Parsing the Gulf between Africans and African Americans
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. African Immigrants and International Students in US Colleges and Universities
1.2. Black Immigrant and African American Student Relations
1.3. In-Group Racial Identity: Commonality as a Disadvantaged Racial Minority
1.4. Black Race as Overly Monolithic
1.5. Africans Identify as Studious and See African Americans as too Focused on Race
2. Methods
2.1. Qualtrics Survey
2.2. Interview Methods
3. Results
3.1. Demographic Data
3.2. Judgments Experienced
3.3. The Nature of Relationships with Family and Friends
3.4. Interview Data from Africans
“The food I eat, the clothes I wear, and the way I speak all add to my identity as an African. I don’t consider myself African American because we don’t think the same way and we don’t have the same values. For example, I said earlier I had no option but to attend college but some of my black friends in high school had parents that gave them the option of either attending college or doing something else that made them happy.”
“My parents said college or I was on my own.”—Leeda
“I brought it up to my dad once that I did not want to attend college after high school and he almost had a heart attack. Whether to go to college has never been an option in my household.”—Aisha
“Being raised in an African household, I knew I had to go to college in order to be somebody in life. So, I only gave myself one option after graduating high school which was to go to a four-year college.”—Subira
Binta said: “The students in my high school made fun of me for having short hair and an accent, so I went home and told my mother and she gave me one of her wigs to wear. They laughed at me even more. This made my self-esteem very low. At one point, I felt worthless. I have not had any of these experiences in college.”
3.5. Tensions between Africans and African Americans
“I was raised in Togo and I live my life based on my culture and principles as an African woman from the motherland. I love to show off my culture—whether it’s dressing, dancing, or advocating for African countries. I am not African because I was born in Africa, but because Africa was born in me. It would be impossible for me to identify as African American because we have nothing in common apart from our skin color.”—Binta
“The way I was brought up by my parents and the values and culture they instilled in me makes me completely different from an African American. My language and ethnic group gives me my identity and not my skin color. The only thing we have in common with African Americans is our skin color.”
I just know in my heart I am African and not African American. There’s no way for me to prove it. I lived in Africa and at home, I was raised like an African, not an African American. It is a shame for an African to act as an African American. For example, talking back to my parents or even sitting down and watching the same television show as them is considered being disrespectful and unheard of, but African Americans don’t really see a problem with that.
“My mindset is different from African Americans. We see things differently. An African woman, for example, dates for marriage while an African American dates for fun (though not every African American woman).”—Aisha
3.6. Tensions between Africans and Whites
“I do not really consider the white people I hang around close friends, but they are cool people to hang around with. It’s so hard to be close with someone who will never understand your struggle. In a way, I feel the white friends I have are my friend to be able to say “I am not racist” because I have a black friend, but that’s a different story.”
“White people always feel they are better than everyone else. I would say hi but as far as a friendship goes, ummm… NO. I feel we are so different and we just don’t click.”
3.7. Appreciation of Advantages of Living in the US
Ada spoke of education as inherently valuable as well as key to pleasing immigrant parents who considered education the sine qua non of success. In fact, college was considered the bare minimum, with graduate education strongly preferred, if not expected, to attain success. She saw African Americans as both bogged down in the legacy of slavery, and unable to understand Africans’ struggles: who they are, where they come from. She believed they tended to be uninformed about the lives of Africans (living in African countries) including how Africans commonly lack “social safety nets like food stamps or Section 8 housing”, and are subject to the whim of “corrupt leaders ruling for as long as three decades” without governmental checks and balances on their power.“What makes me African is the four different languages I speak and the way I dress. The struggles I’ve been through back in Africa, including paying for school, even elementary school, separate me from African Americans. This is why I value education the way I do and I believe this is why African Americans don’t value education as much.”
