Cautionary tales, United States immigration and the Fauziya Kassindja case: Toward a theory of cultural romanticism

This dissertation is concerned with African women who seek U.S. asylum protection under the U.S. Department of Justice's May, 1995 Gender-Specific asylum guidelines and who claim to be victims of persecution under African tribal customs. This study examines in particular the successful, precedent-setting asylum case In Re Fauziya Kasinga. Ms. Kassindja (the correct spelling) an African female from Togo, sought asylum in the United States, where she alleged that as a female member of the Tchamba tribe she was under tribal threat of female circumcision, often called "female genital mutilation" in the West, and of a polygamous marriage to a tribal elder.; The theoretical framework for this research suggests that there is a correlation between the disparagement of African cultures and the success of African tribal persecution claims. I refer to this theory as "Negative Cultural Romanticism," a term through which I attempt to convey the view that the problem of a gender-asylum policy goes beyond the labyrinth of asylum jurisprudence. The issue of determining which African asylees are permitted U.S. entry is related to prevailing assumptions about a barbaric Black Africa. This study examines the extent to which the customs of a Nation State are permitted to shape the United States' Immigration and Naturalization Services policy of cultural asylum.