Educational Mobility among Black and White Immigrants in the Post-Civil Rights Era

Amon Emeka, University of Washington

Recent immigration from the Caribbean, Africa and Europe has been overshadowed by immigration from Asia and Latin America, but these newcomers are of particular theoretical importance because they represent the immigrant analogs of the two most disparate and diametrically opposed American racial groups, Black and White Americans. This study employs data from the Current Population Survey (1996-2002) to compare patterns of educational achievement and mobility among Black and White immigrants. It is found that while the adult children of immigrants, irrespective of race, are doing significantly better than the immigrants themselves, racial disparities do exist. Upward mobility is more pronounced in the White immigrant population. While Black and White immigrants are practically identical in terms of educational attainment, the adult children of White immigrants have completed, on average, more years of education and are significantly more likely to have graduated high school than their Black counterparts.