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The American Of The Haitian American College Students By Nina Glick And Georges Eugene Fouron

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Despite having pride with either being labeled a Guinean, Guinean-American, African American, black American, or simply American, each label does not satisfactorily summize my identify, supported by the rejection I face from people who can adequately identify as one of these ethnicities. To exemplify, we shall examine examine my identity as “Guinean.” While my parents were born and raised in Guinea, continue to uphold their Guinean culture in America, while rejecting black American culture, and have raised my brothers and I in accordance to the Guinean culture, I have never visited Guinea, nor have I any tangible ties to the nation. Similar to the Haitian American college students interviewed in Chapter 7 of Georges Woke Up Laughing by …show more content…

Unlike many African Americans who attend church on Sundays, I attend Jummah on Friday’s and attend Eid festivities with Guineans around New York City, as well as carry myself the way Guinean females are raised: with a certain degree of modesty and reservation. In addition, due to my Guinean background, West-African name, and clear, modulated English, I am also an outsider to my neighbors in Brownsville currently, and was teased as a child. My drive and motivation to achieve the American Dream, especially for the sake of parents, in Brownsville, an inner-city African American, is seen as an affront to their perceptions of blackness. Many of my neighbors have confessed that they believe that “I am too good” or “act white.” However, despite this, when I am faced with racism or acts of white supremacy, I feel emboldened to act, where I do not call upon my Guinean identity. In those moments, I especially identify with the African- American identity. I feel a dire responsibility to assist African-American in my community, more so than I feel a responsibility to help my family members in Guinea. In all, when asked about my identity, I respond with, “My parents are from Guinea, but I was born in America.” I am comfortable, and again, proud to identify as a Guinean-American, despite the challenges with identifying as either. This conflict is drawn upon, once again, in Georges Woke Up Laughing where Schiller and Fouron

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