Race, Negative Acculturation, and the Black International Student: A Study of Afro-Caribbean and African-Born Students in U.S. Colleges

Black students originating from African and Caribbean nations are well represented in the ranks of international students attending U.S. colleges, at over 51,000 annually (Institute of International Education, 2021). In addition to contributing heavily to the overall economic impact of the universities they attend (NAFSA, 2021), Black foreign-born students play a critically important role in adding diversity of thought and perspective to these academic communities. However, because of the additional socio-political challenges they face in a racially polarized United States, these students must navigate a more difficult pathway to acculturation and desirable academic outcomes than their non-Black peers. This qualitative study examines the phenomenological experiences of 15 foreign-born Black students from the subSaharan African and Caribbean regions -- lived experiences found at the intersection of immigration, race, and higher education. The findings suggest that the interpolations of race salience, racism, and racial microaggressions all contribute to negative acculturation postures whereby the students are more likely to reject rather than accept the host country's cultural norms. This aversive positionality leads to increased acculturative stressors and a higher likelihood of self-construed feelings of marginalization or separation.