West Indian Immigrants

Author : Suzanne Model
Publisher : Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN 13 : 1610444000
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.02/5 ( download)

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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.

Author : Mary C. WATERS
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780674044944
Total Pages : 431 pages
Book Rating : 4.40/5 ( download)

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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.

Author : Ransford W. Palmer
Publisher : Macmillan Reference USA
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 136 pages
Book Rating : 4.82/5 ( download)

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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 136 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.

Author : Nancy Foner
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520935802
Total Pages : 313 pages
Book Rating : 4.08/5 ( download)

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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.

Author : Violet M. Johnson
Publisher : Indiana University Press
ISBN 13 : 0253112389
Total Pages : 196 pages
Book Rating : 4.85/5 ( download)

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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.

Author : Philip Kasinitz
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780801499517
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.18/5 ( download)

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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.

Author : Milton Vickerman
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 9780195117455
Total Pages : 211 pages
Book Rating : 4.5X/5 ( download)

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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.

Author : Nancy Foner
Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520228502
Total Pages : 313 pages
Book Rating : 4.04/5 ( download)

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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: "These superb essays illuminate the fascinating process of absorbing West Indian immigrants into New York City's multicultural but racially divided social fabric... They explore how gender, transnational networks, class, economic restructuring, and above all racial stereotyping have affected these black immigrants as they struggle for a better life and how their struggles have in turn influenced the contours of the larger society. The result is a model of multi-disciplinary analysis."—John Mollenkopf, co-author of Place Matters: A Metropolitics for the 21st Century "Islands in the City is a comprehensive collection of the recent findings of the foremost scholars in this field. The premier researchers on West Indians in New York City discuss migration from historical, statistical, theoretical, and experiential points of view. This volume will be used as a model for understanding migration in other areas and it will have importance beyond its field."—Wallace Zane, author of Journeys to the Spiritual Lands: The Natural History of a West Indian Religion "Nancy Foner has pulled together excellent essays by the leading scholars of the emerging study of West Indians in the United States. Islands in the City is a welcome book because of its informative essays on gender, occupation, and culture, to name but a few."—David Reimers, co-author of All the Nations Under Heaven: An Ethnic and Racial History of New York City "West Indians sit right at the center of the crucial divides of race, class, nationality, nativity, gender, generation, and identity. The insights of this book teach us much of what we need to know about our changing nation."—Jennifer Hochschild, author of Facing Up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation

Author : Holger Henke Ph.D.
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0313095922
Total Pages : 220 pages
Book Rating : 4.24/5 ( download)

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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.

Author : Lomarsh Roopnarine
Publisher : Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN 13 : 149681441X
Total Pages : 160 pages
Book Rating : 4.18/5 ( download)

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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.