Demythologizing the Black Immigrant Advantage

1. Demythologizing the Black Immigrant Advantage Lori Latrice Martin, PhD Assistant Professor John Jay College of Criminal Justice lmartin@jjay.cuny.edu 212-237-8758

2. Racial Progress in America Often measured by looking at changes in income, education, and occupational prestige over time.

3. Race/Class Debate • Has race declined in significance? • Are there really four black Americas?

4. Limitations • Ignores assets • Ignores or oversimplifies within group differences • Nativity • Females • Non-married females

5. Significance • Income versus wealth • Growing diversity within the black population • Increased number of non-married black females • Beyond the feminization of poverty

6. Wealth Inequality • “The wealth gaps between whites and minorities have grown to their widest levels in a quarter-century. The recession and uneven recovery have erased decades of minority gains, leaving whites on average with 20 times the net worth of blacks and 18 times that of Hispanics, according to an analysis of new Census data.” • Associated Press, July 31, 2011

7. “analysis shows the racial and ethnic impact of the economic meltdown, which ravaged housing values and sent unemployment soaring. It offers the most direct government evidence yet of the disparity between predominantly younger minorities whose main asset is their home and older whites who are more likely to have 401(k) retirement accounts or other stock holdings.”

8. “The median wealth of white U.S. households in 2009 was $113,149, compared with $6,325 for Hispanics and $5,677 for blacks, according to the analysis released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center.”

9. Black Immigration • The number of foreign-born blacks more than tripled between 1980 and 2005 (Population Bulletin, December 2007). • By 2010, about 9% of the black population was foreign-born, compared to 3.9% of whites and 38.9% of others (U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement).

10. Almost 40% of black immigrants entered the U.S. in 2000 or later. • Only 4.3% of black immigrants entered the U.S. before 1970. • Fifty-three percent of foreign-born blacks in 2010 were women.

11. Black Immigrant Advantage: Higher Education • Recent study involving 28 selective colleges and universities • Of all black people aged 18 or 19 in the United States, about 13 percent are first- or second-generation immigrants, but they made up 27 percent of black students at the selective colleges studied.

12. The proportions of immigrants were higher at the private colleges in the survey than at publics, and were highest among the most competitive colleges in the group, hitting 41 percent of the black students in the Ivy League (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/02/01/black).

13. Income

14. Female Headed Households • About 44% of black households were headed by females in 2010 compared to 13% for whites and 23% for others.

15. Research Questions • To what extent are their racial and ethnic differences in the likelihood of owning a home and how have the determinants changed, if at all, over the past few decades?

16. Does race alone account for variations in the likelihood of homeownership for non-married females or do other factors matter?

17. Is the effect of nativity the same for non-married black females with membership in different social classes? • What are the implications of the study findings?

18. Data and Methods • 1980-2009 • U.S. Census Data • Non-married females • At least 25 years of age • Whites (Non-Hispanic) • Black (Non-Hispanic) • Asian • Hispanic

20. Descriptive Statistics • Non-married black females who were born abroad had the lowest percentages of home owners of all groups between 1980 and 2009, with one exception. • In 2009, foreign-born Hispanics had the lowest percent of homeowners.

21. The gap between native- and foreign-born non-married black females has narrowed over time.

22. Non-married black females had the lowest odds of owning a home when compared with other groups. • Race alone did not explain all of the variations in the likelihood of owning a home.

23. Multivariate Statistics • In 1980 and 2009, the foreign-born were less likely to own homes, net of the effects of the social and demographic variables considered. • Age, education, number of children, region, and social class position.

24. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in 1990 or in 2000.

25. Age, education, and number of children had positive effects on the likelihood of owning a home for non-married black females. • Blacks in the south had the highest odds of owning a home in each decade.

26. Respondents in the middle-class had the greatest odds of owning a home followed by the working- and bottom-classes.

27. Nativity was not always a strong predictor of home ownership between 1980 and 2009 for non-married black females.

28. Race still matters. • However, race alone does not account for variations in the likelihood of owning a home for non-married black females.

29. Foreign-born blacks may be advantaged in some areas, but not in others. • More research is needed to understand the pathways to asset ownership for foreign-born blacks in general and for non-married females in particular.

30. Additional Information • http://www.visionaries2.com/africanwomensalliance.html

31. Must look beyond homeownership. • Explore cooperative ways to build individual, household, and neighborhood wealth. • Use networks and social institutions with large non-married female populations to promote and foster wealth accumulation.