Uses United States census data from the 1990 and 2000 to examine the earnings attainment for Black immigrant women (Africans and English-, French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbeans) and native-born Black women (African Americans). Data for both samples reveal sizeable earnings differences between the five groups. African, English and French Caribbean immigrant women exhibit noticeably higher average earnings than African Americans. However, with controls for earnings-related measures, the African immigrant advantage is eliminated in the 1990 sample, but not the English and French Caribbean immigrant advantage, nor the Spanish Caribbean immigrant disadvantage. No significant earnings difference was found between African Americans, English and Spanish Caribbean immigrants in the 2000 sample. Conversely, African and French Caribbean immigrants' earnings were significantly lower than those for African Americans.
Explores the multiple ways in which diverse individuals negotiate the nature of U.S. racial and ethnic categories in terms of self-descriptive labels. Draws from narratives of 100 individuals who participated in 13 different focus groups over a 9-month period (September 2006 to May 2007). Through their everyday rhetoric, individuals who were born primarily in the Caribbean or Central and South America and then immigrated to the US were most likely to resist essentialist racial and ethnic labels.
Reviews a novel about the lives of a mixed-race British/American family living in the United States. In its depiction of African Americans, White Americans, Britons, and Caribbean immigrants, the book demonstrates Americans' obsession with race. In addition to the contrast between desires for racial authenticity and class mobility, Smith’s novel exposes the variability of Black America, and especially the intersection between class and race.
