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Three Worlds of Race, Labor, and Politics

Cybelle Fox

in Three Worlds of Relief: Race, Immigration, and the American Welfare State from the Progressive Era to the New Deal

This chapter describes in detail the three worlds, focusing on the factors—labor, race, and politics—that will best explain the differential incorporation of blacks, Mexicans, and European immigrants ... More

This chapter describes in detail the three worlds, focusing on the factors—labor, race, and politics—that will best explain the differential incorporation of blacks, Mexicans, and European immigrants into the American welfare state and the scope, form, and function of relief provision across regions. On the eve of the Great Depression, the vast majority of European immigrants lived in the Northeast and Midwest, Mexicans lived overwhelmingly in the Southwest, while most blacks still lived in the South. So different were their experiences with the racial, political, and labor market systems in these regions that these groups could be said to be living in separate worlds. Each of them suffered from significant discrimination at the hands of native-born whites in the early part of the twentieth century. European immigrants were largely included in the social welfare system, blacks were largely excluded, while Mexicans were often expelled from the nation simply for requesting assistance.Less

Race, Immigration, and the American Welfare State

Cybelle Fox

in Three Worlds of Relief: Race, Immigration, and the American Welfare State from the Progressive Era to the New Deal

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the three worlds of relief created by the intersection of labor, race, and politics in welfare state development. Blacks, Mexicans, and European ... More

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the three worlds of relief created by the intersection of labor, race, and politics in welfare state development. Blacks, Mexicans, and European immigrants inhabited three separate worlds in the first third of the twentieth century, each characterized by its own system of race and labor market relations and its own distinct political system. From these worlds—and each group's place within them—three separate perspectives emerged about each group's propensity to become dependent on relief. The distinct political systems, race and labor market relations, and ideologies about each group's proclivity to use relief, in turn, influenced the scope, reach, and character of the relief systems that emerged across American communities.Less

A Fair Deal or a Raw Deal?

Cybelle Fox

in Three Worlds of Relief: Race, Immigration, and the American Welfare State from the Progressive Era to the New Deal

This chapter focuses on the first New Deal and access to Federal Emergency Relief, as well as the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Public Works Administration, and the Civil Works Administration. ... More

This chapter focuses on the first New Deal and access to Federal Emergency Relief, as well as the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Public Works Administration, and the Civil Works Administration. Despite the New Deal's nationalizing reforms, intended largely to standardize relief policies across the country, local political economies and racial regimes continued to influence the administration of relief. Like blacks, Mexicans gained significantly greater access to relief during the New Deal, although they continued to face racial discrimination at the local level. Citizenship barriers were also typically strongest for local public work programs out West, and Mexican Americans were sometimes wrongly denied work relief on the assumption that they were non-citizens. The largest relief program during the first New Deal was the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), which brought blacks and Mexicans unprecedented access to relief.Less

A New Deal for the Alien

Cybelle Fox

in Three Worlds of Relief: Race, Immigration, and the American Welfare State from the Progressive Era to the New Deal

This chapter focuses on the Social Security Act and the disparate treatment of blacks, Mexicans, and European immigrants in the administration of Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, Aid to ... More

This chapter focuses on the Social Security Act and the disparate treatment of blacks, Mexicans, and European immigrants in the administration of Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, Aid to Dependent Children, and Old Age Assistance. Though framed as legislation that would help the “average citizen,” scholars have shown that the Social Security Act in fact excluded the vast majority of blacks from the most generous social insurance programs, relegating them to meager, decentralized, and demeaning means-tested programs. European immigrants, by contrast, benefited from many of the provisions of the Social Security Act, and in at least some respects, they benefited more than even native-born whites. The net result of these policies was that blacks were disproportionately shunted into categorical assistance programs with low benefit levels, European immigrants were disproportionately covered under social insurance regardless of citizenship, and Mexicans were often shut out altogether.Less

The Boundaries of Social Citizenship

Cybelle Fox

in Three Worlds of Relief: Race, Immigration, and the American Welfare State from the Progressive Era to the New Deal

This concluding chapter summarizes the principal findings and offers some reflections on the boundaries of social citizenship and the role of race and immigration in American social welfare ... More

This concluding chapter summarizes the principal findings and offers some reflections on the boundaries of social citizenship and the role of race and immigration in American social welfare provision. Taken together, the treatment of blacks, Mexicans, and European immigrants provides a nuanced picture of how race, citizenship, and nativity served as dividing lines between those who were judged worthy of assistance and those who were not. Despite persistent and widespread nativism, European immigrants were included within the boundaries of social citizenship while Mexicans were left on the periphery, granted limited inclusion at times, completely excluded at other times, and in some instances expelled from the nation entirely. Ultimately, the different treatment of blacks, European immigrants and Mexicans reflected the worlds each group inhabited—worlds bound by both regional political economies and each group's social position.Less

