Diasporic Immigrant identity

A Tale of Two Films: Diasporic Immigrant Identity
Immigrants are constantly facing displacement and negotiating identity in their host countries. While trying to adapt they often face some difficulties. Some of these difficulties include discrimination on the basis race, language and the law.
This essay examines the diasporic immigrant identity through two films. One of the directors is African born and the other who is white. Both tackle the immigrant identities in different ways. This essay highlights the racial and cultural displacements examined within both films and highlights how the transnational identity is one immigrant constantly negotiate. It also highlights the tactics used to negotiate this world. The essay also presents the difficulties encountered by immigrants in their host countries, which are often borne out of power dynamics in a “post-colonial world.”
Embedded in the label immigrant is an otherness deriving from a previous location, place of origin, social identity, ethnic or racial identity, or national identity. These forms of otherness manifest themselves in different ways — through language or accent, skin colour, diet, mode of dressing, family values and sometimes employment. This label implies a permanent or prolonged relocation to a new environment” (Okome & Vaughan, 2012).
There are three terms, which are often associated with migration. They are “immigrants”, “transnationalism” and “diaspora”. “Transnationalism may be defined as a social process whereby migrants operate in social fields that transgress geographic, political and cultural borders” (Thapan, 24). This theory allows us to view the immigrant as one who negotiates between both worlds, which are that of the host country, and their native co...

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... Immigrants who arrive newly are often disoriented.
Transnational immigrant communities would be – along a continuum – expected to have higher levels of enforced conformity than imagined communities. The bonds of a transnational immigrant community presumably involve, on the part of individuals, a relatively powerful identification with the group that is defined in terms of shared histories, traditions, values, and so forth. This is the basis for the emotive ties that underpin such a community (Kivisto, 14);
Relatives or people from the same country might offer support by helping them integrate socially into the society. Therefore, by helping them look for a place to stay and maybe helping them with the job find process. It is easier for them to bond with natives from their own countries because they share the same experiences and understand each other’s plight.