SETTLEMENT PATTERNS AND ORGANIZATIONS AMONG AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED STATES

Journal of Third World Studies, Spring 2009 by Takougang, Joseph, Tidjani, Bassirou

INTRODUCTION

Although the nearly 1.2 million African immigrants in the United States in 2004 may seem insignificant compared to otiier major immigrant groups in the country, this number represents a dramatic increase compared to just over a decade ago when the population was about 364,000.' From New York to California, and from New Mexico to North Dakota, it is almost impossible today to find a major American city where there are no African immigrants. Gone are the days when African immigrants were concentrated in cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Houston, and Dallas. A major reason for the increase in the population of African immigrants is the change in perception. While most of the immigrants in the 1960s and 1970s were students who saw the United States as simply an opportunity to acquire an education and the skills that would better equip and position them in the task of nation-building in the newly independent states, today's immigrants perceive the United States as a country with ample opportunities for self-actualization and hence, for permanent residence. As Femi Ojo- Ade aptly puts it, unlike Africans of yesteryear who:

went abroad to obtain the legendary Golden Fleece that you were committed to bringing back home, to the joy of family and friends, so that you could contribute something tangible to the building of the national citadel, . . . many in subsequent generations of sojourners in America do not go in search of the golden fleece; they are going for the gold, just as those Olympic athletes ready to win by hook or crook. 2

Although the reasons for the migration, and the decision by African immigrants to reside permanently in the United States is beyond the scope of this paper, it is worth mentioning that several factors have contributed to the increased immigration, including the failure by African states to provide economic opportunities for their citizens and the prevalence of corrupt and highly repressive regimes that have suffocated a vast range of individual freedoms. Additionally, the apparent pre-91 1 relaxation of U.S. immigration policy, particularly the passage of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which made it easier for students and professionals to remain in the United States and the Diversity Visa Program in 1990 that was aimed at promoting immigration from hitherto underrepresented countries and regions of the world, have all contributed in strengthening African immigration to the United States. The latter provided opportunity for Africans from almost every country on the continent to migrate to the United States. In fact, while countries with long standing relations with the United States like Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa, respectively account for the largest number of African immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa,3 the diversity program has allowed Africans from former Portuguese, French and Spanish colonies, who might have likely migrated to the former colonial powers in Europe, to come to the United States. Finally, mention should be made of the provision of U.S. regulations that allow even some illegal immigrants to have a job on the basis of a working permit easily obtained, under present conditions of human resource shortage.4 Wim this obvious explosion and diversity of African immigrants, this paper will discuss the settlement patterns among African immigrants and role of organizations in providing support networks to these immigrants. In other words, to what extent has the increase in Africa's immigrant population led to a change in concentration from the "old" cities5 or centers of settlement to other parts of the United States? What factors have influenced the settlement patterns of these immigrants? Finally, what types of social networks or organizations have they formed as they attempt to survive in their new environment?

SETTLEMENT PATTERNS AMONG AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS

Many Africans who came to the United States in the 1960s and 1970s were students interested in pursuing a higher education rather man settling permanently. These students were attracted to those American cities with large concentrations of institutions of higher learning such as New York, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington, D.C. The few students who decided not to return to Africa after their studies settled mainly in the states and cities where they had attended college, explaining why cities such as those mentioned above were the first to experience a substantial number of African immigrants. Although these cities remain magnets to African immigrants, the trend has shifted. In fact, since the early 1990s, with a new breed of immigrants more interested in establishing permanent residence in the United States, African immigrants can now be found in many small towns and cities across the United States. South Dakota, for instance, experienced an increase in the number of African immigrants from 210 in the 1 990s to 1 ,560 in 2000 ,6 while Tacoma, Washington, saw an increase of more than 800 percent in the number of immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa - from 202 in the 1990s to 1,802 in 2002.7 Even the city of Cincinnati, which barely registered any significant number of Africans in the early 1990s, now has a large number of immigrants from Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and the Horn of Africa.8