3.8. Expressions of the Divide
3.9. Bullying
Bullying Data from Qualtrics Survey (Optional Comments)
3.10. Qualtrics Comments by African Americans
3.11. Interviews of African American Students
3.12. Interviews with White Students
4. Discussion
4.1. Prospects for an African-African American Rapprochement
4.1.1. Going beyond the Single Narrative
4.1.2. The Relative Positioning of Groups
4.2. Limitations
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
AFRICAN | |
---|---|
Called African booty scratcher (reported by 8 respondents) | |
Skin and appearance | |
My skin color and how dark it was compared to them. | |
I was made fun of for my dark skin. | |
Everyone called me ugly cause I was African. | |
I’ve been told that I’d be prettier if I was lighter skinned and didn’t have a wide, African nose. These comments have been by blacks, Africans, and whites alike on separate occasions. | |
Kids wouldn’t let me play tag because they didn’t want my skin touching them. | |
Miscellaneous | |
These girls told me I should go back to where I came from because I didn’t belong here. | |
People always saying that Africans think they are better than everyone and getting dirty looks when I speak about my culture in class. | |
Talking about my name. | |
Stereotypes | |
People made animal sounds whenever I walked by because I am African and they equated Africa with the jungle. | |
I was asked so many times if I lived in a forest or ran with lions. I was teased about how Africans look like animals and are not educated in any way. | |
Ebola came out and students were telling basically everyone that’s from Africa and go back to your country even though we came here before Ebola even started. | |
People will say things like: Do you have schools? Do you sleep in trees? Do you live with animals? You stink. They say all Africans smell. People made fun of the way I spoke and said that I stink and live in trees in Africa. | |
My freshman year of high school my teacher asked me in front of the class if she was right about knowing that all Africans who live in Africa have a strong body odor and live in huts. | |
Called: smelling African. | |
AFRICAN AMERICAN | |
When I was bullied because of my skin color, it made me feel insecure about myself for years afterwards. | |
People not wanting to be around me because of my color. | |
This is a high school example: in my dance company, they would call me “the shadow” because I was the only black person on the team. | |
My sociology professor did an experiment in class that made me feel judged because she expected that because I am a black female, I would sit with the black females when I actually did the opposite. I don’t understand why she was so shocked. | |
My hair. | |
Made fun of me because of my hair. | |
People made fun of my natural hair when I was in 2nd grade. That insecurity carried on until this year when I came to college and I saw a lot of other people with big poofy natural hair. It made me confident enough to wear my hair out, too. | |
I am half black and half white so my hair is different from if I was all black. A majority of the girls in my neighborhood growing up were black. They would exclude me from some conversations because my hair was not the same as theirs. | |
I was told I wasn’t black enough. | |
I was called an Oreo because of the way I spoke. | |
Being told that I’m not truly black, and that I’m the “whitest” black person they know. | |
I was called a porch monkey once in high school due to sitting at the lunch table with other people that didn’t usually sit there. | |
Every time we talked about slavery in history class, the other students would stare at me. Also one of my high school teachers would always say Happy Kwanza to me and another black student during the holiday season but we celebrated Christmas. Constantly questioned when explaining anything considered “classy” or “upscale”. |
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African n = 45 | African American n = 160 | White n = 117 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
% | % | % | ||
Ever judged/made to feel like an outsider due to race or country of origin χ2 = 76.45; p < 0.001 | 73 | 34 | 20 | |
Where race/nativity-related judgments occurred: | ||||
High school only | NS | 83 | 81 | 71 |
High school and college | NS | 17 | 14 | 23 |
College only | NS | 0 | 5 | 6 |
HIGH SCHOOL: Sometimes or often uncomfortable or offended due to subtle or more obvious reactions to: | ||||
