THE NEW GREAT MIGRATION TO THE NEW ATLANTA

The influx of Afro-Caribbean immigrants, and a large, diverse group of other non-white newcomers from across the United States and abroad, to Atlanta has triggered an unprecedented series of changes in the social, cultural, economic, political, and racial landscapes of the southern metro, ushering in a new era in its history---the era of the New Atlanta. The composition and diversity of this great migration to Atlanta, along with its existing large African American population, have transformed Atlanta from a biracial (mainly black and white) society into an international, multi-ethnic metropolis, unlike other major metropolises in the US, such as New York City, Miami, Boston, and Los Angeles. It is a unique metropolis because of the great influence, large size, and relatively high socioeconomic status of its African American population and their role in shaping the city.

Its distinct southern culture has become increasingly popular in the media. A great example is the rise of reality television shows focused on different aspects of life in Atlanta in the past decade, including Real Housewives of Atlanta, Big Rich Atlanta, Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta, R&B Divas, and Married to Medicine. The success of these shows has pushed Atlanta and its culture, realities, and distinct sound into the public eye and helped to spread the South’s distinct culture and image worldwide. This has helped Atlanta develop in recent years an image as an attractive place to live in the US, especially for black people.

For Afro-Caribbean immigrants, they are several benefits to moving to and settling in Atlanta. Unlike Asian and Latino immigrant newcomers, Afro-Caribbeans’ incorporation into Atlanta has been shaped by the their relationship with the African Americans. Though southern attitudes and policies towards immigrants have become more and more hostile in recent years, especially towards Mexican immigrants (and those who “look” Mexican), Afro-Caribbean immigrants have been for the most part insulated from the hostile anti-immigrant attitudes and policies brewing in the region because they are black and can “blend” into the large African American community in Atlanta. This is important to note since research on the recent wave of immigration to the South do not touch on the benefits of having or forming a relationship, whether real or superficial, with the large African American in the region. The literature tends to focus on the tensions brewing between immigrant newcomers, particularly Latinos, and the existing African American community or the immigrant newcomers’ efforts to distance themselves from African Americans. But I found for Afro-Caribbean immigrants, being racially black, can reap several benefits, regarding their reception and incorporation into the Atlanta area, which other non-white immigrants cannot or may not be able to access. The pushes for making English the official state language, development of policies to restrict undocumented students’ access to public universities, and the passing of laws to deny undocumented people public services were all created with a Latino (specifically Mexican) immigrant’s face in mind and not a black Caribbean immigrant’s face. In the southern debates about immigration, Afro-Caribbeans (and other black immigrants) are invisible, just another black face in an ocean of black faces in Atlanta. Thus, there are benefits to being a black immigrant in a black city.

The recent trend of immigrant settlement in the region are challenging and changing long-held southern attitudes and conceptions of race and immigration. The increasing diversification of the city’s black community is transforming black culture and spaces in Atlanta from predominantly African American to a more diverse one. The new great migration of Afro-Caribbeans and other black migrants offer future research opportunities to analyze black culture in a uniquely innovative and fertile context. What is developing there reflects and enhances the diversity of both Atlanta and the South at large.