African & American West Africans in Post-Civil Rights America [Hardcover]

African & American tells the
story of the much overlooked experience of first and second generation West African
immigrants and refugees in the United States during the last forty years. Interrogating
the complex role of post-colonialism in the recent history of black America,
Marilyn Halter and Violet Showers Johnson highlight the intricate patterns of
emigrant work and family adaptation, the evolving global ties with Africa and
Europe, and the translocal connections among the West African enclaves in the
United States.

Drawing on a rich variety of sources,
including original interviews, personal narratives, cultural and historical
analysis, and documentary and demographic evidence, African & American explores issues of cultural identity
formation and socioeconomic incorporation among this new West African diaspora.
Bringing the experiences of those of recent African ancestry from the periphery
to the center of current debates in the fields of immigration, ethnic, and
African American studies, Halter and Johnson examine the impact this community
has had on the changing meaning of “African Americanness” and address the
provocative question of whether West African immigrants are, indeed, becoming
the newest African Americans.

Africans are among both the first Americans, brought here in slavery long before the nation was created, and the most recent Americans, arriving in appreciable numbers in the last few decades. Halter and Johnson bring together these threads of history, offering a rich and unique contribution to the literature on immigration and race relations. A terrific book. African & Americangives a valuable and much-needed voice to the African immigrant experience in America. Focusing on the divide between what it means to be an African and an American, Halter and Johnson reveal the historical complexity around these terms and how newcomers grapple with this reality in lS%