of two generations of black migrants from the British-held Caribbean who settled in Boston between 1900 and 1950. Describing their experience among Boston's American-born blacks and in the context of the city's immigrant history, the book charts new conceptual territory. The Other Black Bostonians explores the pre-migration background of the immigrants, work and housing, identity, culture and community, activism and social mobility. What emerges is a detailed picture of black immigrant life. Johnson's work makes a contribution to the study of the black diaspora as it charts the history of this first wave of Caribbean immigrants.


Book Synopsis The Other Black Bostonians by : Violet M. Johnson

Download or read book The Other Black Bostonians written by Violet M. Johnson and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2006-12-06 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study of Boston's West Indian immigrants examines the identities, goals, and aspirations of two generations of black migrants from the British-held Caribbean who settled in Boston between 1900 and 1950. Describing their experience among Boston's American-born blacks and in the context of the city's immigrant history, the book charts new conceptual territory. The Other Black Bostonians explores the pre-migration background of the immigrants, work and housing, identity, culture and community, activism and social mobility. What emerges is a detailed picture of black immigrant life. Johnson's work makes a contribution to the study of the black diaspora as it charts the history of this first wave of Caribbean immigrants.


The West Indian Americans

The West Indian Americans

Author: Holger Henke Ph.D.

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2000-11-30

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 0313095922

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The West Indian Americans introduces students and other interested readers to the diversity and cultural individuality of a growing segment of the American immigrant community. After an introductory chapter that describes the history and people of Jamaica and the other English-speaking Caribbean nations, their migration to the United States and patterns of adjustment and adaptation are discussed. Next, the West Indian cultural traditions, transferred to this country especially the churches, literature, music, and festivals, are evoked. Another chapter covers family networks, return migration, and remittances to those members left behind in the West Indies. Final chapters examine the new challenges for the West Indian Americans, such as identity issues, education and job prospects, and gang and drug problems, and the contributions of West Indian immigrants.


Book Synopsis The West Indian Americans by : Holger Henke Ph.D.

Download or read book The West Indian Americans written by Holger Henke Ph.D. and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2000-11-30 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The West Indian Americans introduces students and other interested readers to the diversity and cultural individuality of a growing segment of the American immigrant community. After an introductory chapter that describes the history and people of Jamaica and the other English-speaking Caribbean nations, their migration to the United States and patterns of adjustment and adaptation are discussed. Next, the West Indian cultural traditions, transferred to this country especially the churches, literature, music, and festivals, are evoked. Another chapter covers family networks, return migration, and remittances to those members left behind in the West Indies. Final chapters examine the new challenges for the West Indian Americans, such as identity issues, education and job prospects, and gang and drug problems, and the contributions of West Indian immigrants.


West Indian in the West

West Indian in the West

Author: Percy Hintzen

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2001-11

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 9780814736005

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As new immigrant communities continue to flourish in U.S. cities, their members continually face challenges of assimilation in the organization of their ethnic identities. West Indians provide a vibrant example. In West Indian in the West, Percy Hintzen draws on extensive ethnographic work with the West Indian community in the San Francisco Bay area to illuminate the ways in which social context affects ethnic identity formation. The memories, symbols, and images with which West Indians identify in order to differentiate themselves from the culture which surrounds them are distinct depending on what part of the U.S. they live in. West Indian identity comes to take on different meanings within different locations in the United States. In the San Francisco Bay area, West Indians negotiate their identity within a system of race relations that is shaped by the social and political power of African Americans. By asserting their racial identity as black, West Indians make legal and official claims to resources reserved exclusively for African Americans. At the same time, the West Indian community insulates itself from the problems of the black/white dichotomy in the U.S. by setting itself apart. Hintzen examines how West Indians publicly assert their identity by making use of the stereotypic understandings of West Indians which exist in the larger culture. He shows how ethnic communities negotiate spaces for themselves within the broader contexts in which they live.


