Towards a Different Construction of Blackness: Black Immigrant Scholars on Racial Identity Development in the United States

Abstract

In this collaborative autoethnography, two immigrants interrogate their evolving self-definitions as Black women in the U.S. academy. Using a variety of data sources, they uncover several commonalities and differences in their experiences which have coalesced into a four-part model in their journey towards a different construction of Black identity: positioning themselves in the Black box, apprehending their outsider-within positionalilty, navigating the “us/them” to “we” switch, and integrating a different construction of Blackness while remaining true to their cultural/ethnic identity. In elaborating on these themes, they critique the journey towards apprehending minority identity status for people like them.