When the “Public” Has a Global Face: Understanding African Immigrant Identities Across Sociocultural Contexts

• In Event: When the Global Becomes Local: Seeking Agency Through Educational Research With Diverse Communities

Abstract

Objectives or purposes: The purpose of this study was to examine how home and school experiences shape the ethnic identities of young West African immigrant girls in the U.S. and what their stories might teach us about their educational and socio-cultural needs. In spite of parents’ noble efforts at maintaining continuity with their ethnic heritage, these girls turned out to be architects of their own identities. They constructed hybrid identities that Fuligni, Witkow & Garcia (2005) describe as “a new and different identity that is relevant for adolescents’ lives” (p. 807).

Perspective(s) or theoretical framework: Because of the invisibility of adolescent girls of West African descent in the literature, I situated the study within Black feminist epistemology which makes the race and ethnicity of the researchers and respondents a focal point (Madriz, 2003).

Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry: This study used narrative analysis because of its “use of stories as data” (Merriam, 2002). Narrative research was chosen because it was an effective way to gather data about the everyday lives of these young women and it would aid in the investigation of how these girls made meaning of their experiences.

Data sources: Three methods of data collection were used- personal interviews, group interviews. Personal interviews were used in order to set the context for the group interviews that followed. Participants also kept a journal of their experiences during the research process. The interviews were analyzed to make sense of the data by coding and recoding, using the constant comparative method to look for recurring themes, patterns and differences (Glaser & Strauss, 1967).

Results: The main finding of this study was the skill with which the participants wielded their ethnic identities in various contexts. The participants and their African-American peers engaged in mutual stereotyping of each other’s ethnic group which determined how the girls chose to identify, either by adopting African identities as a form of resistance to the negative stereotypes of Africa they encountered or in opposition to their own stereotypes of African-Americans or identifying as American or African-American as a result of their internalization of the negative stereotypes of Africans. Central to the main finding was the personal agency which the girls exercised in the negotiation of their ethnic identities.

Scholarly significance of the study: First- and second-generation immigrant youth constitute about 20 percent of the children in the United States, so their healthy development has fundamental long-term implications for our society (Suarez-Orozco & Todorova, 2003).With demonstrated relationship between ethnic identity and school experiences (Tatum, 1997; Gibson, 1991, 1995), school officials who work with adolescent girls of African descent will benefit from an understanding of their experiences as they navigate ethnic identities between the school and home contexts. Being cognizant of the incidence of mutual stereotyping and the possible effect on immigrant ethnic identity is important for school officials who work in schools with an African and African-American student population.

Author

• Chinwe Linda Okpalaoka, The Ohio State University