32nd Annual Student Research Conference
Discrimination Between “Old” African Americans and the “New” African Immigrants
Georgiette Bonney-Kwofie
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor
Underpinning the racial tensions that exist between the “old” Black Americans and the “new” African Americans, namely, Black immigrants from Africa, in the United States is the idea of who had it the worst: those who were slaves in the United States or those Africans who were colonized by the British, for example, in countries like Ghana and Nigeria. This paper, then, examines the complex and complicated impact of the conflict that exists between the “old” Black Americans and the “new” African Americans. An analysis of the different ways in which these problems are causing strain within those comprising both the old and the new African Americans, shows the fissures of division within it. Compounding this predicament confronting those of the African race is the preferential treatment and respect accorded those immigrants from Africa who have arrived in the last few decades versus the discrimination and ingrained prejudicial bias against old African Americans, that is, those who are descended from slaves.
Keywords: African Americans, United States, Slavery, Division, Colonialism, New African Immigrants, Intra-racial tensions, Discrimination
Topic(s):English
African-American Studies
Interdisciplinary Studies
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 104-3
Location: BH 219
Time: 9:00