Diverse Pathways: Race and the Incorporation of Black, White, and Arab-Origin Africans in the United States

Appendix. Data and Methods Used in the Analysis

127 Appendix Data and Methods Used in the Analysis R eliable and representative information on the social and economic characteristics of African immigrants is lacking in most US data sets. Consequently, in order to empirically describe racial and ethnic differences in the outcomes of African immigrants, the analysis employs data from the 2006–2008 American Community Survey (ACS). These data are produced by the US Census Bureau. They were developed in an attempt to phase out the use of questions on issues such as place of birth, marital status, and incomes that were previously asked in long-forms questionnaires in decennial US population censuses. Since 2000, the ACS has become the primary source of representative information on the social and economic characteristics of the US population. The limited availability of alternative data on African immigrants further underscores the utility of the ACS data as the most comprehensive source of information on their demographic and socioeconomic attributes. Data from the ACS are thus useful because they provide information on a range of characteristics, including respondents’ age and sex, as well as their economic, occupational, and marital characteristics. 128 A p p e n d i x Identifying Race and Ethnicity among Africans Using ACS data on place of birth, the analysis defines African immigrants as individuals who were born in an African country. Furthermore, information on race is used to identify Black and White African-born individuals who currently live in the United States. A major advantage associated with using information from the ACS is the fact it allows respondents to give self-reported information on their ethnic and ancestral origins. In short, information on race used in the analysis refers to how Africans racially identified themselves in the ACS data. Race and ancestral information is useful for identifying the population in a range of ethnicities. Although respondents were allowed to give as many ancestries as possible, the ACS data only report their first and second responses. Information on these ethnic ancestries is therefore used to capture individuals who identify themselves as Arabs. As scholars such as Nigem (1986) and Read (2004) maintain, Arabs are typically identified in such data sets as individuals who trace any of their ancestries to an Arab country. Race and ancestry information is subsequently used to distinguish between Black and White Africans who have Arab and non-Arab ethnic ancestries. Accordingly, non-Arab Black Africans are defined as non-Arab Africans who identify themselves as Black. Non-Arab White Africans are similarly defined as Africans who identify themselves as White but have a non-Arab ethnic origin. Africans with Arab ethnic origins are also differentiated as Black Arabs and White Arabs, depending on their race. Altogether, these four groups account for about 94 percent of all African immigrants in the data used in the analysis. The majority of these were non-Arab Blacks (64 percent), followed by non-Arab Whites (14.9 percent), White Arabs (12.9 percent), and Black Arabs (2 percent). Significantly, although the proportional contribution of Black Arabs is the smallest,assuggestedinchapter2,thereareimportantconceptualandhistorical reasons for including them in the analysis. Among African immigrants, there is also a residual category of “other” Africans who account for about 6.2 percent of the total population. This category of “other” Africans includes Africans who identify themselves using other non-Black and non-White racial categories. 129 D a t a a n d M e t h o d s Educational Outcomes Data from the ACS also provide information on selected educational outcomes (e.g., educational attainment and current school enrollment). This information is used in two ways to examine the educational outcomes of African immigrants. First, information on educational attainment is used to examine the percentage distribution of Africans in various completed levels of schooling. These estimates are reported for adults age twenty-five and above in chapter 3. Second, the analysis uses information on both the highest completed level of schooling and current school enrollment, in order to examine differences in schooling progress among currently enrolled youths. The specific outcome of interest in this case is the expected grade for age among high-school-age youths. In line with previous studies (e.g., Deming and Dynarski 2008; Hauser, Simmons, and Pager 2000), expected grade for age is defined as the modal grade level completed by individuals in each specific age. Racial and ethnic differences in the likelihood of completing the expected grade...