Ethnicity, Inequality, and Space: Comparing Socioeconomic Wel-Being Across Black Ethnic Groups and Location

Posted: 3 Oct 2016

See all articles by K. Capers

K. Capers

Georgia State University

Candis Watts Smith

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill

Date Written: October 1, 2016

Abstract

While the Black population, generally speaking, has neither grown nor shrunk over the past several decades (in stark contrast to Latino and White populations), the ethnic diversity of those identified as Black has grown. Today, there are over three million foreign-born Black immigrants — immigrants from the Caribbean, Latin and South America, and Africa who are ascribed a black racial identity — in the United States (Anderson 2015). While this is only about nine percent of the Black population, there are several states and even more cities in which foreign-born Blacks make over a quarter of the Black population (Anderson 2015). To add, each city has its own special makeup of Black ethnic groups. For example, almost 40 percent of the Jamaican foreign-born US population is concentrated in the New York City metro area, while thirty six percent of the US’s Haitian immigrant population is concentrated in Miami. Washington, DC is home to the largest black Ethiopian immigrant community, and nearly 25,000 Black-Somalian immigrants live in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington metro area (Anderson 2015).

Despite the fact that Black immigrants are the most highly educated group of newcomers to the United States, research shows that (a) in some contexts, employers prefer Black immigrants over native-born Black Americans but also (b) they are just as likely, if not more likely, to be discriminated against in the labor force as African Americans. Though we have a clear understanding of the role racial discrimination plays in wage disparities, it is unclear whether Black immigrants’ high levels of education result in better economic and social well-being, or levels of need to rely on state-supported social services. Further, while we suspect that differences may exist across geographical contexts, there is a dearth of knowledge about Black immigrants outside of New York City. We seek to fill this void.

Here, we analyze data from the American Community Survey in efforts to examine interstate and inter-city differences in the well-being of Black immigrants and their native born counterparts. We begin to build a foundation for a multi-city comparative project of the economic well-being and social mobility of Black people with a special emphasis on the extent to which Black people across ethnic groups are willing, able, and have a need to access social services to improve their socioeconomic well-being. We hope to provide more insight on the heterogeneity within the Black community, as well as the manner in which Blacks of various backgrounds relate to public institutions. This research will work well on panels that focus on identity politics, minority interactions with the state and political institutions, or public policy.

Keywords: Black politics, ethnicity, public policy, immigration, public services, inequality

Suggested Citation

Capers, K. and Smith, Candis Watts, Ethnicity, Inequality, and Space: Comparing Socioeconomic Wel-Being Across Black Ethnic Groups and Location (October 1, 2016). 2017 National Conference of Black Political Scientists (NCOBPS) Annual Meeting, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2846583

K. Capers (Contact Author)

Georgia State University ( email )

35 Broad Street
Atlanta, GA 30303-3083
United States

Candis Watts Smith

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill ( email )

102 Ridge Road
Chapel Hill, NC NC 27514
United States

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