To my dear friend Agusto Santos de Pina: To explain to you "The American born Cape Verdean" Francisco suggests understanding what their parents and grand parents encountered on their arrival in America and life in the early 1900's. I must admit that I have neither the education nor the talent to take on such a project, what I can do however is make some suggestions and observations. Let us start by reading Inocencio's 1st e-mail "The Immigrants" and go from there. The early immigrants knew of racial prejudice and bigotry but they knew it in a land where they were the majority and the language spoken was theirs. they knew the customs, the laws and the terrain. They were familiar with all aspects of life in their country. We today can only guess at the apprehension they felt being in a land where none of the above applied. All they had was each other. To be fair, one must mention there were some individuals and organizations that did help the immigrants. In the early 1900's Hollywood was one of the most influential mediums for dispensing racial propaganda (movies). This most socially irresponsible industry gave life support to (JIM CROW) *. The American public had received their degrees from the universities of Paramount, Colombia and Warner Brothers and were taught by professors Tarzan, Jane and Boy. That was the African studies program of the time. The arrival of the immigrants from West Africa was welcomed by the industries that needed this cheap labor, but the local gentry was less than enthusiastic about their arrival. The early immigrants tried to insulate themselves from the indignities of racial discrimination by looking inward to their community, as Francisco said "The Cape Verdean Club," this was the hub and all activities evolved from there. This worked to some extent and for some period of time. As long as the immigrants had it in their mind that they would return to Asillah many of the injustices could be overlooked or ignored. Unnoticed was the fact that they were raising families and these children were Americans. Their children were less accommodating and could not or would not overlook many of what their parents had. These American born Cape Verdean knew no other country and leaving here was not a consideration. By the 1930's the number of American born Cape Verdeans were eaqualing theirs. Agusto, I shall send you another e-mail in a few weeks in the mean time Inocencio will send you an e-mail with more information that may help you to understand the "American born Cape Verdean." Your friend,  Manny Gomes Inocencio will make some comments on (Jim Crow).

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