Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Dedication
- Foreword
- 1 Introduction and Background
- 2 Methodology: A Phenomenological Study of Sub-Saharan African Immigrants
- 3 Being a Sub-Saharan African Immigrant in the United States: Speaking From the Heart in a Foreign Language
- 4 Perception and Definition of Success
- 5 Racism and Discrimination
- 6 Coping Strategies as We Reclaim Our Identity and Voices of Power
- 7 The Myth of Going Back Home While Living in Two Worlds
- 8 Leadership in Africa as a Contributing Factor to Emigration
- 9 Leader and Leadership Development
- Conclusion: Applicability and Practical Suggestions About our Research
- Index
6 - Coping Strategies as We Reclaim Our Identity and Voices of Power
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 April 2024
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Dedication
- Foreword
- 1 Introduction and Background
- 2 Methodology: A Phenomenological Study of Sub-Saharan African Immigrants
- 3 Being a Sub-Saharan African Immigrant in the United States: Speaking From the Heart in a Foreign Language
- 4 Perception and Definition of Success
- 5 Racism and Discrimination
- 6 Coping Strategies as We Reclaim Our Identity and Voices of Power
- 7 The Myth of Going Back Home While Living in Two Worlds
- 8 Leadership in Africa as a Contributing Factor to Emigration
- 9 Leader and Leadership Development
- Conclusion: Applicability and Practical Suggestions About our Research
- Index
Summary
In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He would not Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of opportunity closed roughly in his face.
—W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black FolkConscious Dissemblance
Me and my captain don't agree
But he don't know, ‘cause he don't ask me
He don't know he don't know my mind
When he sees me laughing
Laughing to keep from crying
Got one mind for white folk to see
Another for what I know is me.
—Unknown Laborer
In this chapter, the authors expound on how sub-Saharan African immigrants deal with and recreate new transnational identities by discussing some trends of behavior that seem to be used to deal with critical identity issues. Here the authors explore a variety of strategies—from assimilation, integration, and compromising to adapting and reevaluating their ways of thinking and behaving to the American context—adopted by sub-Saharan African immigrants for coping with racism and discrimination based on skin color, language, specifically accent, the transnational dimension of place of origin and other intersecting identities. This chapter also deals with the difficult reality of the lack of validation that many immigrants feel in the United States.
As sub-Saharan African immigrants, we come with our own understanding and definition of success, and we also bring our communities’ and families hopes and aspirations for success. We do everything that America says one needs to do to succeed, but there are so many impediments and outside forces to that success. To fit in and become as American as we can, we go to such extremes, including bleaching our skins and straightening our hair. And yet even that is not enough. We also come possessing a high level of self-esteem and confidence in our cultures and values demonstrated in our fashion and food. However, this does not last long.
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- Information
- Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2022