This is a study about Haitian immigrants in New York City and the hometown associations that they have created to facilitate their assimilation into the United States. A major finding of the study is that the assimilation pattern of Haitians in New York City is different from other Caribbean immigrants. This is due to the conditions that contributed to their migration to the United States and the role that activist and community organizations played in helping first-generation middle-class Haitians maintain a separate identity from African-Americans.;Over the past two decades, members of these organizations have demonstrated their desire to maintain ties with Haiti by sending goods and materials to their hometowns, raising money for projects, and helping hometown officials create voluntary organizations to increase local capacity and to act at the local level. While actively pursuing these goals, they have also engaged in actions in New York City that have contributed to an increase in the number of immigrants who are motivated to participate in civic activities. Although scholars have addressed the role that transnational organizations play in creating the conditions that facilitate immigrants to conduct a transnational life, they have not studied these organizations in detail to determine the processes they engage in to help their members maintain a transnational life, their impact on immigrants in the United States, and their limitations as assimilating institutions.;In this study, I examine the Haitian transnational organizations, also known as hometown associations, their impact on Haitians in New York City, and the processes that their members use to resist a downward assimilation into mainstream US society. I argue that these organizations have a direct influence on the growth and development of the immigrant community in New York City by helping Haitians resist assimilation into the African-American community, encouraging them to reinforce their self-identity, and promoting greater citizen participation in the community.
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