Broadening Black Identity: Evidence in National Data

Candis Watts Smith

in Black Mosaic: The Politics of Black Pan-Ethnic Diversity

This chapter examines various dimensions of Black racial identity, and compares the determinants of racial identity of African Americans with those of Black immigrants. The Model of Racial Identity ... More

This chapter examines various dimensions of Black racial identity, and compares the determinants of racial identity of African Americans with those of Black immigrants. The Model of Racial Identity (MMRI) identifies four dimensions of Black racial identity. The first dimension, racial salience, concerns the extent to which one's race is a relevant part of one's self-concept at a particular moment or in a particular situation. The second dimension is racial centrality, which “refers to the extent to which a person normatively defines himself or herself with regard to race.” The third dimension, racial regard, “refers to a person's affective and evaluative judgment of his race in terms of positive-negative valence.” Finally, ideology is the dimension that corresponds to “individuals' beliefs, opinions, and attitudes with respect to the way one feels that members should act.”Less

Black on Black History

Candis Watts Smith

in Black Mosaic: The Politics of Black Pan-Ethnic Diversity

This chapter discusses the political behavior of foreign-born Blacks toward native black African Americans. Black immigrant politicians distance themselves from African Americans to gain votes from ... More

This chapter discusses the political behavior of foreign-born Blacks toward native black African Americans. Black immigrant politicians distance themselves from African Americans to gain votes from whites and Blacks immigrants. They also separate themselves from the native Black when there is no need to mobilize against racial disparities. However, when Black immigrants gain racial consciousness and recognize that they are disenfranchised and discriminated, they tend to associate themselves with the African Americans. This research on native- and foreign-born Black relations is generally descriptive rather than theoretical, lacking a general explanation of why at times race is a unifier and at other times ethnicity is a divider among Blacks in the United States.Less

Diasporic Consciousness: Theorizing Black Pan-Ethnic Identity and Intraracial Politics

Candis Watts Smith

in Black Mosaic: The Politics of Black Pan-Ethnic Diversity

This chapter discusses the concept of diasporic consciousness—a theoretical framework asserting that despite the homogenizing effect of racialized social system, Black immigrants are likely to differ ... More

This chapter discusses the concept of diasporic consciousness—a theoretical framework asserting that despite the homogenizing effect of racialized social system, Black immigrants are likely to differ in ideas about race, political issues, and the role of government. Given that Black people in the United States do not compose a monolithic racial group but instead make up a diverse pan-ethnic group, unity as well as differences and discord may occur among them similar to African Americans' and Black immigrants' political attitudes and behaviors. These distinctions have led foreign- and native-born Blacks to have varying perceptions about how to improve the status of the group.Less

Conclusion

Kevin Escudero

in Organizing While Undocumented: Immigrant Youth's Political Activism under the Law

This book concludes with an analysis of how the Identity Mobilization Model and its illustration of movement activists’ efforts to leverage the use of an intersectional movement identity continue to ... More

This book concludes with an analysis of how the Identity Mobilization Model and its illustration of movement activists’ efforts to leverage the use of an intersectional movement identity continue to resonate with organizers in the immigrant rights movement and broader social movement contexts as well. In particular, the conclusion points to the immigrant rights movement’s growing emphasis on black undocumented immigrant and transgender undocumented immigrant activist identities as well as the potential for coalition building and allyship with the Muslim immigrant and refugee community. By examining the continued manifestations of an intersectional movement identity in the immigrant rights movement and beyond, the conclusion underscores the importance of such a framework for understanding the movement’s future and its promise to bring about meaningful, transformative social change for immigrants and other members of marginalized groups.Less

Conclusion: My President Is Black?

Candis Watts Smith

in Black Mosaic: The Politics of Black Pan-Ethnic Diversity

This concluding chapter recapitulates the study of the book: a comparative analysis that connects identity to politics in order to can gain a better understanding of diasporic consciousness. The book ... More

This concluding chapter recapitulates the study of the book: a comparative analysis that connects identity to politics in order to can gain a better understanding of diasporic consciousness. The book examines the group membership and group identity of Blacks, followed by a discussion of Black group consciousness, political attitudes, and behaviors. Evidence shows that both native- and foreign-born Blacks have agency in shaping the denotation and connotation of the racial and ethnic labels that have been ascribed to them. Furthermore, they can reject, embrace, or transform the meaning of these labels. In particular, Black immigrants and natives appear to embrace “Black” as a pan-ethnic term, very much in the way that “Latino” or “Asian” functions among members of those pan-ethnic groups.Less

