The West Indian Diaspora: Experiences in the United States and Canada (New Americans)

Gilkes finds that, not surprisingly, race-related factors are the major risks for immigrants to both Canada and the U.S. from the West Indies. Individuals felt constrained by race, and ethnicity, from fully integrating into society. Paradoxically, this is more problematic in Canada, where multiculturalism is promoted as an aid to integration. In Canada immigrants see multiculturalism as contributing to separatism, cultural intolerance, and marginalization. Gilkes also challenges the accepted wisdom that marginalization and separation - any process other than acculturation - result in increased acculturative stress. Instead the integrative process rarely progresses beyond the ethnic group or community level. In fact, Gilkes most important finding is the strength of social support existing in the communities. The research lends support to the theory that the success of immigrant acculturation rests in the strengths the immigrants bring to the host country.