The politics of Cape Verdean American identity

Abstract

In the United States, the idea of having a "choice" in the construction of identity is made problematic by the social constraints under which racial and ethnic minority groups live. One such constraint is the system of social classification that has historically polarized U.S. citizens and residents into aggregates of "Black" or "White," and more recently "White" and "non-White," through the hegemonic discourse of racial ascription. This discourse underlies the process of racialization whereby intragroup cultural differences are homogenized under the rubric of race. This phenomenon is most apparent in the contemporary ordering of Blacks, Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans into culturally homogenized groups through the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Although the U.S. system of racial classification has become less static over time, the federal government continues to officially classify persons according to race and ethnicity. The following essay explores the impact of self-identification and outside ascription on Cape Verdean American identity formation, which can be interpreted as Diasporic and transnational in nature. Specifically, I am interested in the ways in which Cape Verdean Americans, especially those of second and third generation, construct themselves as members of both the Cape Verdean and African American communities of the United States. This construction of what I and others have called "Cape Verdeanness" is manifested in a range of experiences and practices that embody the historical memory, politics and everyday, lived experiences of this racial/ethnic group.