From Africa to America

Religion and Adaptation among Ghanaian Immigrants in New York

Moses O. Biney

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9780814786413
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

Upon arrival in the United States, most African immigrants are immediately subsumed under the category “black.” In the eyes of most Americans—and more so to American legal and social systems—African immigrants are indistinguishable from all others, such as those from the Caribbean whose skin color they share. Despite their growing presence in many cities and their active involvement in sectors of American economic, social, and cultural life, we know little about them.

In From Africa to America, Moses O. Biney offers a rare full-scale look at an African immigrant congregation, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in New York (PCGNY). Through personal stories, notes from participant observation, and interviews, Biney explores the complexities of the social, economic, and cultural adaptation of this group, the difficult moral choices they have to make in order to survive, and the tensions that exist within their faith community. Most notably, through his compelling research Biney shows that such congregations are more than mere “ethnic enclaves,” or safe havens from American social and cultural values. Rather, they help maintain the essential balance between cultural acclimation and ethnic preservation needed for these new citizens to flourish.

1
Coming to America

Ghanaians and U. S. Immigration

Eddie Murphy’s 1988 movie Coming to America tells an interesting story. In the movie, Akeem, the prince of the kingdom of Zamunda, travels with his companion servant, Semi, to New York City to seek a bride, an independent-minded lady who will marry him for who he is, not for his royalty and wealth. They arrive in New York City with their huge boxes of gold and other expensive clothing. Unaccustomed to life in such a modern city, they are confounded by its glamorous skyscrapers, flashy cars, sophisticated-looking men and women, and the general hustle and bustle. Evidently, the slow-paced, community-oriented life these two were used to in their African kingdom is in direct contrast to the fast and impersonal lifestyle of New York City. Soon upon their arrival in the city, they learn that their African virtue of trusting people, even strangers, is not helpful here. Those to whose care they entrusted their luggage stole it!

This pampered African prince and king-to-be settles in a notorious part of Queens borough where he hopes to find his future bride. Eventually, Akeem finds his bride, Lisa, but after a lot of toil. Along the way Akeem has given up aspects of his prior lifestyle and culture, yet he utilized others in order to survive in the city and attain his goal. For instance, he had to give up his royal robes for a pair of faded jeans and shirt; live in a small and shabby apartment which was a far cry from the comfort of his royal quarters; clean tables at his future father-in-law’s fast food restaurant—in short, lead a lifestyle completely different from what he was used to in his kingdom. Yet he did not have to discard all that was ingrained in him by his culture and prior training. His royal demeanor and confidence as well as his charitable spirit remained with him throughout this ordeal. His skill at dueling, acquired through constant training in Africa, also proved handy in overcoming a thug who sought to steal from his would-be father-in-law’s restaurant at gunpoint.

Beyond its humor and exaggerated scenes, this fictitious comedy and romance of Akeem provides some insights for our study of African immigrants in the United States, and New York City in particular. It draws our attention in a picturesque way to some of the challenges immigrants generally, and Ghanaians in particular, face when they migrate to the United States. The movie reflects the experiences of many Ghanaians who travel to the United States in search of “greener pastures.” For sure, although not all of them are princes and princesses (though some of them are chiefs, queens, linguists, and so on), a good number of them are professionals and people of high academic attainment and good social standing in Ghana. They all come to seek what they deem crucial to them and their families’ well-being, namely, an education, jobs, financial security, and a better future, and are often determined to face all odds in order to attain their goals. Many of them suffer downward mobility in terms of economic and social standing, and undergo numerous hardships before they attain the goals for which they migrated to the United States. Unfortunately, some are never able to realize their dreams and goals. Such failures are largely due to structures such as immigration laws, racism and discrimination, and difficult economic and social systems in the United States. To a large extent those who succeed are those who are able to navigate effectively the tensions between their own identities and what American society requires of them.

Ghanaians and Post–1965 American Immigration

Oscar Handlin’s well-noted assertion that immigrants are the very soul of the United States remains true today.¹ Since the seventeenth century, when the Pilgrims, escaping religious persecution, settled in the then “New World,” men, women, and children, for different reasons, have moved from various parts of the world to settle in the United States. The immigration literature divides migration to the United States into two eras—the “Old” and the “New”—with 1965 serving as the dividing line between the two.

The 1965 amendment of the Immigration and Nationality Act marks a major shift in U.S. immigration policy.² This Act replaced the national origin quota system, which had been in place since the 1920s, and which allowed citizens of countries in the Western hemisphere unfettered rights of migration to the United States while restricting the rights of people from other nations.³ The provisions of the 1965 Act made it possible for citizens from hitherto restricted “Third World” nations to migrate in large numbers to the United States.