Book Synopsis West Indian in the West by : Percy Hintzen

Download or read book West Indian in the West written by Percy Hintzen and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2001-11 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As new immigrant communities continue to flourish in U.S. cities, their members continually face challenges of assimilation in the organization of their ethnic identities. West Indians provide a vibrant example. In West Indian in the West, Percy Hintzen draws on extensive ethnographic work with the West Indian community in the San Francisco Bay area to illuminate the ways in which social context affects ethnic identity formation. The memories, symbols, and images with which West Indians identify in order to differentiate themselves from the culture which surrounds them are distinct depending on what part of the U.S. they live in. West Indian identity comes to take on different meanings within different locations in the United States. In the San Francisco Bay area, West Indians negotiate their identity within a system of race relations that is shaped by the social and political power of African Americans. By asserting their racial identity as black, West Indians make legal and official claims to resources reserved exclusively for African Americans. At the same time, the West Indian community insulates itself from the problems of the black/white dichotomy in the U.S. by setting itself apart. Hintzen examines how West Indians publicly assert their identity by making use of the stereotypic understandings of West Indians which exist in the larger culture. He shows how ethnic communities negotiate spaces for themselves within the broader contexts in which they live.


The Indian Caribbean

The Indian Caribbean

Author: Lomarsh Roopnarine

Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi

Published: 2018-01-19

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 149681441X

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Winner of the 2018 Gordon K. and Sybil Farrell Lewis Award for the best book in Caribbean studies from the Caribbean Studies Association This book tells a distinct story of Indians in the Caribbean--one concentrated not only on archival records and institutions, but also on the voices of the people and the ways in which they define themselves and the world around them. Through oral history and ethnography, Lomarsh Roopnarine explores previously marginalized Indians in the Caribbean and their distinct social dynamics and histories, including the French Caribbean and other islands with smaller South Asian populations. He pursues a comparative approach with inclusive themes that cut across the Caribbean. In 1833, the abolition of slavery in the British Empire led to the import of exploited South Asian indentured workers in the Caribbean. Today India bears little relevance to most of these Caribbean Indians. Yet, Caribbean Indians have developed an in-between status, shaped by South Asian customs such as religion, music, folklore, migration, new identities, and Bollywood films. They do not seem akin to Indians in India, nor are they like Caribbean Creoles, or mixed-race Caribbeans. Instead, they have merged India and the Caribbean to produce a distinct, dynamic local entity. The book does not neglect the arrival of nonindentured Indians in the Caribbean since the early 1900s. These people came to the Caribbean without an indentured contract or after indentured emancipation but have formed significant communities in Barbados, the US Virgin Islands, and Jamaica. Drawing upon over twenty-five years of research in the Caribbean and North America, Roopnarine contributes a thorough analysis of the Indo-Caribbean, among the first to look at the entire Indian diaspora across the Caribbean.


Book Synopsis The Indian Caribbean by : Lomarsh Roopnarine

Download or read book The Indian Caribbean written by Lomarsh Roopnarine and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 2018-01-19 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2018 Gordon K. and Sybil Farrell Lewis Award for the best book in Caribbean studies from the Caribbean Studies Association This book tells a distinct story of Indians in the Caribbean--one concentrated not only on archival records and institutions, but also on the voices of the people and the ways in which they define themselves and the world around them. Through oral history and ethnography, Lomarsh Roopnarine explores previously marginalized Indians in the Caribbean and their distinct social dynamics and histories, including the French Caribbean and other islands with smaller South Asian populations. He pursues a comparative approach with inclusive themes that cut across the Caribbean. In 1833, the abolition of slavery in the British Empire led to the import of exploited South Asian indentured workers in the Caribbean. Today India bears little relevance to most of these Caribbean Indians. Yet, Caribbean Indians have developed an in-between status, shaped by South Asian customs such as religion, music, folklore, migration, new identities, and Bollywood films. They do not seem akin to Indians in India, nor are they like Caribbean Creoles, or mixed-race Caribbeans. Instead, they have merged India and the Caribbean to produce a distinct, dynamic local entity. The book does not neglect the arrival of nonindentured Indians in the Caribbean since the early 1900s. These people came to the Caribbean without an indentured contract or after indentured emancipation but have formed significant communities in Barbados, the US Virgin Islands, and Jamaica. Drawing upon over twenty-five years of research in the Caribbean and North America, Roopnarine contributes a thorough analysis of the Indo-Caribbean, among the first to look at the entire Indian diaspora across the Caribbean.