hair χ2 = 39.68; p = 0.05 | 30 | 33 | 24 | |
skin color χ2 = 80.69; p < 0.001 | 36 | 21 | 4 | |
how you dress | NS | 33 | 36 | 31 |
how you pronounce words χ2 = 68.62; p < 0.001 | 55 | 33 | 24 | |
COLLEGE: Sometimes or often uncomfortable or offended due to subtle or more obvious reactions to: | ||||
hair χ2 = 21.28; p = 0.05 | 21 | 17 | 7 | |
Skin color χ2 = 47.28; p < 0.001 | 31 | 19 | 7 | |
how you dress | NS | 13 | 13 | 15 |
how you pronounce words | NS | 33 | 24 | 19 |
As a teenager, could tell nearly all/all to: | ||||
mother | NS | 21 | 31 | 37 |
father χ2 = 17.23; p = 0.05 | 2 | 13 | 22 | |
closest sibling χ2 = 24.18; p < 0.001 | 20 | 36 | 33 | |
closest friend | NS | 42 | 56 | 51 |
College students of a different race can relate to your ups and downs most of the time χ2 = 26.08; p < 0.001 | 15 | 12 | 31 | |
Never considered transferring | NS | 35 | 38 | 61 |
Considered transferring | NS | 58 | 45 | 33 |
Did transfer χ2 = 46.57; p < 0.001 | 7 | 17 | 6 | |
IF considered or did transfer, race was definitely NOT a factor χ2 = 45.63; p < 0.001 | 24 | 49 | 86 | |
Whites in majority in college χ2 = 122.38; p < 0.001 | 68 | 69 | 92 | |
“Very happy” with college social life | NS | 34 | 30 | 41 |
“Very happy” with college academics | NS | 30 | 40 | 50 |
Very high family pressure to attend college difference of proportions p = 0.003 (difference between Africans and the other two groups combined) | 65 | 37 | 39 | |
Not at all homesick at college | NS | 33 | 34 | 32 |
Major | Year | Country of Birth |
---|---|---|
Arabic: 1 | 1st year: 1 | Cameroon: 2 |
Biology: 2 | Sophomore: 1 | Ethiopia: 1 |
Business: 1 | Junior: 7 | Gambia: 1 |
Psychology: 1 | Senior: 1 | Ghana: 2 |
Kinesiology: 2 | Nigeria: 1 | |
Social work: 1 | Togo: 3 | |
Sociology: 1 | ||
Undecided: 1 |
Major | Year |
---|---|
Biology: 1 | 1st year: 2 |
Communication: 1 | Sophomore: 3 |
Psychology: 1 | Junior: 3 |
Religious Studies: 1 | Senior: 2 |
Social work: 1 | |
Sociology: 3 | |
Undecided: 2 |
Major: | Year: |
---|---|
Business: 2 | 1st year: 3 |
Communication: 1 | Sophomore: 3 |
Environmental studies: 1 | Junior: 3 |
History: 1 | Senior: 1 |
Political Science: 1 | |
Sociology: 1 | |
Undecided: 3 |
Demographic Survey Data | |
---|---|
Sex | |
Male | 29% |
Female | 71% |
Number of African respondents | n = 45 |
First-generation African | 78% |
Second-generation African | 22% |
Racial/Ethnic distribution | |
African | n = 45 |
African American | n = 160 |
White | n = 117 |
Age Distribution | |
18 | 13% |
19 | 25% |
20 | 21% |
21 | 18% |
22 | 10% |
23–29 | 13% |
Percent of Africans with immediate family living in the US | 84% |
Age of first-generation Africans when immigrated to the US | |
age 7 or younger | 35% |
aged 8–12 | 21% |
aged 13+ | 44% |
Number of languages (including English) spoken fluently | |
African (first and second generation) | |
One language (English only) | 20% |
Two languages | 42% |
Three or more languages | 38% |
African American | |
One language (English only) | 80% |
Two languages | 19.5% |
Three or more languages | 0.5% |
White | |
One language (English only) | 70% |
Two languages | 27% |
Three or more languages | 3% |
Number of Respondents with Parents from Named Country | |
---|---|
Botswana | 1 |
Gambia | 1 |
Ghana | 2 |
Nigeria | 3 |
Senegal | 1 |
Sierra Leone | 1 |
Togo | 1 |
Number of Respondents from Named Country of Origin | |
---|---|
Cameroon | 11 |
Ethiopia | 5 |
Nigeria | 4 |
Ghana | 3 |
Togo | 3 |
Belgium | 1 |
Côte D’Ivoire | 1 |
Italy | 1 |
Liberia | 1 |
Mauritania | 1 |
Senegal | 1 |
Sierra Leone | 1 |
Uganda | 1 |
UK | 1 |
Country of Birth |
Benin, Cameroon, Canada, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Guyana, Haiti, Liberia, Sierra Leone |
© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Nsangou, A.; Dundes, L. Parsing the Gulf between Africans and African Americans. Soc. Sci. 2018, 7, 24. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7020024
Nsangou A, Dundes L. Parsing the Gulf between Africans and African Americans. Social Sciences. 2018; 7(2):24. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7020024
Chicago/Turabian StyleNsangou, Ashly, and Lauren Dundes. 2018. "Parsing the Gulf between Africans and African Americans" Social Sciences 7, no. 2: 24. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7020024
APA StyleNsangou, A., & Dundes, L. (2018). Parsing the Gulf between Africans and African Americans. Social Sciences, 7(2), 24. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7020024