As reflected in the 2000 U.S. population census, since 1965 the United States has received an unprecedented number of immigrants of different social and economic backgrounds from a variety of countries.⁴ For example, 48 percent of the foreign-born population of the United States was from “all other nations” other than the following countries: Mexico (28%), Philippines (4%), India (4%), China (3%), Vietnam (3%), El Salvador (3%), Cuba (3%), Dominican Republic (2%), Haiti (1%) and Nicaragua (1%). This is in sharp contrast to the 1960 census report, which showed six European countries (Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Poland, Ireland, and Austria), as well as Canada and the then Soviet Union contributing more than 60 percent of the foreign-born population. Even so, Africans from the continent could not migrate in large numbers to the United States until the 1990s due to visa restrictions. Ghanaians, like many other African immigrants, have settled in comparatively large numbers since the 1990s.

Comparisons between pre- and post-1965 migrants reveal differences with regard to religious and cultural diversity. The new immigrants come from many more nations than previously.⁵ The change in immigrants’ countries of origin has undoubtedly changed America’s ethnic and racial landscape and reconfigured its social, cultural, and religious life. This change in the American population and sociocultural life is visible in many metropolitan cities such as Phoenix, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, D.C., among others, where “ethnic enclaves”—that is, geographical areas with concentrations of particular ethnic or racial groups—have arisen. These often consist of “spatially clustered networks of businesses owned and staffed by members of the same minority group.”⁶ Among other things, these enclaves—such as Chinatown or Spanish Harlem in New York—serve as economic, cultural, and religious communities for their particular immigrant group.

The new immigrants have brought diverse religions and ethnic identities to the United States. In contrast to the pre–World War II religious landscape of the United States, which was dominated by what Will Herberg called a “tripartite division of Catholics, Protestants and Jews,”⁷ the United States is currently home to diverse religions and cultures from all over the world. Religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Voodoo, and various forms of Christianity from Africa and Latin America are common in America today.⁸

Among these newer immigrants are those from Ghana. The majority of Ghanaian immigrants in the United States arrived here since the late 1980s. Like most other African immigrant groups, only a handful immigrated between 1950 and 1980. They were mainly college, university, and seminary students who had decided to stay after finishing their studies, and others who came to join their families. Since the passing of the Immigration Act of 1990, which created the Diversity Visa Program,⁹ a larger number of Ghanaians have been admitted as legal permanent residents into the United States. Between 1991 and 2001, for instance, 39,669 Ghanaian immigrants were admitted legally into the country.¹⁰ Though Ghanaian immigrants in the United States are few when compared to those from Asia and Latin America, they are not insignificant when considered against the total number of 4.3 million Africans who were admitted to the United States during the same period.¹¹ In fact, they are becoming more noticeable in metropolitan areas such as New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Atlanta, and so on.¹² They leave their home country for diverse reasons—economic, political,¹³ as well as educational.¹⁴ Others come to be reunited with their families in the United States. Generally, immigrants leave their home country with high hopes of improving their lives and fulfilling their dreams and aspirations. Upon arrival in the United States, however, they are immediately confronted with the hard realities of living in a foreign land.¹⁵

Patterns and Phases of Ghanaian Migration

Ghanaians are not new to migration. Since precolonial times Ghana has served as both a place of origin and a destination for migration. The early settlers in modern-day Ghana are said to have migrated from different parts of the West African subregion. These and subsequent citizens have often migrated internally—to and from various regions of the country—as they tried to escape from intertribal wars, and also look for new opportunities for trade, farming, and the like.

The development of gold mines and cocoa farms in the southern regions of the then Gold Coast in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries attracted migrants from other British colonies such as Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. In addition, there were the many colonialists, European traders, and Western missionaries who settled in the Gold Coast as immigrants. Others came from French colonies such as Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, and Benin. As shown by data from the 1931 census, approximately 287,000 people from Burkina Faso entered the Gold Coast between 1921 and 1931. The 1960 census also reveals that about 12 percent of the Gold Coast population, that is, 827,481 persons, were foreign-born. Of these, 98 percent were from countries in Africa. These migrants increased in numbers soon after independence, when Ghana was perceived as the epitome of political and economic success by many African countries. Even in the 1980s and 1990s, when many Ghanaians were emigrating, other migrants and refugees were coming in from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Niger, and Mali. However, in this period, as pointed out by Joseph Anarfi and others, Ghana has moved from being a “net immigration country” to a “net emigration country.”¹⁶

Four phases of Ghana’s migration have been identified.¹⁷ The first is the period of minimal emigration which extends from the precolonial period to the 1960s. In these years only a few people, mainly students, migrated from Ghana. The second is the period of initial emigration which began in 1965 or thereabouts. This was when Ghana’s economy had began to suffer a downturn, causing many Ghanaian professionals to seek employment and better economic opportunities in other countries such as Uganda, Nigeria, Gambia, Botswana, and Zambia. The third phase, in which large-scale emigration began in the early 1980s, saw even larger numbers of Ghanaian professionals and other skilled and unskilled persons migrating to various countries in Africa, Europe, and North America. This large-scale migration was precipitated by a number of factors such as bad governance and resultant political turmoil, a poor economy and attendant joblessness, poor remuneration, and generally poor living conditions.

