Thursday, June 04, 2009

National Study – Muslim African Immigrants Identify Closely with the American Dream

A recently completed study of African immigrant markets found that among all groups surveyed, Muslim African immigrants identified most strongly with the American dream. When asked their opinion on the statement, “America is a land of freedom, opportunity and possibilities for a better life,” 75 percent of Muslim African immigrants strongly agreed with that statement compared to 70 percent of all African immigrants surveyed. Among Somali Muslim immigrants the percentage who strongly agreed was even higher – 79 percent. African immigrants were less likely to report experiencing racism against them in America. Only about a third of those surveyed strongly agreed that they experienced racism against them in America. The percentage was even lower for Muslim African immigrants and even lower for Somali Muslims. The study also found a unique Islamic segment of the African immigrant consumer market. The national study was conducted by New American Dimensions of Los Angeles and commissioned by the US African Chamber of Commerce. David Morse of New American Dimensions and Dr. Bruce Corrie of Concordia University-St. Paul were co-authors. The study focused on African immigrants in Minnesota, Washington DC, New York and California. The study can be found at http://www.ethnictrends.info/pdfs/African_Immigrant_Presentation(2).pdf . A video of the study can be found at http://newamericandimensions.com . For more details on the study please contact Martin Mohammed (userad@aol.com), David Morse (david@newamericandimensions.com) or Dr. Bruce Corrie (corrie@csp.edu).

1 comment:

David R. Morse said...

Thanks for posting, Dr. Bruce. We heard loudly and clearly that this is a consumer group that often gets ignored or lumped into the category of "African American." There are big opportunities for marketers here.