Christina Greer, “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream” (Oxford UP, 2013)

Christina Greer is the author of Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream (Oxford University Press, 2013). Greer is assistant professor of political science at Fordham University.

In previous podcasts, authors have illuminated the immigrant experience of Latino and Asian Americans (Rouse, Masuoka and Junn), as well as the African American politics (Logan and Gillespie). Researchers have increasingly studied the opinions, political culture, and political institutions of each community.

Greer uses this literature to explore an understudied population, who she dubs “Black Ethnics.” Green analyzes the public opinion differences between African Americans, African immigrants, and Afro-Caribbean immigrants in New York City. She finds that Afro-Caribbean immigrants held some of the lowest opinions of the American Dream. Their collective frustration with a lack of opportunities placed them below African Americans and African immigrants.