ABSTRACT
Ethnic and racial categorization and distinction in the United States are intense, entrenched, and have been sustained over a long period of time. The construction of racial and ethnic identity among Ghanaian immigrants in the United States is a confluence of two interrelated factors. The first consists of the immigrants' own assumptions about black America that they brought with them from Ghana upon their arrival in the host society. The second is the immigrants' subjective and objective experiences of how groups with unequal power and status in American society express racial and ethnic identity. The importance of class membership and the privileges that come with class formations have long been recognized by social scientists. An appendage of Ghanaian immigrant nationalism sometimes finds expression in Pan-African ideas and ideals as a way to maintain immigrant identity. Among Ghanaian immigrants in the United States, the formation of racial and ethnic identity takes on many varied forms.
