Rihanna Is Still Black: What Fuse Left Out About Black Immigrants

There is no doubt that Black social justice movements have once again successfully pushed issues of racial inequity to the front of the social and political agenda, transforming not only the conversation about police violence but the larger question of what it means to be Black in America. At time, these discussions turn to the topic of Black immigrants as a way to position them at an advantage over African-Americans. The recent Fusion article, The Rihanna generation: How black immigrants are reshaping America, claiming "The Black immigrant is on the rise" did exactly this, citing oversimplified demographics from a recent Pew Research report, while leaving out the significant ways in which African-Americans and Black immigrants experience structural racism and state violence, the area where one's accent, language and country of origin offer no protection.

The Fusion piece concludes that there is a new and different kind of Black demographic emerging in the U.S., even dismissing the long standing history of Black immigrant leaders such as Shirley Chisholm. This history is key. To fully understand the Black immigrant experience in the U.S., we must understand that it has always been shaped by migration, both forced and voluntary and our identities have always been multinational.

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