The American Dream Through the Eyes of Black African Immigrants in Texas

Ami R. Moore

• Publisher: University Press of America
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9780761860273
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: African American Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

Using James Truslow Adams' definition of the American dream, this book investigates whether black African immigrants in Texas are achieving the American dream. Almost all of the study participants Moore interviewed considered America a land of opportunity. Additionally, most of the black African immigrants' definitions of the American dream focused on material aspects. Although participants mostly reported that the United States had been good to them, they nonetheless felt that they had not yet achieved the American dream. Additionally, they reported that their lives in the United States had been, at best, incomplete. They also encountered other challenges which mainly reflected the moralistic aspect of the definition of the American dream. They reported experiences such as not being fully accepted by native-born Americans in general and by white Americans in particular, being discriminated against, and being unappreciated. In fact, all of these challenges created a sense of marginalization among study participants. However, aware of the benefits of migration, they were willing to endure these challenges.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Pre and Post Migration Views of Black African-Born Immigrants in Texas
• The American Dream as Defined by Black African Immigrants
• Black African Immigrants and the American Dream as Defined by James Truslow Adams
• Migrating Out of the United States
• Future of American-Born Children of Black African-Born Immigrants
• Future of Black African Immigrants and the American Dream
• Appendix
• Bibliography
• Index