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Black Migrants and Atlanta

Black migrants have contributed to the growth of the black middle class in many southern cities, having on average higher incomes than the South’s total African American population. Migrants also have higher levels of education than nonmigrants: more than 50% of black migrants are college graduates. Migration research show that in terms of socioeconomic status and education, migrants tend be more advantaged than those who they leave behind and less advantaged than those already living in their destination (Lee 1966). My data reveals that this pattern is not true for Afro-Caribbeans participating in the migration to Atlanta. They are not only faring better socioeconomically than African Americans in Atlanta but also their counterparts in New York City, who have a median household income of $35,758, a rate of homeownership of 35.1%, and a percentage of college graduates of 18.2% in 2000 (Logan 2007).

The presence of a predominantly middle class Afro-Caribbean migrant population in Atlanta may be a result of positive selection. In her book, West Indian Immigrants: A Black Success Story?, Suzanne Model offers selectivity theory—“a perspective that expects economically motivated migrants, irrespective of heritage, to be endowed with greater ability and drive than those who stay home” (2008: 143) —as an explanation for the socioeconomic success of Afro-Caribbean immigrants in the US, particularly regarding their (economic and social) advantages over African Americans, which has been the focus of many studies of the two black ethnic groups. It is likely that those who are poor, less educated, or less skilled are less motivated, or find it harder, to move to Atlanta—a destination with significantly fewer established Caribbean institutions and networks than a traditional destination like New York.

The Afro-Caribbeans in metro Atlanta, and in this study, have diverse national origins. The Afro-Caribbeans in this study are overwhelmingly Trinidadian and Jamaican, making up 33% and 30% of my respondents, respectively.[1] This occurrence was likely due to my use of snowball sampling, with respondents generally referring me to (national-origin) compatriots; in other words, Trinidadian migrants gave me referrals to other Trinidadian migrants in Atlanta within their family/friends network. However, the largest Afro-Caribbean group in Atlanta by far are the Jamaicans, which are twice as large as the second largest Afro-Caribbean group, Haitian. According to the 2005-2009 American Community Survey, Jamaicans made up 48% of the 75,553 Afro-Caribbean immigrants in metro Atlanta and Haitians formed 21%, while Trinidadians made up 6%; and the rest of the population was made up of smaller groups of other Caribbean countries (e.g., US Virgin Islanders, Dutch West Indians, and Bahamas).

A small percentage of the Afro-Caribbean migrants that I spoke with moved to Atlanta directly from the Caribbean.[2] Most Afro-Caribbeans are moving to Atlanta from other US cities, including other southern cities. According to the 2008-2010 American Community Survey, 52.7% of the foreign-born Afro-Caribbean population in Atlanta entered the US before 1990, suggesting that many of Afro-Caribbeans in the southern metropolis lived elsewhere in the US (i.e., a traditional Caribbean immigrant destination) before settling there (since the migration began to surge in the early 1990s). More than 50% of the Afro-Caribbeans that I spoke to migrated from northern US cities, of which the largest group by far migrated from New York, which was reported by 33% of all migrants as their destination of origin. Surprisingly, the second largest group migrated from other places in the South—namely from North Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. I didn’t expect any Afro-Caribbean immigrants to be moving to Atlanta from another southern city, particularly from any places in Florida, since Miami and Ft. Lauderdale have commonly been the places to which Afro-Caribbeans moved to escape the cold weather and fast pace of the Northeast—usually after living in New York. Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut for a decade or more. The published literature on the Afro-Caribbean population have shown them return to (or retire and return to) their Caribbean homelands but have not shown them moving among places in the American South (DeWitt 1990).

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[1] There were 2nd generation Afro-Caribbeans in this study who were of mixed Caribbean ancestry that I added to the percentages for Jamaicans and Trinidadians: one was of Jamaican and Guyanese ancestry and the other was of Trinidadian and Barbadian ancestry.

[2] A small number of the Afro-Caribbean migrants in the study moved to Atlanta from outside the US and the Caribbean: one emigrated directly from England (London), another from Australia (but she had also lived in England and New York for a number of years), and another who was in the military from Korea. One Afro-Caribbean in this study moved from California, but she was originally from New York.

Traveling with Toya T: Jamming on the Kon-tiki Boat Cruise in St. Thomas

Who are the Afro-Caribbeans? --Pt 2

 I found that Afro-Caribbeans in Atlanta had high levels of education. Among the migrants that I interviewed for this study, 70% had college educations[1]. There were a significantly high number of migrants with graduate or professional degrees.[2] Thirteen of the thirty-three Afro-Caribbean respondents in my study (39%) had either a masters, doctoral, or law degree. Their educational levels were reflected in their occupations: almost all of the migrants in this study were in managerial, professional, or service occupations.[3] Seventeen were in management/professional occupations (e.g., lawyers, business owners, urban planning directors, etc), six were in service occupations (e.g., teachers, military, etc), three were in office occupations (e.g., administrative assistants), and two were law school students. Two migrants were not in the labor force: one was retired, while the other was a homemaker. Overall, the flow of Afro-Caribbean immigrants to Atlanta includes a high percentage of professionals and non-manual labor workers. According to the 2008-2010 American Community Survey, 38.1% of Afro-Caribbeans in Atlanta in the labor force were in management, business, arts, and science occupations, in addition to the 15.2% in service occupations and the 28.2% in sales occupations.

Afro-Caribbean men and women in Atlanta are concentrated in similar occupational fields, with large proportions of both women and men working in managerial and professional occupations and sales and office occupations.[4] Their concentration in white collar and service sector occupations may be due to the relatively high education level and socioeconomic status of the Afro-Caribbeans migrating to Atlanta. Previous research has found gender differences in labor force participation in the US, with Afro-Caribbean women and men tending to cluster in different occupations (Bashi 2007; Foner 2009). Afro-Caribbean immigrant women have worked mostly in health care and domestic work in the three major global cities of Afro-Caribbean settlement—New York, London, and Toronto—while Afro-Caribbean immigrant men have concentrated in transport, in London and New York (Foner 2009). Kasinitz and Vickerman (2001) argue that high levels of concentration in these occupational fields reflect patterns of network hiring and referrals; that is, the social networks of Afro-Caribbean female domestic, health care, and clerical workers facilitate access to these jobs.

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[1] There were four respondents that I forgot to ask about their educational attainment; thus, they were added to a N/A group when I tabulated the education percentages for my research sample.

[2] This overrepresentation of post-collegiate degrees, among respondents in this study, may have been produced by my use of snowball sampling. It is likely that migrants referred to me other migrants with similar educational backgrounds who they felt would reflect well on them, or who they thought would be better able to answer my questions.

[3] Three of the migrants’ occupations were unknown due to the question about employment being unintentionally omitted at the time of my interview.

[4] The 2008-2010 American Community Survey shows that Afro-Caribbean men in Atlanta are employed in natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations (15.3%) and production, transportation, and material moving occupations (19%) at a significantly higher rate than Afro-Caribbean there, at 0.8% and 3.8% respectively. Figures also show the largest percentage of Afro-Caribbeans in Atlanta is in the educational services, healthcare, and social assistance industry.

Atlanta Carnival-On the Road

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Atlanta Carnival 2010-Steel Pan Band