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“I Am Blacker Than Youâ€

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  • Benjamin Aigbe Okonofua

Abstract

This paper attempts to place the African immigrant and the African American in the context of their conditions in the United States. It addresses the issue of Americanization and the development of multiple identities that is fundamental to the contestation of “Blackness†in the United States. More importantly, the study discusses resource allocation and appropriation as critical to understanding the schisms between the African immigrant and the African American, focusing especially on how the conflict and tension potentially benefits other racial categories. It highlights the fact that conflict and tension between both groups result directly from the dominant White racial framing, wherein powerless groups unable to effectively challenge the forces that oppress them, attack themselves or people like themselves. To explain this complex interaction between Whites, African immigrants, and African Americans, this paper develops the theory of manipulative deflection, the central tenet of which is the subjective experience of deprivation that diminishes the construction of a holistic Black identity and produces confusion and conflict among Blacks in the United States.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin Aigbe Okonofua, 2013. "“I Am Blacker Than Youâ€," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(3), pages 21582440134, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:3:y:2013:i:3:p:2158244013499162
    DOI: 10.1177/2158244013499162
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gary S. Becker, 1964. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, First Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck-5.
    2. Welch, Finis, 1973. "Black-White Differences in Returns to Schooling," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(5), pages 893-907, December.
    3. Lonnie Stevans, 1998. "Assessing the effect of the occupational crowding of immigrants on the real wages of African American workers," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 26(2), pages 37-46, December.
    4. Smith, James P & Welch, Finis R, 1977. "Black-White Male Wage Ratios: 1960-70," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(3), pages 323-338, June.
    5. Jeremiah Cotton, 1990. "The gap at the top: Relative occupational earnings disadvantages of the black middle class," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 18(3), pages 21-38, December.
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