What really appealed to me in this week’s readings was the discussion of education and its involvement in shaping the identity of second generation immigrants. Schools are one of the biggest catalysts of cultural diversity here in New York. During the school years, children come into contact with other children who come from various backgrounds. Such an environment almost forces one to develop some sort of identity in order to distinguish themselves from others and/or fit into certain identifiable groups. Much of this is touched upon in Butterfield’s piece regarding West Indian identity in New York.
As a whole, Butterfield’s article touches upon the mix up of West Indians and African Americans, and how West Indians react to such comparison in terms of identity. Education made up a sizable portion of her discussion. Many times, West Indians with black skin color found themselves mistaken for African Americans. In one of Butterfield’s interviews, a West Indian girl recounted her time in high school when her teacher asked her to explain her “Black experience.” When she responded that she was in fact West Indian, her teacher became upset with her. The same scenario occurred for two other West Indian peers in her class. Another interview came from a West Indian man who discusses how in first grade, his teacher would not pick on him during class even though he was the only one with his hand raised. During parent teacher conferences, the teacher would have the audacity to mention that he lacked class participation. Both of these cases are clear examples of ignorance by faculty of the school in which West Indians are automatically categorized as African Americans because of the color of their skin. Most of these situations occurred a few decades ago when racism was much more blatant in the school systems. Any racial stereotypes attributed to African Americans were thus spread onto West Indians of dark skin color.
When it came to social interaction at school, a big decision had to be made for West Indians. Schools are an environment where social niches play a huge role. Because West Indians were often regarded as African Americans, many West Indian children found themselves grouping together with the African American niche; they assimilated to the African American culture. However, that was only at school. Most second generation West Indians had to maintain their West Indian culture to appease their parents who believed that they should embrace their ethnicity. One of Butterfield’s interviewees reported being “African American by day and West Indian by night.” Such was the case for many young West Indians attending schools. As they progressed through school levels, West Indians found themselves sticking to their own ethnic identities and diverging away from the African American label. Butterfield noted that as West Indians went through college, they found it easier to identify with their culture. They found it easier to discuss the disparities between the African American and West Indian communities.
In the end, the second generation West Indians identified themselves with being of American culture while at the same time keeping a balance with their ethnic culture and heritage to appease their families. Such a duality exists with second generation immigrants in general within New York. This is thanks to the exposure to different cultures and the battle of identity that takes place in school. The feeling of being different amongst a crowd really sets one apart and forces them to take a step back to look at themselves. I should know considering I was the only Asian-American in a predominantly african-american school until high school. Acknowledging differences and coming to terms with them is an important part of assimilating and identifying who you are.
