---
title: "Black Immigrants — AP African American Studies Definition"
description: "Black immigrants are people of African descent who moved to the US, mostly from Africa and the Caribbean. Their numbers nearly doubled since 2000 (Topic 4.16)."
canonical: "https://fiveable.me/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/black-immigrants"
type: "key-term"
subject: "AP African American Studies"
unit: "Unit 4"
---

# Black Immigrants — AP African American Studies Definition

## Definition

In AP African American Studies, Black immigrants are people of African descent who immigrated to the United States, primarily from Africa and the Caribbean. Their population has nearly doubled since 2000, a major driver of the growing diversity within Black communities covered in Topic 4.16.

## What It Is

Black immigrants are people of African descent who came to the United States from other countries, mostly from nations in Africa and the Caribbean. Since 2000, this population has nearly doubled, which makes it one of the biggest engines of change inside contemporary Black America (EK 4.16.A.2).

Here's the bigger picture the CED wants you to see. Between 2000 and 2019, the Black-identifying population in the US grew by 30 percent to about 47 million people, nearly 14 percent of the country (EK 4.16.A.3). That growth didn't come from one place. It came from immigration, from more people identifying as Black and Hispanic or [multiracial](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-4/16-diversity-in-contemporary-black-communities/study-guide/UVDGoWAWlFqDzjw0 "fv-autolink"), and from rising educational attainment (the number of Black college degree holders more than doubled in the same period). So when the exam says [Black communities](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-2/23-the-civil-war-and-black-communities/study-guide/izqwf48keJf083W0 "fv-autolink") are becoming "more diverse," Black immigrants are a huge part of the answer. A Nigerian American family in Houston, a Haitian American community in Miami, and a Jamaican American neighborhood in Brooklyn all bring different languages, religious traditions, and national identities into what counts as "Black America."

## Why It Matters

This term lives in **Topic 4.16, Demographic and Religious Diversity in Contemporary Black Communities**, in [Unit 4](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-4 "fv-autolink") (Movements and Debates). It directly supports learning objective **[AP African American Studies](/ap-african-american-studies "fv-autolink") 4.16.A**, which asks you to describe how the African American population has grown and become more diverse since 2000. Black immigrants are the clearest evidence for that objective. The term also matters because Unit 4 closes the course by complicating a single idea of "the Black community." Immigration from Africa and the Caribbean means contemporary Black communities hold many ethnicities, faiths, and national origins, which connects to the religious diversity in objective 4.16.B and to course-long debates about Black identity.

## Connections

### [Black immigration (Unit 4)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/black-immigration)

[Black immigration](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/black-immigration "fv-autolink") is the process; Black immigrants are the people. The CED frames the process as the driver of demographic change since 2000, with Africa and the Caribbean as the two main sending regions. If a question asks what explains rising diversity in Black communities, immigration is usually the answer.

### The Great Migration (Unit 3)

Both are migrations that reshaped Black communities, but [the Great Migration](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-3/16-the-great-migration/study-guide/svjt3P3WJXeyqr7E "fv-autolink") was internal (millions moving from the rural South to Northern and Western cities), while Black immigrants cross national borders. The 2025 DBQ asked how twentieth century migrations shaped Black communities, and being able to compare these two movements is exactly the skill that prompt rewards.

### [Black church (Unit 4)](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/black-church)

Topic 4.16 pairs demographic diversity with religious diversity. Black immigrants bring their own faith traditions into a landscape where two-thirds of African American adults identify as Protestant and 20 percent claim no religion (EK 4.16.B.1), adding another layer to the [Black church](/ap-african-american-studies/key-terms/black-church "fv-autolink")'s role as a community institution.

## On the AP Exam

Multiple-choice questions on this term tend to be data-driven and specific. Common stems ask which demographic shift explains increasing diversity in Black communities since 2000, which regions contribute most to the rise in Black immigrants (answer: Africa and the Caribbean), and what characterizes this population (it has nearly doubled since 2000). Know the numbers from EK 4.16.A. On free-response questions, this term powers migration arguments. The 2025 DBQ asked you to explain how twentieth century migrations shaped Black communities in the United States, and Black immigration gives you evidence for change over time, especially if you're contrasting earlier internal migrations with later international ones. The move the exam rewards is using Black immigrants as evidence that "Black America" is not monolithic, then backing it with specifics like the 30 percent population growth between 2000 and 2019.

## Black immigrants vs The Great Migration

The Great Migration (Unit 3) was internal migration, with Black Americans moving from the rural South to cities in the North, Midwest, and West during the twentieth century. Black immigrants (Unit 4) come from outside the United States, mainly Africa and the Caribbean, and their growth is a twenty-first-century story. Both reshaped Black communities, but one redistributed an existing population while the other added new ethnic and national diversity to it. Don't use "migration" and "immigration" interchangeably on the exam.

## Key Takeaways

- Black immigrants are people of African descent who immigrated to the United States, primarily from Africa and the Caribbean.
- The Black immigrant population in the US has nearly doubled since 2000, making it a leading driver of diversity within Black communities (EK 4.16.A.2).
- Between 2000 and 2019, the Black-identifying population grew 30 percent to about 47 million people, nearly 14 percent of the US population.
- As the Black population grows, more people identify as Black and Hispanic or otherwise multiracial, so diversity is increasing in multiple ways at once.
- Black immigration is international and recent, which makes it different from the Great Migration, an internal twentieth-century movement from the South to Northern and Western cities.
- This term supports learning objective AP African American Studies 4.16.A, which asks you to describe how the African American population has grown and diversified since 2000.

## FAQs

### What are Black immigrants in AP African American Studies?

Black immigrants are people of African descent who immigrated to the United States, mostly from Africa and the Caribbean. The CED highlights them in Topic 4.16 because their population has nearly doubled since 2000, fueling diversity within Black communities.

### Where do most Black immigrants in the US come from?

Africa and the Caribbean are the two primary regions, per EK 4.16.A.2. That's a favorite multiple-choice answer, so commit it to memory.

### Are Black immigrants the same as the Great Migration?

No. The Great Migration was internal, with Black Americans moving from the South to Northern and Western cities during the twentieth century. Black immigrants arrive from other countries, and their growth is mainly a post-2000 story.

### Did the Black population in the US actually grow since 2000?

Yes, significantly. Between 2000 and 2019 the Black-identifying population grew by 30 percent to roughly 47 million people, nearly 14 percent of the US population, driven by immigration, multiracial identification, and natural growth.

### Why do Black immigrants matter for the AP exam?

They're the core evidence for learning objective 4.16.A on how Black communities have grown and diversified since 2000. They also strengthen FRQ arguments about migration shaping Black communities, like the 2025 DBQ on twentieth century migrations.

## Related Study Guides

- [4.16 Demographic and Religious Diversity in Contemporary Black Communities](/ap-african-american-studies/unit-4/16-diversity-in-contemporary-black-communities/study-guide/UVDGoWAWlFqDzjw0)

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