In the world of 21st-century demographic descriptors, “African American” seems straightforward: If your skin is black, you trace your ancestry back to Africa, and if you're in America, you are American.

But society has never viewed race in such simple terms. Today, recognition is growing for the historical and cultural differences among US-born African Americans, those who emigrated from the Caribbean and recent arrivals from Africa. As foreign-born blacks grow increasingly common in the workplace, intracultural conflicts may also increase.

The percentage of those with black skin who are foreign-born in the US rose from 4.9 percent to 6.7 percent between 1990 and 2000, according to Census Bureau data analyzed by Susan Weber of Queens College, as reported in the New York Times on August 29, 2004.

An Undercurrent of Tension

Dr. Craig Polite, a clinical and industrial psychologist, calls it “tension with a small ‘t.' It's more like an undertone of conflict, particularly between those born in the Caribbean and those born in the US. It doesn't surface a lot, but people from the islands have the impression they're a little bit smarter, a little more superior. It doesn't get talked about, but it's there.”

Cynthia Swift, who teaches multicultural issues in the Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut, and is coordinator of the Academic Advantage program, agrees. “The legacy of colonialism impacts each group, along with how people are introduced to and have access to work,” she says. “People born in Africa have a different perspective on opportunities and rights at work than those who were born here, who have their own perspective on this country's history of discrimination.”

All three groups share “misinformation and a lack of understanding of each other,” she adds.

The Historical Legacy

When African Americans living in the South moved north in the '30s and '40s to fill low-paying jobs, they fought for their rights, demanded access to better jobs and were often unwilling to continue ill-paying work under poor conditions.

When recent immigrants reached the US, some with good educations and willing to start at the bottom and work several jobs to achieve success, some employers viewed them as “better workers, with better attitudes” than African Americans, says Swift. It worsened in hard economic times when more people vied for fewer jobs. And the situation is exacerbated in communities where young American-born blacks think, “it's better to be cool than smart,” she explains. Comedian Bill Cosby decried this phenomenon when speaking at a college graduation in spring of 2004.

Majority to Minority

“People from the islands grow up as part of the dominant culture,” says Larri Mazon, director of Multicultural Relations at Fairfield University. “They come from a country run by people who look like them. They don't understand what it's like to be seen as not a valid contributor to society. When they get here, they may pick up on the stereotypical attitude toward blacks and think, ‘I'm not born here. I'm not like them.'”

African-born immigrants also come from countries where people are physically homogenous. Because of visa requirements and immigration restrictions, they often arrive here with skills that immediately vault them into the upper echelons of business.

Mazon notes that he is talking primarily about African-born men. Their male-dominated culture can mean chauvinistic attitudes. “I've heard many complaints from black women about male African supervisors,” he says.

Resentment also extends to immigration policies that allow Caribbean islanders to work what Mazon calls “16 jobs.”

“Employers gravitate toward people who will do that,” he explains. “(Islanders) don't know an employer may stab you in the back, whereas American-born blacks might see that willingness to work so hard as a ‘yes, massa' attitude.”

Common Ground

So can a black community exist in the workplace? Yes, says Polite, though it is “in the background, not up front.”

“A lot of black folks get together in part for support, and perhaps as a reality check against what they think they see and feel (from non-blacks),” he adds. “We like being able to speak a common language and let our hair down. Our conversations have a slightly different slant. In the end, no matter where they're from, when black folks get together, we're all in the mix.”