ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that black immigrant from the Caribbean comes to the United States with a particular identity/culture/worldview that reflects their unique history and experiences. At first, two main aspects of the culture of West Indians help them to be successful in America. First, because they are immigrants they have a different attitude toward employment, work, and American society than native-born Americans. Second, the immigrants' unique understanding and expectations of race relations allow them to interact with American racial structures in a successful way. The culture might serve individuals well for those times when it protects them from the sting of racism and discrimination, but ultimately as a long-term political response to discrimination and exclusion it serves to prevent people from taking advantage of the new opportunities that do arise. The policy implications lie in the ways in which the economic and cultural disinvestment in American cities erodes the social capital of immigrant families.
