From the Caribbean to the United States: transforming racial and ethnic self-identity

Abstract

This paper presents a contextual analysis of race and ethnicity as it relates to Afro Caribbean and Cuban immigrants, and their reception and adaptation into the US. Particular attention is given to racial and ethnic self-identification in the US, and the ways in which definitions of race become blurred cross nationally, and further impact the process of assimilation. Both classical and contemporary theories of assimilation are employed in the study to explore issues such as social mobility, discrimination and exclusion amongst Caribbean immigrants within the dominant culture.

Keywords:

• immigrants
• Caribbean
• race and ethnicity
• migration
• identity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.