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Part II. U.S. African American, African, and Caribbean Geographies
- State University of New York Press
- Chapter
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P Pa ar rt t I II I U.S. African merican, African, and C Ca ar ri ib bb be ea an n G Ge eo og gr ra ap ph hi ie es s This section continues the overarching themes of the text, including racial discrimination against minorities, the perseverance displayed by minorities, movement, ethnic diversity, and how racial and ethnic geographies are created. It illustrates how African Americans and more recent black migrants, including firstgeneration immigrants, have carved their respective niches in order to have a community and a support system. Black cultural landscapes are illustrated for African Americans and more recently arriving ethnic groups. Another overriding theme of this section is the attachment people form to place, and how humans and their environments affect one another in a cyclical way. These chapters also deal with the politics of movement, and explain why and how migration patterns occur. Finally, this section illustrates the critical importance of American social, political, and economic institutions to the creation of human geography. Section Two opens with the broad perspective in chapter 6 of the obstacles, progress, and current status of African Americans in the United States. It also illustrates the growing black ethnic diversification in the U.S. Chapter 7 provides more detailed information about waves of African American migration and settlement patterns , including blacks’ treatment by white Americans as they sought life in the suburbs and better status, surroundings , and opportunities. It also explores the contemporary “reverse migration” to the South by African Americans from all other regions and illustrates the importance of scale and place in understanding black migrant streams. The next three chapters deal with spatial inequities. Chapter 8 follows the thread of living conditions and the geography of settlement to describe what African Americans are now facing in the less affluent communities where many of them live, and uses two case studies to illustrate predatory lending techniques and their effects on the geography of settlement. Chapter 9 examines predatory lending from a less social and more legal perspective, discussing the possibilities of anti-predatory legislation. This chapter also examines a real difference in policy and law, weighing the political climate, the severity of the situation, and the racial makeup of local politicians and population, to give the reader a clear understanding of how predatory lending works, and how society can be changed to protect people against it. Chapter 10 deals with the injustices or inequities of location by illustrating that it takes Blacks longer to get to work than Whites. Chapter 11 shifts the focus to black immigrants and their ethnic settlement patterns. It describes in positive terms the ethnic enclave of Little Ethiopia, describing how a group of immigrants has created an “ethnic enclave” in Los Angeles that helps them to preserve their customs and way of life, and to share a support system with people of their own ethnic background. The chapter examines the pros and cons of this situation. Chapter 12 focuses on a different kind of black ethnic community, the “new” Liberian refugees who have come to America, and how they are integrating both with Americans and the Liberians who came over in an earlier immigration wave. The chapter focuses on how place unifies them — they are able to share food, customs , and language — as well as how their proximity to one another and to other African Americans also highlights minor cultural divides — differences in some foods, languages (Gullah), or customs. U.S. African American, African, and Finally, chapter 13 looks at the geographic distribution and corresponding socioeconomic status (SES) of West Indians living in the U.S. It charts their distribution across the country, compares their respective SES by state/region, and then compares SES statistics between the regions listed and other groups in the U.S., including the white majority. Thus, this section begins with the general to establish context, then follows specific threads to provide insights into what is happening with race relations and racial and ethnic settlement patterns in the United States, and to explain broader historical and sociocultural understandings based upon previous events and policies. ...