Malleable Identities: Placing the Garínagu in New Orleans

The multiplicity of Garifuna identity gives the Garínagu the flexibility to negotiate and shift their identity between different ethnic, racial, and national categories. Drawing on in-depth interviews, focus groups, and participant observation with Garifuna transmigrants in post-Katrina New Orleans, this research illustrates the important role a receiving community plays in how the Garínagu frame their identity. Scholarly research on the Garifuna community in New York City depicts a general identification with a global racial Blackness. In New Orleans, however, several factors sway Garifuna transmigrants to identify with the metropolitan area's Latino population and emphasize their Honduran nationality. Thus, this study underscores the importance of place-specific research that focuses on the daily lives and experiences of contemporary immigrants.