Black in America

Professor Christina Greer asks what it means to be black in America today.

Speaking at McNally Jackson Books in New York City, Professor Greer describes herself as a 'JB' - 'just black' - a black American without a hyphenation. She argues that many new black immigrants into the United States are increasingly keen to avoid that designation, choosing instead to retain their accents, their citizenship or their separate identity.

She argues that this is caused by the poor status of black people in the United States, and asks whether it presages an historic change in what American immigration has meant: a nation where new immigrants do all they can to integrate, not to remain separate.

The presenter is Amanda Stern.

Producer: Giles Edwards.