African Immigrants' Experiences in American Schools

Book excerpt: As the number of African-born students in American schools increases, it is important that schools enlarge the circle of diversity to include African-born students who are rendered invisible by their skin color and continent of origin.. African Immigrants’ Experiences in American Schools: Complicating the Race Discourse is aimed at filling the gap in the literature about African-born students in American schools. This book will not only assist teachers and administrators in understanding the nuanced cultural, sociological, and socio-cognitive differences between American-born and African-born students; it will also equip them with effective interpersonal teaching strategies adapted to the distinct needs of African-born students and others like them. The book explores in depth salient African-rooted factors that come into play in the social and academic integration of African immigrant students, such as gender, spirituality, colonization, religious affiliation, etc. The authors examine American-rooted factors that complicate the adaptation of these students in the US educational school system, such as institutional racism, Afrophobia, Islamophobia, cultural discontinuities, curricular mismatches, and western media mis-portrayals. They also proffer pedagogical tools and frameworks that may help minimize these deleterious factors.