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At the same time that the Civil Rights Movement brought increasing opportunities for blacks, the United States liberalized its immigration policy. While the broadening of the United States's borders to non-European immigrants fits with a black political agenda of social justice, recent waves of immigration have presented a dilemma for blacks, prompting ambivalent or even negative attitudes toward migrants. What has an expanded immigration regime meant for how blacks express national attachment? In this book, Niambi Michele Carter argues that immigration, both historically and in the contemporary moment, has served as a reminder of the limited inclusion of African Americans in the body politic. As Carter contends, blacks use the issue of immigration as a way to understand the nature and meaning of their American citizenship-specifically the way that white supremacy structures and constrains not just their place in the American political landscape, but their political opinions as well. White supremacy gaslights black people, and others, into critiquing themselves and each other instead of white supremacy itself. But what may appear to be a conflict between blacks and other minorities is about self-preservation. Carter draws on original interview material and empirical data on African American political opinion to offer the first theory of black public opinion toward immigration.
At the same time that the Civil Rights Movement brought increasing opportunities for blacks, the United States liberalized its immigration policy. While the broadening of the United States's borders to non-European immigrants fits with a black political agenda of social justice, recent waves of immigration have presented a dilemma for blacks, prompting ambivalent or even negative attitudes toward migrants. What has an expanded immigration regime meant for how blacks express national attachment? In this book, Niambi Michele Carter argues that immigration, both historically and in the contemporary moment, has served as a reminder of the limited inclusion of African Americans in the body politic. As Carter contends, blacks use the issue of immigration as a way to understand the nature and meaning of their American citizenship-specifically the way that white supremacy structures and constrains not just their place in the American political landscape, but their political opinions as well. White supremacy gaslights black people, and others, into critiquing themselves and each other instead of white supremacy itself. But what may appear to be a conflict between blacks and other minorities is about self-preservation. Carter draws on original interview material and empirical data on African American political opinion to offer the first theory of black public opinion toward immigration.
Niambi Michele Carter is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Howard University. Her work focuses on racial and ethnic politics in the United States, specifically public opinion and political behavior of African Americans.
American while Black provides a starting point for an area of
immigration studies rarely examined by scholars: the attitudes of
black Americans toward immigrants. Though the book is not
exhaustive, it provides a seminal framework for starting policy and
political conversations regarding the attitudes and beliefs of
black Americans who share a history of slavery, Jim Crow,
segregation, and institutional racism. Carter (political science,
Howard Univ.) is skillful in approaching the overarching topic of
black political behavior through the lens of immigration.
Specifically, she discusses black citizenship, identity politics,
relationships between minorities in the US, and the implications of
a shared black American experience for discourse on
immigration.
*L. T. Grover, Southern University and A&M College, CHOICE*
Carter's argument is nothing short of a revelation, implicating the
historical context of structural racism in US democracy in shaping
political attitudes on immigration. ... American while Black is one
of those rare books that forces the reader to think about a topic
in a new way.
*Jane Junn, Perspectives on Politics *
American While Black offers readers a much-needed discussion and
analysis of Black attitudes on immigration, and convincingly
demonstrates their wide-ranging set of opinions. Carter provides a
sophisticated and nuanced explanation that deftly considers the way
white supremacy and racial hierarchy structures intergroup
relations and attitudes. This is an important book that all
immigration scholars should read in order have a more comprehensive
understanding of the diversity of immigration attitudes in the
US.
*Marisa Abrajano, University of California San Diego*
American While Black represents a groundbreaking study of public
opinion, forcing us to rethink what we have learned about views
towards racialized public policy issues such as immigration in the
United States. This book is beautifully written, displaying
Carter's ability to present rigorous analytical findings in a
concise, thoughtful, and careful manner, that uplifts the voices of
Black people. In doing so, she lights the way for future
researchers to understand racial attitudes toward policy issues
that affect us all in this changing American political
landscape.
*Lorrie Frasure-Yokley, author of Racial and Ethnic Politics in
American Suburbs*
This book is a bold and unapologetic account of Black attitudes on
immigration. It places the experiences of Black Americans at the
center of its narrative on this important subject. It also
highlights the role that White supremacy plays in structuring Black
politics and Black attitudes on immigration. Carter provides a
novel perspective on two of the most pressing issues of our time:
race and immigration.
*Vincent L. Hutchings, University of Michigan*
Once in a decade a book is published that stops the reader in her
tracks, pulling her into a narrative so persuasive, so richly
researched, so penetrating, that one can never think about the
topic in the same way again. Niambi Carter has written this book.
Her articulation of conflicted nativism among African Americans
forges new and fertile ground in revealing the dynamics of race
within the constraints of the U.S. racial hierarchy.
*Jane Junn, University of Southern California*
American While Black is a revelation. Carter examines 'how and why
race matters in black public opinion on immigration.' This creative
and thought-provoking work is required reading for any student of
Race-Ethnicity and Politics. Carter plants her thoughtful volume at
the center of contemporary conflicts and debates over assimilation,
white supremacy, European immigration, natural born citizenship,
and the ongoing struggles Black Americans have waged for
recognition of their 'immunities and protections granted by the
constitution.'
*Dianne M. Pinderhughes, co-author of Contested Transformation:
Race, Gender, and Political Leadership in 21st Century America*
Too many studies on Americans' attitudes about immigration focus
solely on the responses of whites while ignoring the reactions of
nonwhites. Carter's lens-shifting book moves African Americans from
the margins to the center of longstanding immigration debates in
the U.S. Reminding us that African Americans often have been
reduced to the status of virtual strangers and second-class
citizens in their own land, Carter explores how the group has
reacted to the arrival of new immigrants over time and across the
country. The book documents a great deal of incertitude and
ambivalence in African Americans' attitudes toward immigration. Yet
Carter perceptively points to one certainty in their views: African
Americans believe that immigration, like so many other issues, is
entangled with this country's race problem. It is this most
familiar and uncomfortable truth about American democracy that
Carter unflinchingly confronts in this powerful book.
*Reuel Rogers, Northwestern University*
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