Mary Water Black Identity Summary

While reading Mary Water’s Black identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities, I was intrigued by her findings on West Indian Immigrants idenidity in Ameirca. The main theme I noted throughout the book was development of the West Indians racial and ethnic Identity in America. Water’s gave a general introduction that she was raised in Brooklyn, NY. Water’s introduced her story by sharing her witness the neighborhood transform; the familiar faces she grew up with gradually began to disappear and a diverse array of ethnic people, in this case West Indian / Caribbean, started to replace her old neighbors. Walter’s personal experience, as well as being a professor and former chair of the sociology department at Harvard, inspired her to investigate into the influx of Black and West Indian population and record their American immigration experiences . Water’s interest in specialized studies in immigration helped her specifically pointing out their racial and ethnic Identity and how it shapes their position as a …show more content…
Additionally, West Indians had a different understanding and expectation of race regulations. In their country, they had a concept of racialized societies; however, considering that they were the majority in Carribean Islands, they did not have the same mentality toward racism as Black Americans did. Yes, both the Black Americans and West Indians share similar histories as far as t being forced into slavery under the jurisdiction of European colonialism. However Generally, West Indians carried the mentality that association with Black Ameican was to be associated with low class citizens. Hence why they they considered being identified as Black was embarrassing and they wanted no part or of it; at least that was the view point of the first-generation West Indian