This weeks articles focused on a separation of racial and ethnic identity. In “Black Like Who?” Rogers argues that all blacks in New York are too often classified into one group. However, in reality, Rogers says that there are several sub groups such as immigrant Afro-Caribbeans and native born African Americans. The race as a whole is dominated by African Americans, but the population of Afro-Caribbeans is quickly rising and will soon outnumber African Americans. Furthermore, there are different social and economic backgrounds that separate blacks. Some choose to identify with their ethnic backgrounds while others chose to identify with their racial backgrounds. However, Rogers elaborates that under certain circumstances blacks will chose to identify with one over the other. For instance, from a political standpoint, many blacks identify racially as a whole rather than ethnically leading to “a high degree of political unity within the group.”
I have to agree with Rogers that blacks are too often and unfairly identified in a singular group. This only further fuels an animosities between native and immigrant blacks. Furthermore, I think its an important point to note that people don’t seem to be as frightened of Caribbean immigration as they are of Hispanic and Latino immigration. The numbers appear to be similar with the immigrant Caribbean population growing exponentially to the point when it will out number native blacks. The latino population is also growing at a similar rate where experts predict that they might one day outnumber native whites. There is a much more negative connotation with this immigration relationship and that seems very unfair to me. Also I think its interesting that middle class blacks are more likely to identify with the racial whole than are lower class blacks. I would’ve thought that it would’ve been the opposite. However, Rogers explains that this most likely because middle class blacks are more likely to encounter whites on a regular basis where they are the subject of racial discrimination and find it important to hold on to their racial identity.
In the other article, “Growing Up West Indian and African American” by Mary Waters, the author analyzes the way in which first and second generation immigrants are likely to identify themselves, either racially or ethnically. Children of immigrants often lack their parents’ accents and other distinguishable characteristics. Waters goes on to explain that at an early age these child learn from their parents that immigrant blacks are more often favored by white than are native blacks. However, since these same children lack the distinguishing characteristics of their parents, they develop a fear that they will be discriminated against in the future. A big part of this fear often stems from peers at school, Waters elaborates. Waters continues that as result of these influences, lower class black children tend to develop an “oppositional identity” while middle class children tend to develop an “ethnic identity.”
I feel that all of these negative connotations associating a particular ethnic group or race are very wrong and must be stopped at the source. Its terrible to think that children grow in fear of discrimination at school just because they lack particular characteristics of a foreign race. Its so much worse to see this kind of behavior within children than it is within adults mostly because of how easily children can become influenced. Its easy for everyday adults to shrug off racial discrimination when they’ve already developed a strong, positive ethnic and racial identity. However, children are still developing their identities and can become ashamed of things that they have no control over such as their race. This a terrible trend that must be put to an end before we can fully develop as a multicultural society.
