Publications

14 August 2003

West Indian in the West:
Self-Representations in an Immigrant Community
By Percy Hintzen

Percy Hintzen, chair of African American Studies, paints a picture of the Bay Area’s West Indian community through in-depth interviews and participant observation in West Indian in the West. He draws on extensive ethnographic data to illuminate the ways in which social context affects the formation of ethnic identity.

“Percy Hintzen’s book has made me see so many things afresh,” says Professor Cynthia Enloe of Clark University in Worcester, Mass. “After reading West Indian in the West, I see not only life in San Francisco differently, but also life in Brooklyn and in Silicon Valley differently. With subtlety and sensitivity, Hintzen makes us smarter about diasporas, racisms, class aspirations, marriages, and public performances in contemporary America. This is an important book.”

“This richly textured enthnography will be required reading for scholars on race and immigration for years to come,” says Professor Pedro Noguera, the Judith K. Dimon Professor in Communities and Schools at Harvard University.

New York University Press
200 pages