“It’s the way my boat came ova”: African American women, ethnic options & ethnic moves

ABSTRACT

In a multi-year ethnographic study of African American female participants in a Caribbean cultural organization, we examined the factors associated with shifts in ethnic identities. We found that U.S. multiculturalist discourse, which links ethnicities to non-U.S. nations, impedes the expansion of ethnic identity, while diasporic discourse and embodied practices enable it. African American women used the concept of a racialized diaspora to shift the basis of ethnicity away from national origins. We introduce the concept of ethnic moves, to signal two kinds of movement, one conceptual and the other physical. Conceptual moves stretch the boundaries surrounding an ethnic category to foster a sense of inclusion in a culture that “feels close”. Physical moves, such as dance, can transform an abstract concept, such as diaspora, into a felt experience that moves beyond national boundaries and facilitates connection and a sense of belonging within diasporic communities.

KEYWORDS:

• African American women
• ethnic options
• affiliative ethnicity
• embodiment
• African diaspora
• dance

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the women of Celebrations for not only allowing us to interview them and share their stories but also for their insight, candour and sisterhood. We also thank the University of San Francisco’s Faculty Development Fund for providing financial support for this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We recognize that “African American” is a term that speaks to multiple Black experiences. In this paper, for the sake of clarity, we will use the term to designate Black women who self-identify as descendants of African persons brought to the U.S. and forced into slavery. We use African or Caribbean, to refer to those women who self-identify as immigrants or descendants of immigrants from African or Caribbean nations. We use Black as a category inclusive of all of these groups.

2 Celebrations is a pseudonym.

3 Caribbean immigrants who settle in California generally move there after extended periods of residence in other U.S. cities, usually those with larger Caribbean populations.

4 A substantial body of research has examined the sometimes fraught, sometimes aligned relationships among Caribbean immigrants and African Americans (Clergé 2019; Treitler 2013; Waters 1999; Waters, Kasinitiz, and Asad 2014).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by University of San Francisco, Faculty Development Fund.