Alcohol and Lowdown Culture in Caribbean Guatemala and Honduras, 1898–1922

Frederick Douglass Opie

in Distilling the Influence of Alcohol: Aguardiente in Guatemalan History

This chapter by Frederick Douglass Opie focuses on the Guatemalan departments of Izabal and Zacapa, where two Caribbean Coast African diaspora communities developed, as well as on the bordering ... More

This chapter by Frederick Douglass Opie focuses on the Guatemalan departments of Izabal and Zacapa, where two Caribbean Coast African diaspora communities developed, as well as on the bordering coastal region of Honduras, which had a similar demographic makeup. This chapter focuses on black immigrants in the lowland region. This essay focuses on the places where jazz was played and alcohol and food were consumed by examining three foreign institutions introduced to Guatemala from New Orleans and Jamaica during the national period: juke joints; honky-tonks; and rum shops.Less

Anglo-American Black Liberation

in Special Relations: The Americanization of Britain?

This chapter covers the density of links between black America in a decade of dramatic change and Britain at a critical transitional stage from a society of white hosts and black immigrants to one ... More

This chapter covers the density of links between black America in a decade of dramatic change and Britain at a critical transitional stage from a society of white hosts and black immigrants to one marked by a second generational multiculturalism. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the inflicting figure of black America's twentieth-century martyr. The movement of King in the United States became a resource for British blacks campaigning for equal access to jobs and housing. Malcolm X called King “a traitor to the Negro race.” He was also denied entry to France and returned to London “seething.” There were faces and voices of black anger and militancy in the media and in print. The American Black Power movement did not resonate only among London's African-Caribbean activists.Less

Black Identities and the Second Generation: Afro-Caribbeans in Britain and the United States

Nancy Foner

in The Next Generation: Immigrant Youth in a Comparative Perspective

This chapter compares second-generation Afro-Caribbeans in London and New York. This comparison invokes an issue that is also raised in Chapter 10: the role of a large African-descent native ... More

This chapter compares second-generation Afro-Caribbeans in London and New York. This comparison invokes an issue that is also raised in Chapter 10: the role of a large African-descent native population in shaping the experience of black immigrants. The large African American population in New York, along with high levels of racial segregation in the city, especially when contrasted with high levels of racial integration in London, lead to an important contextual difference in the very meaning of assimilation. The presence of a large black population in New York makes becoming American both easier and more problematic for second-generation Afro-Caribbeans. It is easier because being American and being black make for an easy identity to access and understand, yet to become African American is also to inherit the costs (as well as the post-civil-rights benefits) of racial distance and inequality.Less

Introduction

Frederick Douglass Opie

in Black Labor Migration in Caribbean Guatemala, 1882–1923

This introductory chapter sets out the focus of the book, namely black labor migration to Guatemala in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with particular attention paid to the experiences of ... More

This introductory chapter sets out the focus of the book, namely black labor migration to Guatemala in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with particular attention paid to the experiences of black immigrants and their relations with Guatemalans and other Latin Americans. Studies of Caribbean coast laborers are scarce to nonexistent, but where these workers are represented in the historical record, they tend to be depicted as passive pawns of their employers and victims of state repression during the repressive dictatorship of President Estrada Cabrera. This book advances a revisionist interpretation, arguing that workers of African descent have played an important role in Guatemala's history since the 1880s when liberal elites first revamped the republic's economic development and modernization plan. In revisiting and rewriting the history of black workers in Guatemala, this book concentrates on the Guatemalan departments of Izabal and Zacapa, where two Caribbean coast African diaspora communities developed with multiple black identities, including black Americans, black West Indians of various national identities, and Garifuna, or “black Caribs,” as they were once known. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less

Examining the Intersectionality of Deaf Identity, Race/Ethnicity, and Diversity Through a Black Deaf Lens^1,2

Lindsay Moeletsi Dunn and Glenn B. Anderson

in Deaf Identities: Exploring New Frontiers

The authors of this chapter, a Black Deaf scholar immigrant from South Africa and a Black Deaf academic from the South Side of Chicago, highlight the limited scholarly exploration of Black Deaf lives ... More

The authors of this chapter, a Black Deaf scholar immigrant from South Africa and a Black Deaf academic from the South Side of Chicago, highlight the limited scholarly exploration of Black Deaf lives within the context of the Deaf community. They present what they could extract from existing literature on Black Deaf historical perspectives, the influence of Black American Sign Language, and what it means to be Black and Deaf. In addition, considering the scarcity of research on non-White Deaf communities, they contribute their personal experiences to highlight the transnational identity issues of Black Deaf immigrants and the identity issues of Black Deaf individuals within the context of the United States. This chapter provides a thought-provoking treatise on what it means to be Black and Deaf with unique backgrounds in the United States.Less