American while black: African Americans, immigration, and the limits of citizenship

While the Civil Rights Movement brought increasing opportunities for blacks, this period also saw the liberalization of American immigration policy. The same agitation that allowed blacks to vote also made it possible for increasing numbers of non-European immigrants to enter America for the first time. What has an expanded immigration regime meant for how blacks express national attachment? Using quantitative and qualitative data, this text helps us understand the context and constraint of white supremacy on the formation of black public opinion and national attachment.

What has an expanded immigration regime meant for how blacks express national attachment? In this book, Niambi Michele Carter argues that immigration, both historically and in the contemporary moment, has served as a reminder of the limited inclusion of African Americans in the body politic. Blacks use immigration as a way to express their concerns about how race operates to structure and constrain their place in the American political landscape. Carter draws on original interview material and empirical data on African American political opinion to offer the first theory of black public opinion toward immigration.

Lies, fairytales and fallacies : immigration and the complexity of black public opinion -- Citizens first? African Americans as conflicted nativists -- Emigrants, immigrants and refugees: immigration as a strategy for black liberation (1815-1862) -- (Re)Remembering race : collective memory and racial hierarchy in the present -- Conflicted nativism an emprical view -- Conclusion -- Appendix A -- Appendix B.