The fourth and most recent stage of Ghanaian emigration is characterized by the new diasporas. Beginning from the mid-1980s Ghanaians have constituted themselves into communities in Europe and North America, mainly in metropolises or large cities such as London, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Toronto, and New York. With the emergence of the United States as the most powerful nation on the international scene and the heightened anti-immigrant policies and sentiments in many European countries, America has become the favorite destination for many Ghanaians.

Scholars who have studied this phase of Ghanaian emigration suggest that its inception lies in the migration of Ghanaians to Nigeria in the late 1970s and early 1980s.¹⁸ Between 1974 and 1981, about 2 million Ghanaians are said to have left the country for Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire, with about three hundred heading for Nigeria each day. They included significant numbers of teachers, doctors, engineers, and nurses, and large numbers of skilled and unskilled persons. These people took advantage of Nigeria’s oil boom and strong economy at the time. Unfortunately, a downturn in Nigeria’s fortunes in the early 1980s led many to return.

As Nigeria’s economy worsened and employment opportunities shrank, Ghanaians and other foreign nationals in Nigeria became obvious targets of discontent. They were blamed for taking jobs from Nigerians and causing other economic and social problems. With anti-immigrant sentiment running high among both politicians and ordinary citizens, in January 1983 the government of President Shehu Shagari ordered all foreign nationals without proper immigration papers to leave by the end of the month. Though the order seemed to target low-skilled workers, it had serious ramifications for all classes of foreign nationals. It led to mass forced deportations characterized by indiscriminate roundups and harassment by the Nigerian military and police as well as local vigilante groups. About 1.2 million Ghanaians, according to a United Nations report, were deported during this period.¹⁹ In 1985 another round of mass expulsions resulted in the repatriation of another 100,000 Ghanaians.²⁰

While most of those repatriated during both periods arrived in Ghana, many of them soon left for other countries in Africa, Europe, and America. In addition, there were others who chose not to return to Ghana at all. It is estimated that about 42 percent of Ghanaian immigrants in 2001 lived in European countries and another 31 percent in other non-European countries. Seventeen percent also lived in the United States of America.²¹

Stepwise Migration

Many Ghanaian immigrants to America arrive in a stepwise fashion. Several of my interviewees had lived in countries such as Nigeria, Liberia, Libya, Italy, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, and Canada prior to migrating to the United States. Take for instance Kwadwo, a naturalized American citizen. He left Ghana in 1980 for Nigeria. In 1983 he moved to Cameroon due to Nigeria’s mass repatriation of foreigners. He lived in Cameroon for two years and then managed to get a visa to France, where he lived for a year. Meanwhile, his wife, a nurse, left for Britain in 1983 and after a two-year stay succeeded in moving to Canada. She applied for and was granted permanent residence based on which she invited her husband to join her. They both lived in Canada for ten years before moving to the United States in 1997. While in Canada, they gave birth to two sons. Their third was born in the United States.

Boateng, a fifty-year-old man, also left Ghana for Nigeria in 1981 but was repatriated in 1983. Soon upon returning to Ghana, he left again for Libya with some friends. After a year, he left Libya, where he had eked out a living as a janitor, and went to Italy. He lived and worked in Italy for five years and learned Italian. In 1990, a friend of his invited him to the United States for a visit and he decided to stay. He got married to a Ghanaian-American. Through his wife he was able to gain permanent residence and later American citizenship.

Through such travels and sojourns in different countries Ghanaians such as Kwadwo and Boateng acquire aspects of the different cultures they encounter. They therefore arrive in the United States with beliefs and practices originating in Ghana, as well as many other countries.

Why They Come

It can be inferred from what has been said so far that Ghanaian immigrants come to the United States for numerous reasons. The following stories from a few of my interviewees personalize for us the reasons for Ghanaian migration to the United States:

Angela is a sixty-five-year-old. She came to be reunited with her family. She told me her story as follows:

I left Ghana to stay permanently in the United States forty years ago. My main purpose for coming was to join my husband who had settled here a few years earlier. Generally I did not encounter any problems in terms of acquiring the necessary visa. When he sent me the necessary documentation I presented them at the U.S. consulate and was issued with a visa. I came as a Certificate “A” school teacher but I decided not to go into teaching here and rather took up a job as a clerk at a bank.

Lillian holds two master’s degrees, in education and curriculum research, respectively. During the research she was a teacher at PS 30, one of the public schools in New York City, and was also writing a doctoral dissertation in the education department at Columbia University. She came to study:

I arrived in New York City on January 3, 1976 to begin a master’s degree program in Education at Columbia University. Prior to thi...