Full Description
At the dawn of the new millennium, immigration means a new beginning for many Cabo Verdean youth who arrive in Boston, Massachusetts. This new generation of Cabo Verdeans, however, faces different sets of challenges—ranging from family separation and reunification, to emerging street violence, to "sweeps" that culminate in deportation. This book chronicles the journey of Cabo Verdean young men as they negotiate their feelings around family, school, and neighborhood contexts. Ambrizeth Helena Lima discusses in depth the factors within these contexts that compel some of the young men to thrive and succeed, and others to spiral into a cycle of violence and eventual deportation. Lima also shows the young men's vulnerability in their urban neighborhoods, as one of them declares that in this journey "you're on your own." The young men in her book discuss their dreams, love for their family and culture, and the struggle to become "American." As with other racialized immigrant youth from places as diverse as the Caribbean and South Asia, these young men face racial, ethnic, and gender stereotypes that are grounded in America's white/black racial rationalization process. Their journey is marked with emotional and psychological upheaval as they strive to find a path that leads to the better life that America promised them.
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 What Are You? The Case of Cabo Verdeans
1 Ethnohistorical Frameworks and Theoretical Lenses
1 The Arrival of the European Navigators to the Cabo Verde Islands
2 The Definition of Race and Ethnicity in Cabo Verde
3 The Dichotomous Nature of Race in the United States
4 The "Stepwise" Pattern of Cabo Verdean Immigration to the United States
5 The Racialization Process of Black-Identified Immigrant Youth in the United States
6 The Theoretical Lenses
7 The Social Context: Family, School, and Neighborhood
8 Summary
2 Broken Families, Broken Hearts: Family Separation and Reunification
3 Who Showed You Such a Distant Road? Linguistic and Cultural Dynamics within the Home, School, and Neighborhood Contexts
1 The Many Definitions of "A Better Life"
2 Linguistic and Cultural Dynamics within the Family Context
3 Linguistic and Cultural Dynamics within the School Context
4 Linguistic and Cultural Dynamics within the Neighborhood Context
5 Summary
4 Race, Gender, and Ethnicity
1 The Family Context
2 Identities in Context: "I'm a True Citizen of Cabo Verde"
3 Race and Ethnicity within the School Context: The Role of School Personnel as Agents of Socialization
4 The Community Context: Friendship Networks
5 Summary
5 Where Past and Present Intersect: Planning the Future
1 "You're on Your Own": From Rural Cabo Verde to Urban America
2 Racial and Ethnic Profiling
3 "Urban Insulation": Sticking with Their Own
4 "I Didn't Use to Like Cheeseburgers, But Now I Do!"
5 Becoming American: Is It Possible?
6 The Significance of Leaders
7 Dreams and Aspirations of a Generation
8 Summary
6 Conclusion
1 The Family Context
2 The School Context
3 The Neighborhood Context
4 Recommendations
5 Looking for Life
References
Index
