Background
and Purpose: Black African immigrants, which includes Ghanaian
immigrants, experience discrimination in various forms in the United States.
While research on African immigrant experiences of discrimination is very
scanty, studies on Ghanaian immigrants’ experience of discrimination in
employment and healthcare in the United States are at the bare minimum. This
study is, therefore, important in contributing to filling the gap in the
research by exploring the experiences of discrimination and racism in the
workplace and the healthcare system among the Black African Immigrant
population using the Ghanaian Americans sample. The study also explored the
population's trust in the medical system in the United States and the factors
that influence the population’s preferences in the choice of medical service
providers.
Method: The study adopted a qualitative design with a
phenomenological approach. The participants were recruited from the Ghanaian
American population, a subgroup of Black African immigrants, in New York City
using a purposeful, convenient sampling strategy. Seven individuals were
interviewed for the study using a semi-structured interview guide developed by
the researcher. The data analysis involved a combination of semantic and latent
coding and theming. The analysis was predominantly inductive, with the coding
and themes guided by the meaning derived from the responses rather than a
pre-conceived theory or framework.
Findings: The findings show that accent is the leading immigrant identifier for
Black African immigrants. The findings also indicate that while Ghanaian
Americans experience discrimination in the workplace and employment, they experience no
discrimination in the medical system and have high confidence in the medical
system in the United States. This
suggests that discrimination experiences can be an issue specific to Ghanaian
Americans, and the population can experience discrimination in one aspect of
their life while having a completely different experience in other aspects of
their life. The findings further show that the doctor's competence is
paramount for Ghanaian Americans when choosing doctors. However, they would
prefer a competent doctor of the same culture as them to enhance communication
and understanding between them and the healthcare provider about their health
issues.
