The Diversity of Blackness
A nuanced look into ethnicity within America's Black community
A local Haitian parade. Photo taken by Bailey Torres.
Quavo, a member of what used to be the rap trio Migos. Photo taken by Moses Vega.
Introduction
While the United States calls itself a melting pot and has increasing immigration rates, it is important that people understand the racial demographics beyond whether or not they face oppression. A boom in Black migration during the second half of the twentieth century changed the landscape of the already varied Black American experiences. It also revealed the discord between Black immigrants and African Americans.
The Diversity of Blackness is about different Black experiences based on ethnicity. I started this project, hoping to tackle multiple topics: socioeconomic sources of ethnic tension, the lack of media representation for Black immigrant communities and misconceptions about Black immigrants and African Americans.
The main motivator for my project was my curiosity about intraracial hostility and how that affects the way Black people connect to other members of their race with a different heritage. Fortunately, the negative interactions have not tainted my sources' ability to connect with and love Black people of any background.
My written story is an introduction to my overall beat and tries to uncover why hostile relationships occur between African Americans and Black immigrant communities The video and podcast episode looks at the influence of misconceptions of different Black ethnic groups.
City Councilor at Large Julia Mejia
Councilor Mejia's experience as a member of generation 1.5—someone who immigrates to the U.S. or any country as a child—is eye-opening for people who think about tense relations based on identity. The original plan for The Diversity of Blackness was to focus on ethnic tension within the Black community. However, the reaction to Mejia's pride in her African ancestry revealed the anti-Blackness within the Hispanic-Latino community. A simple declaration of her true identity upset people in her community outside the Black community.
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On the other hand, her cultural connection to the greater Black community is positively ironic. Mejia translating for her mother as a child is an immigrant experience that parallels the many rights the African American community has fought for.
African Diaspora
Navigating Identity and Intraracial Relations
Meet KP Patterson, a Boston-based artist. As an African American with intercultural friendships, she has grappled with her friends' parents' views about who she is.
Watch this short video to find out more about her experience in Massachusetts.
'American on paper, but Haitian by blood'
This podcast episode is about Lindsay Debrosse, a child of Haitian immigrants. Debrosse's experience with embodying two identities, Haitian and American, highlights two huge problems:
1) ethnic tensions among Black people
2) the lack of nuance in discussions about Black heritage.
For more on Haitian independence and culture, check out this infographic!
KP and Debrosse's stories have a few commonalities. The lack of a secure identity comes up for them as KP made Black ethnic friends, and Debrosse felt like she was—or was not—part of two worlds. Another thing they both talked about was the generational aspect of ethnic tension. Debrosse and KP both have friends who are Black with different cultures. KP recalls her friends' parents not trusting her because she's not Haitian. Debrosse recalls her parents avoiding African Americans, not herself. In a general sense, ethnic tension is probably weaker in Generation Z than it is in their parents' generation.